Kitchens are heavily used by all members of the household. More use equals more mess. That’s why it’s more important to stay on top of keeping kitchens clean and tidy than any other room.
Here are some tips on how to maintain a tidy and clean kitchen:
1. CONSIDER HOW YOU USE YOUR KITCHEN
Do you cook from scratch every day? Do you mostly heat ready-made meals? Are you an avid baker? Or do you prefer to eat out?
Think about how you use your kitchen and let that guide you in your decisions.
If you only bake twice a year you can probably get by with less baking stuff than if baking is your way of relaxing every weekend.
2. LET GO OF DUPLICATES
Kitchens tend to have duplicates. We keep these just-in-case our favorite spatula/measuring cup/ knife/coffee cup/you-name-it is dirty (more on that later) or gets broken.
Many kitchen items are inexpensive and easy to replace should we need one in the future.
The thought of having enough plates to last the family several days without needing to wash the dishes is a convenience fallacy. It will only postpone the work, making the job bigger and harder to accomplish.
3. KEEP INVENTORY LOW
More inventory means more work. It is harder to keep up with what you have and to use it before it expires if your pantry is full or if you need to store your extra pantry items outside the kitchen. One more task for our brains that we can better use elsewhere.
Buy what you need, when you need it.
It’s okay to have a stock that will last you a few weeks but if you have enough pasta to feed the whole neighborhood or spices that have sat there untouched for months then it’s time to start using it up or offering it back to the community.
4. LIKE ITEMS WITH LIKE
Try your best to store all similar items in the same location. This way it will be easy for everyone to see what you have and to know where things belong.
5. FREQUENTLY USED ITEMS EASY TO REACH; OCCASIONALLY USED ITEMS OUT OF SIGHT
Items that are used only occasionally, be it cookie cutters, a stand mixer or a large serving plate, should be stored out of sight if space is an issue.
Items that are used every day or every week should be placed so that we have very easy access to them. Easy to grab, easy to put away.
The more items are stacked on top of one another or the more overflowing the shelves and drawers are, the harder it is to take one out and put one back in. The harder it is the more likely we are to not want to do it. So we leave things on the counters or feel like cooking is a hassle and it’s easier to order take-out.
6. KEEP COUNTERS FREE
Take a look at your kitchen countertops. Is there anything that doesn’t belong? In most cases, the answer is yes.
Strive to keep the kitchen counters as free as possible because clutter attracts clutter.
I would encourage you to even evaluate all the appliances that we keep on the counters. Do they need to be there? If you use them every day then maybe. I personally prefer to store things out of sight. It makes cleaning easier.
7. CLEAN AS YOU COOK
As long as the kitchen counter is free from mail, keys, unnecessary appliances, kids’ artwork, etc., it will be easy to clean while you cook.
Putting things back where they belong (fridge, pantry, drawer, dishwasher, etc.) right after using them, means there will be a minimal amount of cleanup at the end of the cooking.
8. USE IN-BETWEEN TIMES
There are moments in the day when we are waiting for something to happen. Waiting for coffee to drip, waiting for water to boil, waiting for a toast to toast.
Use the in-between times to empty the dishwasher, put things back where they belong, water the plants, wipe something clean, etc.
I’m always amazed at how much I get done while I wait for my electric tea kettle to boil! I do drink a lot of tea, though 😉
9. BUILD ROUTINES
Staying on top of things may require building new routines and setting up new standards internally for ourselves.
These could be something like “Never leave dirty dishes on the table” (no matter whose they are), “Always wipe the table clean after dinner”, “Always run the dishwasher before going to bed”, or “Empty the dishwasher every morning before breakfast”.
Also, try to frame chores as “I get to” rather than “I have to”.
Wiping counters can be meditative if you concentrate on that and not the next thing you need to do.
Be grateful you have food in your fridge and people in your life that you get to share the food with. Add a clean dining table and what could be more joy-sparking?!
10. TIDY THROUGHOUT THE DAY
Keeping things tidy is much easier than getting things back to tidy. So the best approach is to keep at it throughout the day.
If you see a runaway pea from last night’s dinner on your floor, just pick it up and compost it. If you notice a little greasy handprint on your fridge and you have a few seconds, just wipe it.
There is no need to go out of your way to do these things. But if you do notice them, it’s better to take a few seconds to deal with it right away than to see the pea 5 times and think which of your family members were so careless to lose a pea?! That will only lead to losing your mind.
Choose action, enjoy the clean, pea-free floor, and feel good about your accomplishment (picking up the pea)!
11. END OF DAY TIDY
At the end of each day, look at your kitchen and see if there is anything that still needs attention. If items that don’t belong to the kitchen have ended up there, take them where they belong. If the kitchen table has things on it, remove them. Wash any last dishes.
This shouldn’t take more than 10-15 minutes. It will make it easier for you to relax and your future self will thank you for it tomorrow morning.
12. MAKE YOUR SPACE BEAUTIFUL
Last but not least, make your space beautiful! We are more likely to maintain a space that we find beautiful.
This could be having flowers or plants in the kitchen, burning candles while doing the chores, or just a very functional and clean kitchen.
Also, pay attention to visual clutter. Packages are designed to be noticed at the grocery store and our brains will also notice them in our kitchens.
You could fill the contents in jars, try zero-waste grocery shopping so your pantry items would already be in jars when you get home, or simply close the cupboard door if that suits you best.
My four-year-old goes a step further. She likes to remove stickers from fruits and I appreciate her aesthetic efforts 🙏🏼
Don’t forget to enlist your family members’ help and remember that the goal is not perfection. The goal is for your kitchen to be functional and joy-sparking to YOU.
Do what works for you.