Take Back your Kitchen!

A lot of people consider the kitchen the most popular room in the home. In fact, houses with larger kitchens sell faster, but that shouldn’t surprise us given the natural tendency for people to gravitate towards food! Today’s kitchen is designed as much for entertaining and socializing as it is for food prep. This is why cleaning and organizing your kitchen is so important. So, whether you're moving into a new house, or you just need to organize the one you have, here are some tips and suggestions to help you maintain a kitchen you'll want to show off!

1. Conquer counter space. Besides organizing mail and other clutter, evaluate the placement of your appliances. You should only have 2-3 appliances out at any one time. For me, that is my coffee pot and toaster. I leave my mixer, blenders, etc. in the cabinet since they are not used daily. 2. Clean out your Pantry. There have been several occasions where I’ve gotten something at the grocery store just to get home and see it hiding in my pantry! If you organize your food by canned goods, boxed goods, pastas, etc you can save time making your grocery list and avoid unnecessary purchases. You should be able to do this in very little time as well.

3. Clean up quick.  Keep antibacterial wipes under the sink for quick clean ups and try to take a few minutes each evening to put away dishes and wipe down the counters. This will let you start with a clean slate the following day.

4. Bag them away. Do you have extra grocery bags? It is always good to have a few on hand, but you probably keep more than you need.  I like to take a dozen or so plastic grocery bags and stuff them into an empty Kleenex container. This will easily fit in a drawer and allow you to access them when needed. Then check with your local grocery store to see if they offer recycling for your extra bags.

5. Review your kitchen layout. Obviously there are some things you can’t change. However, if the items that you most frequently use are furthest from the dishwasher, you will be less likely to put them away. Look for sensible ways to rearrange dishes and utensils to simplify your cleanup efforts.

Here are some other tips to unclutter your kitchen.

Share your kitchen organization tips with us!