Decluttering the kitchen

The kitchen is the heart of a home. Maybe that’s why it tends to attract clutter. The mail gets dumped on the counter, as does somebody’s homework. Small appliances seem to cover every inch of counter space. A dirty dish gets set down, and the next person to come in thinks that looks handy and stacks another on top of it.

There are some things you can do to declutter your kitchen and keep it decluttered.

1. Keep the surfaces as empty as you can. When people see stuff cluttering a surface, they figure a little more stuff won’t hurt. The less cluttered your surfaces are, the more pressure household members will feel to put stuff away rather than just dump it on that nice, clean, empty surface. Put away small appliances you don’t use daily and don’t leave random “stuff” laying out.
2. Make the kitchen a paper-free zone. Is there any reason why the kitchen should be where the mail, various papers or newspapers end up? Ban these things from the kitchen and designate a place elsewhere for them that makes sense.
3. Put things with their friends. That’s my shorthand way of saying the coffee maker should be somewhere near where mugs and spoons are stored. The less people have to trot all over the kitchen to gather supplies for one task, the less likely they are to get lazy and set things down wherever the urge grabs them.
4. Establish rules about what to do when somebody’s cooking. One major reason why kitchens get cluttered is that kids (or other adults) come in while someone’s busily cooking, and they would have to get in the way in order to put a dirty dish where it belongs. So they leave it on the counter, thinking that’s more helpful than being in the way. You may prefer to have the kids get in the way briefly, or you may prefer having a bit more less for someone to clean up later. Either way, let everyone know what you want them to do, and then your habits of tidying can be consistent.
5. Communication is a good thing. If there’s stuff cluttering the kitchen and you don’t know why, someone does. Ask questions to make sure the whole household is on the same page about what belongs in the kitchen and what doesn’t.

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Posted in Cleaning, Organization on December 16, 2009