HUGE difference after tidying up:
I cleared our countertops of things that don't get used every day. What remains is our Kuerig coffee maker, our basket full of extra K-cups, the paper towels, the white bowls that we use every day and the dog treat jar.
I'm not going to share every cabinet and drawer, just a few.
I got rid of a lot. Including all of my plastic Tupperware. Over the past couple of years I've switched over to glass. I LOVE my Pyrex containers with the lids!
This same cabinet also holds the dog/cat dishes:
The rest of the cabinets are simple.
On the other side of the kitchen, we have a couple more upper cabinets. This one holds dog food and treats:
This one holds misc. baking items, tea, and ziplock and foil:
I cleaned out each of our drawers. We actually have a lot of storage in this kitchen, which is surprising because it’s not a large kitchen. But there is plenty of space!
The top drawer is our cooking utensils.
The drawer dividers are wonderful!
Here are my kitchen towels, folded and stood up just like my clothing:
I also cleaned out our silverware drawer. I ditched the bulky knife block that used to take up counter space and put all of our sharp knives together in the drawer. I also lined the dividers with cloth napkins. I HATE the sound of silverware clanging each time the drawer was open and closed. Problem solved:
It’s important that the only things that are kept out on your counter are items that you use EVERY SINGLE DAY. If they are not used every day (or 3 or 4 times a week at least), stow them away! And if you say you don’t have room, then it’s time to clean out those cabinets and cupboards and make the room. I even have items stored in here that we hardly EVER use but there’s no way I’m getting rid of (like my Great Grandmother’s depression glass). I have room to store them safely in here because there’s room in the cabinets.
I think that orderliness in the kitchen is just as important as orderliness in the bedroom. When your countertops are messy, what is your desire to do food prep or cook dinner? When your kitchen cabinets are stuffed full, do you really want to empty the dishwasher? If things are neat and orderly and CLEANED OUT, these things won’t even seem like chores. I used to get so frustrated with putting away dishes because I would open the cabinets and a Tupperware lid would come flying out at me or I’d be stuffing travel mugs and cat dishes wherever they would fit. Sooooo frustrating! And completely unnecessary. Now I can unload the dishwasher with ease and know that everything has a home. It doesn’t take me long and I don’t have to worry about getting hurt ha ha. I can also wipe down the countertops in just a few seconds because there’s not much up there blocking my way. There is plenty of space for cooking (and I HATE cooking), preparing lunches and snacks for the week, etc.
After the bedroom, the kitchen should be the main focus of neatness in your house!
