Number 1: Have a place for all the things that you come in the door with so that they don't end up on the kitchen counter. We all know that it's easy to accumulate stuff. Modern life clutters us constantly with mail, papers, school projects, technology, gadgets, etc. Set a designated "Landing Pad" for your keys, bags, mail, bills, important papers, etc. near your front door. Take a few minutes every day to put those things where they belong, then you'll not be searching later for missing keys and other stuff. Baskets, drawers, small tables, or cupboards work well.
Number 2: Don't load your kitchen counter with rarely used appliances. I've seen many kitchen counters filled up with empty cake stands, dusty juicers and bread makers. If you don't use an item at least a couple of times every week, put it away. You may say that you don't have any place to put it. Well, you may need to clean out a cupboard filled with items that you never use so that you can put these counter clutterers in there. Try to keep things you use regularly as near as possible to the place where you need them. If this seems overwhelming, just try to de-clutter one small area at a time. Keep it that way for a couple of weeks and it will inspire you to work on another area. Small steps work best! Remember the Tortoise and the Hare? That Tortoise is my hero!
Number 3: If you have family members who are major contributors to the counter clutter, you need to have a talk with them and help them to put their stuff in appropriate places. I've helped many moms organize kitchens and other rooms only to have them trashed within days by all the other people in the home. Children and spouses can learn to help with keeping homes orderly. Give kids a shelf, a drawer, or a cupboard where they can keep all their school things. Help them to decide what is really important to keep with folders, boxes and baskets in their closets. It can be really challenging to keep toys with lots of pieces, like Legos, together. Plastic bins help, but it takes more than one person to keep a home in order. I remember the piles of projects and papers that came home from school every day with my boys. They knew where to put lunchboxes, homework, papers, etc. with my help.
Number 4: Use your dishwasher! If you have a dishwasher that does a good job, why do you have a plastic dish drainer on your counter all the time? It takes up valuable space and isn't necessary. I was 28 years old before I had my first dishwasher and I still give thanks to God for this wonderful invention! I don't care if I run mine 2 times a day, even more if we have lots of guests. My Maytag scrubs pots, cleans grease, and it even has a food grinder so I don't rinse anything before I put it in there. It cleans wine glasses, flatware, baking sheets, almost everything. So I use it a lot and it keeps lots of clutter off my counter. The few items I wash by hand I lay on a towel to dry and usually put away within a couple hours.
So, I hope some of these ideas are helpful. Please leave your comments here and let me know what you do to keep the kitchen counter clutter at bay!
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