The kitchen in most homes these days is the primary place to hang out. Most of the time if you are getting together with friends, the action happens in the kitchen. Maybe that’s because of modern kitchen designs that combine kitchen and living rooms, or involve kitchens with big islands and lots of seating. But the kitchen can quickly become a big spot of contention, especially with multiple people living in the same house and dropping belongings where they don’t belong!
In our house, our kitchen is in the middle of the main floor and as such, walking traffic goes from room to room via the kitchen. This means, that stuff, toys, mail, project materials, or things with no home end up placed down on the kitchen counter! So then, we either have a big pile of random stuff to sort through at the end of the week or too many random things taking up counter space to make a meal!
Keeping the clutter out of the kitchen makes me feel like my whole house stays tidier.
If you think about when you first wake up…most of us start our day going into the kitchen and grabbing a drink; water, coffee, an energy drink or even a smoothie.
If you start your day with clutter on your kitchen counter, you start your day feeling behind, overwhelmed, thinking of your mental to do list as you look at the counter, or you may even feel like a failure at the very beginning of the day! What a way to boost your day, right??
If you start your day with a clutter free counter, you feel like you have space to breathe. Your mind can start focusing on the real tasks of the day rather than the little to do’s you find staring right back at you!
Make your kitchen feel like a place that invites you to create! The kitchen is supposed to be a place to make your healthy meals and a place that inspires that creativity. It’s not meant to hold you back from making healthy meals or become a heavy chore the second you walk into the room.
Think about your kitchen counter; stand in your kitchen and look at it!
Do something drastic and remove EVERYTHING from the counter!!
Try getting through a whole week without anything staying on the counter! That means no air fryer, no blender, no mail, no toys, no fruit bowls – NOTHING! Remove everything from your counter. Put the things away somewhere that you can easily pull them out when you need them and put them away when you are done with them. (You may need to declutter a couple of appliances or other kitchen gadgets to make it easier!)
After you have cleared the counters, step into the kitchen in the morning. Notice your mood, notice your thoughts! Notice your motivations about cooking yet another meal for the kids because they truly are ALWAYS hungry!
At the end of each night, take the time to clear whatever items ended up on the counters throughout the day. Get everyone to help out and put their stuff away.
Notice how you feel turning the kitchen light off before you go to bed. Let out a big long, loud breath.
If your kitchen counter is cluttered, your mind will be cluttered all day long. Whether you notice it or not, you will not be as productive if working from home and you may find yourself opening a snack cupboard rather than whipping up an egg or throwing together a salad!
Clearing the clutter from your counter will help balance your day by allowing you to start your day with nourishment. Don’t use your kitchen for storage. Invite the calm atmosphere and use your kitchen for some creative cooking!
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