A quick way to tidy your kitchen counters

I was getting annoyed with all this baby bottle sterilising paraphenalia on my counters - it just looked messy.

I do need to have it out since I'm using it a gazillion times every day with the twins.

So I put it all on a tray and instantly, the kitchen counter looks much neater.

I did the same thing with the nappies (diapers), bum cream and baby wipes. Doesn't it look nice and neat now?

Where can you use some containerising to make your home look neater?

1. basket in your entrance hall to keep keys


2. box to keep all the papers that need to be filed


3. basket/ bowl on your bedside table for your hand lotion, pens, etc.
   

Your turn!

Let's look at your cutlery and utensils & chance to win a free ecourse

This is the third week of decluttering and organising in our KITCHENS and this week, we're decluttering cutlery and utensils.

(Remember if you don't want to post on the theme, go right ahead and post on whatever you felt like decluttering, or otherwise, just show us how you store your cutlery :)

The last time I decluttered this drawer was about two years ago and it's still working for me, so I thought I'd point out a few things.

See the elastic bands on the top right? Very useful for closing bags in the freezer (those freezer tags drive me nuts because they're too fiddly).

Then, at the bottom, I keep my scissors and the box on the left has a calculator (for when I'm doubling recipes, etc.), a post-it pad, a permanent marker and masking tape.


This is my second drawer. The closed container on the left has extra serving spoons, etc. that I use when entertaining and on the right you'll see all my everyday utensils, also neatly containerised.

On the right there are drinking straws and some markers for our calendar. In the front I have all my sandwich bags that I actually don't use for sandwiches. I use them like this and this. And to the left of the sandwich bags are Ziplocs I want to re-use.



Did you declutter any cutlery or utensils this week?

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Have a look at the Organise your Home e-course and get your entire home organised in just 12 weeks.
Remember you can win an Organise your home e-course right here!

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Now for this week's challenge

Please link to your Friday Declutter Challenge post on your own blog and post a link back here. If you don't have a blog, tell me in the comments about ANYTHING you decluttered this week.

It can be anything - physical, electronic, mental clutter or even the need to be a certain way. Like perfectionism! :)

What did you declutter this week?

Decluttering and organising your vitamins

Is it just me or does your kitchen counter also sometimes look like a pharmacy?

One day the vitamins are all organised. Then someone gets the flu, and someone else has to take other medication and before you know it, one little basket has grown to two.

So I took out all the stuff, packed everything neatly in the green basket shown above. And then I made this pile...

The pile on the left has to go back to the bathroom where I keep the main supply and the three tubs on the right get thrown away because they've expired.


And all of that took about 2 minutes, while I was waiting for the kettle to boil for my tea.

What do you do while you're waiting for the kettle to boil?

5 steps to organise your kitchen counter

I often get asked, "how do you keep the kitchen counter neat, tidy and organised?"

A kitchen counter can get out of control very quickly because of all the different things happening, like children's papers, meal preparation, cooking, homework/ crafting, shopping, etc.

Because of this, I don't think you could ever just leave the kitchen and hope it would stay neat and organised!

However, here are a couple of tips to help you at least try:

1. have clearly designated areas for each activity
We have one little corner just as you enter our kitchen where we pack and unpack lunches, sort papers and so on.

The rest of my smallish kitchen is for meal preparation and cooking.

2. remove anything you don't use on a daily or weekly basis
The more stuff you have on the counter, the more you have to clean and wipe down those appliances.

If you only use your slow cooker once a month, then store it in your pantry and enjoy all that wonderful counter space.

3. keep things where you use them
When your utensils are stored far from your stove and you have a lot of back and forth, that's when your kitchen starts getting disorganised.

4. have a method of dealing with the paper
The more paper you throw away, the less you have to file ;) Use a plastic drawer system and clearly label the drawers. Once you have this set up, there should only be paper on your counter for a maximum of 5 minutes a day (only while you're sorting and checking you have all the notes from school, etc.).

This picture is from my study but I always suggest to clients with children that they have one of these in the kitchen and use a drawer per family member (mom and dad can also share a drawer).

5. maintain regularly
This will depend on how busy your kitchen is. When both of us are at home the whole day (like when we're on holiday), I do a quick 5-minute tidy and wipe-down of the counters after each meal and also before I prepare supper.

For more help organising your kitchen (and the rest of your home), check out the Organise your Home e-course.

For more great tips, visit Shannon at http://rocksinmydryer.net

Edited to answer Tami's question in the comments...
No, Tami, the picture is from my study. I don't have space in my kitchen at all for paper, so I sort my paper as I walk in the door and throw the junk away right there and then.

The rest goes straight to my study where I put it in my in-tray (which lives on top of those drawers, incidentally ;))

I attend to my filing about once every week or two, depending on how much there is. Remember I'm ruthless about only keeping stuff I actually need, so there's never very much.