Basic Kitchen Organizing Part 1 – Counter Tops

Today I challenge you to start cleaning and organizing your kitchen. The kitchen truly does tend to be the heart of the home.  It is also where the biggest difference can be felt and the most daily maintenance needs to be done.  So over the next couple of weeks we will focus on getting your kitchen in order.  Do only what is suggested in each article and then take a minute to admire your progress.  Do not attack the whole room at once unless you have a lot of time and some help.

This will be an open challenge.  If you come in late, jump in.  When we have finished all of the tasks I will post a link sheet so you can follow at your own pace.

If you have a camera handy, take some pictures.  When you are done, take some pictures.  I have made a Flickr account where we can share before and after shots with each other. Do not be embarrassed by the before. Be proud of the accomplishment to come up with the after.  I will try to come up with some good prizes for most improved spaces.

Before Your Start The Challenge

Before you start, get out a notebook and pen.  There will be a lot of things that will come to you when working on a space.  You may think of groceries, storage ideas, things that would make life easier, or someone to call to offer things to or to borrow something. Go ahead and capture that thought on paper instead of letting it distract you from the task at hand or forgetting it.

If you are new here, there are some other tools I suggest to keep on hand when starting to get organized.  Most you will already have around the house.  All are things you can pick up inexpensively at the grocery or dollar store.  The link will take you to the list and the list links will take you to detailed reasons, uses, and possibly suggestions for each item.  Most links on the site will take you to a previous article with more information.

Beginning In The Kitchen

For several other things we will be talking about soon, you will need some space to work.  So the first thing to do is make some space. Today you are going to clean the counters, clean the table, and clean all of the things on them.

Kitchen counters and tables are almost always free game dumping grounds.  If you do not have counter space to prepare dinner, you will have a hard time making dinner.  You will dread making dinner.  You will eat out more often – not because you enjoy it or can even afford it, but because you are too tired to have to face doing it yourself.  Many people when they do eat at home eat in front of the television, some because they prefer it, but others because they can not find their table under the clutter that keeps accumulating there.

You are going to conquer you kitchen counters and your kitchen table.  You are going to give yourself the option to eat at your table whenever you want.  You are going to free up that counter space for use of cutting boards and mixing bowls, for rolling out cookie dough and opening cookbooks.  It has been my observation that often the largest difference in those people who genuinely enjoy cooking and those that don’t is not ability nor experience, but a kitchen that will let them.

Clean and Clear Your Kitchen Counters

Take an inventory of what you see on your counter.

Is there any loose paper? Take any loose mail and add it to an old mail basket. Take any old newspapers to the recycle bin.  (If there was anything in it that was truly important, someone one would have told you about it by now.)  Put any little notes in a shoe organizer or a spot specifically for notes to transfer to notebooks.

Are there dirty dishes? Load the dishwasher or roll up your sleeves and tackle them including drying them and putting them away.  You may have to do both.  This may be a perfect opportunity to request help if you have it available.  Do all of the dishes and then take a break if you need a minute to rest.

Are there any items that belong elsewhere throughout the house? Grab a laundry basket. Put it near the door and add all of these things to be distributed later.

Now to tackle the kitchen items. Take a look at the remaining items on your counters.  Anything that belongs in the kitchen, but not on the counters should be put away.  Are there any items that you are unsure where to put, but know does not need to be kept continuously on the counter?  Cookbooks or coupon books for example.  Put these in another basket or box and keep an eye out for a home for them as we go.

Your sink should be empty.  Fill it a third of the way with hot soapy water. Add a cap full of bleach if it has been a while since your counters were disinfected.  Now start with the far side of the counter, a place that gets the least use.  Start with an area that is two feet wide if possible.  Clear everything from this area and really clean the counter including the back splash. Get a clean towel and dry the area that you just cleaned.

Clean and store items based on how often it is used. You probably have some canisters, small appliances, and a small array of similar items. How many of these items do you never use? Maybe the homes for them is in someone elses house.  Clean those items off and start a donate box. As you talk to friends and extended family, inquire if they could use them. After a couple of weeks have passed, either take them to a local charity or put price stickers on them and begin boxing up items for a future yard sale.  Do not feel you are being wasteful letting go of any of these items.  If you are not using them, it is just as wasteful to be keeping them.  Let them find someone who will make them feel wanted.

