Keeping your countertops clutter free!
Kitchens that integrate or overlook the family room are prone to be a dumping ground and fill up with clutter. It’s common for mail, keys, fruit, shopping bags, and miscellaneous stuff to fill countertops and kitchen tables. A kitchen is the main hub for most families and will always tend to collect clutter quickly. How can we prevent it from becoming a mess and being catch all area? We can stay on top of this space by having a plan and system that’s easy to maintain. These organizing tips will steer you in the right direction and help stop the clutter from piling up.
Paper Clutter
- If you have a home office, retrain yourself to drop the mail in the office instead of in the kitchen.
- If you don’t have a home office, create a mini office in your kitchen by creating a countertop filing system or mail catching area.
- Do your best to sort through your mail each day. If that’s not realistic for your daily routine, put it in a decorative container, such as a basket, as a holding spot until you’re ready to tackle it.
- Take the newspaper and magazines straight to where you will read them…. perhaps your bedroom nightstand or coffee table.
Food
- Avoid storing food on your kitchen counter tops and floors. Consider buying less, or buying only what you need.
- Go through your cabinets before you grocery shop to prevent overbuying.
- Plan meals around the “leftovers” in your kitchen cabinets.
- Regularly go through all the food to check expiration dates. Keep a notepad handy to write down essentials you need to replace because you’ve tossed them.
The Miscellaneous Mess
- Fruit options: Stash your fruit in the refrigerator instead of leaving it out or buy only enough fruit that will fit in a fruit bowl on your counter.
- Steer clear from buying in bulk- bulk items take up too much room
- Designate 2 specific times of the day that you will spend 10-15 minutes clearing off the counter tops. The more you do this, the faster you’ll get at picking up.
- If the miscellaneous items belong on different floors of you home, don’t run up and down the steps a zillion times. Gather items to go up and down on the steps and then make one trip when you’re finished gathering all the items to put away. (Promise yourself the steps will be clear when you go to bed- otherwise things can lay on steps for days.)
- Get your family involved. If the kids are old enough they will know where things should be put back. So engage their help to put away their things.
- Assign bins or baskets to family members. For example, if you have two kids toss the random Legos, playing cards, Barbie shoes and hair ties into the two baskets. Each basket should be assigned to one of the kids. Once the basket is full, they can put their stuff away or mom tosses the contents.
- Most importantly have specific spots and permanent places for everything. This is key and makes cleaning up and putting things away a cinch.
