You’ve read all those articles on how to organize, how to arrange, how to store, and yet your home still looks a mess. Perhaps you’ve tried to follow too many ideas and consequently haven’t succeeded at any of them. Here are a few “organizational hints” that you can do without so that you truly succeed in your goals.
Countertop containers
Despite the lovely magazine spreads and reality TV reveals, piling the top of your counter with jars, floral arrangements in vases, decorative cake-stands and other beautiful pieces readily contributes to even more clutter. If the item on your countertop isn’t something you use regularly, it’s likely to collect dust and water spots. If it’s near your meal prep and wash-up areas, you’ll often find it has interesting food spatters too. That just means more washing, dusting, cleaning for you to do.
Empty landscape
Of course, making the countertops too clean can make life, in general, more of a chore. So, if you make smoothies every day, keep that blender on the counter in a handy location. If you always bake, make room on the surface for your mixer. And if you’re a crockpot or insta-pot chef, keep it right where you use it. Otherwise, you’re regularly cleaning, clearing, and putting things away that you’ll turn right back around and take out just a few hours later. Instead, be sure to wipe your countertop appliances down every day in case they caught some of those food splashes.
Glass-front glare
Installing beautiful glass-front cabinetry can add value to your kitchen, but unless you have room in other cabinets for your regular stuff, mismatched items piled into your cabinets add to a messy look. If you have glass-front cupboard doors but not enough space, simple line the glass with a decorative film to give it a frosted look while it hides your clutter.
Rethink your space
Just because your mom always kept the dishes in the cabinet to the left of the sink and the glasses on the right doesn’t mean you have to. In fact, if your kitchen has large drawers, stacking plates and bowls in them. Having dishware lower down allows children to participate in setting the table and emptying the dishwasher. If you use plastic ware for extra storage, put it in a plastic basket along with the lids in a lower shelf to make it easier for little ones to reach it when they’re being helpful.
Of course, if the only solution to finding more organization space in your kitchen is to have a new kitchen, talk to your real estate agent and start looking today.
