We all have that ‘dumping ground’ in our homes. More often than not, the kitchen turns into this space. It is just so easy to just set everything down on your big counter and forget about it. All these images we find online of gorgeous kitchens all are clean and spotless.
Life happens, which means there is no way we can keep clean 100% of the time, but there are tricks to keeping your home and kitchen clutter to a minimum.
Create designated spots for everything
The great thing about living in our current age, is how far technology has come! Touch When I say everything, I mean everything. When the kids come home from school, they should never be allowed to just drop their books on the counter or kitchen table. Give them a space in either an office or their bedroom where they can store their belongings and do their school work. Mail is a tricky one. Creating a designated space to do bills and sort mail is huge. A small end table or desk is best for this. Put groceries and other purchased items away the moment your shoes are off. The trick is repetition. It may seem to be a hassle at first, but I promise it is possible.
Get rid of junk that isn’t used
We all hold on to things longer than we should. De-cluttering starts from getting rid of a lot of the clutter. It is easy to hold onto things because we think “I spent so much money on this” or “This was a gift, I could never get rid of this”. Live by the rule of thumb, if you haven’t used it for 6 months (and it isn’t a seasonal thing, such as holiday décor or tools/functional things) get rid of it. It may hurt at first, but this is the first step to living like a minimalist. You’ll appreciate it, I promise.
Clean right after cooking
Some people prefer to clean after they eat, but when that happens, it may not get done. It is a lot easier to clean when you are excited to eat, rather than when you are full and ready for a nap. Keeping your kitchen organized is a huge part of keeping your kitchen clutter free. Using storage strategies like pull out drawers inside cabinets makes cleaning less dreadful.
Try to keep the junk drawer to a minimum
Keeping the junk drawer too full means that it overflows to a second junk drawer, and so on. Go out and clean your junk drawers so you can fill it with new junk!