Now look at any other items you do not use daily and decide you want to keep.  Can you find another home for them instead of the kitchen counter?  If you do not have an immediate home in mind, clean them all off and pile these things together on the side of the counter you just cleaned until we can free up some cabinet space later. Remember, the goal today is to gain counter space.  Your kitchen will not look any messier having these things all pushed together in the corner than it did with them spread out all over the counter.  Free counter space looks cleaner than cluttered counter space.

Take a look at available wall space. Would adding shelving or an extra cabinet be possible?  Do you have space for a bookshelf or a bakers rack?  Quickly make a note in the notebook I had you get out at the start of this project. Do not act on these ideas just yet, you may find the room before we finish the kitchen.

The rest of the items that should be spread out on your counter should only be items that you do use every day. Before you leave something out on the counter, it should be something that is used daily or adds beauty or joy.  Clean the rest of the counters moving the items as you come to them and cleaning them before replacing them.  When you are done, your counter and all of the items on them should be clean. You should also have a lot more counter space available.

Clean and Clear Your Kitchen Table

Kitchen tables are often catch-all sites.  They are meant to be spots for eating with family, coffee with friends, and just maybe a candlelight dinner with that someone special.  It is a great place for the kids to do homework.  Unfortunately they are also perfect as a big work surface and a convenient place to “momentarily” deposit items when headed to the fridge when home from work or school.  School supplies often take up permanent residence.

Are you using it for a project space? If you are using it to work on a project of some sort, take a minute and straighten up the work area.  Can the project be stored in containers while you are not actively working on it?  Is this a special project, or are you continuously using your table as a workspace?  If you do not already have storage that will work, chances are there are specialty containers specifically made to hold your project when not in use.  They will keep your work cleaner and less open to accidental damage.  Besides, I find that I work on a project less when it is staring me in the face and nagging for completion.

I use to believe out of sight, out of mind, but I found that the peace that comes from being uncluttered primes my mind to make me more active and useful. Apparently my eyes interpret visual or actual clutter as a larger to do list than I actually have.  Subconsciously I become so full of dread at the many tasks that seem to have to be done that my mind throws up a defense mechanism that makes me feel too tired to do any task.  For me, the act of unpacking a project starts a mind set of purpose that is focusing and motivating.  In the same respect, the act of packing up a project when I am at a stopping point starts a release mind set that is like, “Ok, I have accomplished a lot, but it is now time to move on to other things.  I will put this out of my mind until it is time to focus on it again.”  I enjoy my projects more and am less stressed overall.

If your table is a general catch-all site, pull out anything obvious that can be taken to another room and add it to the elsewhere box by the door.  Anything that can be donated, add to the donate box.  Anything that can be put away within a few steps, put away.  Quickly sort all of the paper into piles.  Make one pile for reading material.  Make one pile for things that can be transferred to your calendar or notebooks.  Make one pile for forms or items that are to be done.  Make one pile for old mail.

Move the old mail to your mail station.  Move the transfer pile to your little note basket.  Examine your reading material pile. Can part of these really be put into the recycle bin now?  Add the rest to your to be read stack already started.  Set aside your to-do pile.  Examine anything left on the table.  Take all of the little stuff and either sort it into your clear shoe organizer or put it all into a decent sized lidded container from your cabinet.  Find a place to keep all of the office supplies that is convenient, but not on the table or counters.

Try to sort any remaining items on your table and clear it as much as possible. Wash off the table.

Handle the Follow Up Tasks

Take the basket you set aside for items that belong elsewhere in your house and distribute those items. Take the donate basket and find somewhere convenient but out of the way to keep it for now.  You may need to put this in your car or trunk.

Go ahead and take care of as many of those little things from the to do pile from your table.

Keep It From Getting Out Of Hand In The Future

Make time daily to put things away, wash the dishes, wipe down the visible counters, wipe off your table and wipe off the stove top.  Enlist help if available. These are Clutter Monsters.  They are the things that are easier to tackle a little bit daily than a lot on occasion.

If you follow an ordinary cleaning routine, when the kitchen comes up on it again, really clean the counter top and the table. I suggest you move things around cleaning behind and under, cleaning the moved items, and cleaning the back splash.  If you do the other things daily, this should only take a few minutes.  Also re-examine items that are on your counter, but should or could not be.