“The kitchen is the castle. This is where we spend our happiest moments and find the joy of being family.” – Mario Batali
There is something entirely refreshing and life-giving about a clean, uncluttered kitchen counter. In fact, it is one of my favorite benefits of minimalist living. It sets the tone and culture for the home. It communicates calm and order. It promotes opportunity and possibility (who enjoys cooking in a cluttered kitchen?). It saves time and promotes cleanliness.
Yet kitchen counter organization is one of the most difficult things to get started with. There are, of course, several reasons maintaining a minimalist kitchen is so hard:
- The kitchen is hard-wired as a natural gathering place for the family.
- The kitchen is physically located in a high traffic area of the home.
- The purpose of the room requires messes to be made during its use.
- The kitchen is often used as a collection area for various odds and ends (mail, etc.).
While kitchen counter organization is difficult, it is completely achievable. We have made it an important feature of our house and you can accomplish it in yours as well.
Decluttering Tips For Keeping Your Kitchen Counter Organized:
1. Remove the unnecessary.
One of the biggest causes of clutter in our homes is our tendency to put too much stuff in too little of a space. When we do, it becomes difficult to store things, find things, and access them. As a result, we dread putting things away and it becomes convenient to leave things on the counter.
Typically, the kitchen is full of this clutter. We have cupboards and shelves and drawers full of cooking utensils, gadgets, things we thought we needed, and items we purchased for one-time use.
If keeping your kitchen counters uncluttered is a problem in your home, this is the most important step you can take. Remove completely any item you no longer use. And store items used less than 3 times/year elsewhere.
2. Relocate anything that does not belong.
Kitchens are notorious for becoming collection areas for all various odds and ends. Unintentionally, they become the storing place for many of them: mail, kids’ homework, purses, keys, almost everything in your junk drawer.
Identify a new proper home for each. Then, change the culture in your home that allows them to stay there. Think of your kitchen as a Department Store Customer Service Area – items may enter there, but rarely stay. You can also extend this thinking to items you already store in your kitchen: televisions, radios, telephone books, etc.
3. Give every item a proper home.
One of the most essential steps in organizing and keeping a home clutter-free is to find a proper home for every item. Designate drawers for silverware and cookware; cupboards for plates, containers, and small appliances; and closets/shelves for food and larger, less-used appliances. After taking steps #1 and #2, you’ll find this easier than you think.
4. Store daily use appliances out of sight.
If your counters are routinely cluttered, there is a good chance you are storing many daily-use items there (toasters, coffee makers, teapots, can openers, spice racks, etc.).They are often stored on countertops for convenience’s sake.
But in reality, these items spend far more time as clutter than they do as needed instruments for food preparation. For example, if you make toast every morning for breakfast, it’ll take roughly 3 minutes to toast your bread. After that, the toaster will sit unused for the next 23 hours and 57 minutes. You use it far less than you think you do.
Rather than allowing these appliances to take up counter space and cause distraction, find a home in an easily-accessed area. In our current home, we store the toaster, coffee-maker, and teapot in a cupboard right next to the outlet. In our previous home, they were stored in an appliance garage.
5. Change your “counter is convenient” mentality.
The fallacy of convenience is a big reason our kitchen counters stay cluttered. We tend to keep things in plain sight because we believe it makes our kitchen more convenient. As a result, our counters fill up with baking ingredients, knife racks, cutting boards, and coffee mugs.
And while it may be more convenient to readily grab those items when needed, we rarely notice the other conveniences we are sacrificing by storing them there. We move them every time we wipe the counters. We sacrifice precious prep space when we cook. And they subtly fight for our attention whenever we enter the room.
6. Finish unfinished jobs completely.
When a counter is clear and tidy, it becomes a motivation to put things away. But a cluttered counter attracts clutter… and unfinished jobs are a clutter.
Granted, some projects take more time than others, but many kitchen jobs (washing the dishes, wiping the counters, returning used items, etc.) can be completed right away before ever leaving the kitchen in the first place. For best results, if a job can be finished in less than 2 minutes, do it. Finishing tasks will do wonders for your attitude the next time you walk in.
7. Reset each evening.
If you are lucky, your kitchen gets used every day. And any room that gets used daily will need to be reset daily. That’s why it has been on my evening checklist for a number of years.
We live our lives and often get too used to them. As a result, we get used to our cluttered kitchen counters and don’t realize how freeing it can be to keep them clear. We may be reminded when we walk into a friend’s house or see a photo of a simple kitchen, but we’ve become so accustomed to the current state of ours we forget we can change.
You don’t need to live with a cluttered kitchen countertop. The solution to your kitchen’s countertop organization is indeed simpler than you think.
Image: Yasu’s Photo
Christine says
I would soooo love to see a picture of your counter!!
Paula says
THANK YOU! I have been reading your posts for awhile and implementing a couple of the smaller quicker changes but I just spent 6 hours going through my already small kitchen and pulled out all the clutter and unnecessary things. WOW my counter is empty except for a fruit bowl and a knife block. I LOVE LOVE LOVE it! Slowly but surely I am “becoming” a minimalist!
Nancy Brachbill says
I did away with my knife block (one day I looked down into those slots) and ordered this: Victorinox Swiss Army 14-Slot In-Drawer Cutlery Tray https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AYSC5JM/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_xtztybDT4H58N
We love the extra space and the sanitary storage.
Carolyn A says
I would love, love, love a clutter-free countertop, but with a 1920s farmhouse kitchen from the 1950s and six people, there’s no where else to go with certain things other than the countertop. That said, we can probably do better and have less out than we presently do.
Dessy Anaiwan @ Appliances Connection says
It’s difficult to whip up dinner when you can’t find an inch of work space between that bulky blender, hulking knife block and rickety spice rack. Find ways to clear your food prep area by uncovering surprising new places to stash some of your biggest space hogs.
Jennifer Eremeeva says
Amen.
Catherine says
I am so excited. I minimalized my kitchen today. I have a big box of kitchen gadgets ( melon ball thingy anyone?), coffee mugs, and baking trays all ready to donate. Loving the journey!
Jim says
Today I began to clean my closet, and I couldn’t have imagined what I would experience my wife was just about to call the therapist from hoarders, because I didn’t want to get rid of my old T-Shirts. She had like 15 of them that I never wear, but I swore I would wear them again one day! I eventually got rid of them at a Goodwill store! I feel like I’ve made a step in the right direction. I’ve been reading your blog in 2013, and I’ve told everyone I was going to do this in 2014. I got a taste of how hard it was going to be to becoming a minamalist!
Robert Newbery says
De-clutter = De-stress….a.clear space also clears the mind…thanks for these tips!
Maya says
I am making a vision board of how I want my future life to be and I picked a photo of a clear kitchen counter. I didn’t realize how my cluttered counter was affecting me in a negative way. Thank you for this article. Now to get busy. I am not a hoarder but magazines and counter clutter is my downfall. Any ideas would be appreciated. We are an older couple.
Rachel says
The kitchen counter being clear is the start of my calm. We do have our appliances put away with the exception of a kettle that we use frequently throughout the day and a bowl of fruit. I like to say “the counters are my workspace.” I keep them free of things so I have room to cook, bake, and pay bills. It’s a great place to start for someone trying to have less.