Like yours, our kitchen is the center of our bustling home. With three kids, I spent a ton of my time in the kitchen cooking meals and making snacks all day long, enjoying a glass of wine with my husband, catching up on our day and too much time (in my opinion) loading and unloading the dishwasher. We have an open kitchen, dining and living areas so if the kitchen isn’t clean, then it makes the entire downstairs feel untidy. To me, messy and unkempt equates to a bit of stress and lingering thoughts of all the things that need to be done in order to get the kitchen back into clean and working order!
About two years ago I finally got tired of the constant mess and decided to start wiping down our kitchen a couple of times a day and picking up after each meal or snack. The result – the kitchen is always clean and the relief from not seeing a pile of dishes waiting for me and food crumbs on the counters is tremendous.
MY LITTLE TRICK?
Wait for it… it is incredibly simple (don’t laugh) and I’m willing to bet you already have the items in your house.
Drumroll… I have a decorative pedestal cake stand with multi-purpose spray and rag on the counter, always in eyesight. I’ve found that if I can see the cleaner and rag or paper towels sometimes too, it’s a great reminder to wipe things down after every use and anytime I see a spot or crumbs on the counters.
It looks like this.
It’s cute and I also keep the dish soap and hand soap on it so everything is in one easy spot. It doesn’t take up a lot of counter space but if it’s out-of-sight, as the saying goes, it would be out-of-mind, right?
Shop around for cleaning products that you like, but look nice if they’re out. I love the cute label on these and don’t mind them sitting out on the counter. This multipurpose spray actually also works great on stainless steel appliances and doesn’t leave streaks so I can use it for more than the countertops.
OTHER TIPS TO KEEP THE KITCHEN CLEAN
– After you make a meal or a snack, immediately put all the ingredients away, put the dishes and pans I used in the dishwasher and wipe down the counters.
– If the dishwasher is full, don’t wait all day to unload it, just do it. Also important, is not to let your dishes sit in the sink and pile up. Do you really want to do those later??? It’s way easier to put the dishes in the dishwasher as you use them.
– Keep minimal items on the counters. A smaller number of items on the counters will make your space look cleaner, bigger and makes the countertops easier to clean.
– What do we have on our counter? 5 things, that’s it!
- Coffee Maker
- Pedestal with Cleaning Items
- KitchenAid Stand Mixer
- Knife Block
- Glass Jar with Dog Treats
I didn’t think to keep the cleaner out on the counter like that, however that’s a terrific idea. The only way I can keep a clean kitchen is to put everything away immediately and keep the dishwasher unloaded. Otherwise it’s insanity run amuck. I’m going to try the cleaner thing though. Maybe I could get a cute bottle like that one in your picture!