3 Tricks to Keeping the Counters Decluttered and Clean
Clutter-free and sparkling clean counters in the kitchen are so inviting. It means you can jump right into whatever project you have in mind, easily begin cooking a meal or feel free to invite your neighbor in to share a cup of coffee.
Keeping the counters clear isn’t simply a once-and-done task, it’s three-fold: changing habits, making space in the cupboards, and developing a routine to maintain it.
Change your daily habits of setting things on the counters.
Establish the one-touch rule.
If you are cooking and open a package of pasta, dump the pasta in the water, then immediately throw the package away (or put it away if you didn’t use it all). You only want to touch that package of pasta once.
If you come home with mail in your hands, deal with it immediately- toss the junk mail, put the bills in your inbox, etc. You don’t want to have to touch that junk mail again.
When you bring your purse into the house, put it away immediately- not on the counter, not on a chair: you don’t want to have to touch it again until you need your purse the next time.
Keeping the one-touch rule in mind as you go through your day saves you time. It saves you from having to retrace your steps and pick up after yourself.
In fact, one could call it a lazy person’s rule. They are dealing with things immediately, so they don’t have to think or do anything with that item again.
Clear out the cupboards so you can store things in them.
Most often we have things in the cupboard to store them, and we have things out on the counters because we use them regularly.
Think very carefully about what you are storing and if it ever gets used. If you have an ice cream maker in the back of the cupboard, but you haven’t made ice cream in 10 years, let it go and use the space in your cupboard for things that do get used.
For example:
The toaster. Sure, you may use the toaster 3 or 4 days a week, but it’s only for 5 minutes, why have it sit on the counter 24/7? Set it in the cupboard and make it easy for you to wipe the counters off.
The KitchenAid mixer. It is pretty and made to sit on the counter, yes. But if you only use it twice a month, but you have to wipe it down twice a week from all the other cooking adventures… Store the mixer out of the way and cut down on how often you have to work around it.
This applies to anything you have sitting on the counters. Appliances, canisters, utensils, etc. Think about how often you use them and if they truly justify taking up space on your countertop. Do they get dusty between uses? Are you consistently navigating around them as you clean your counters?
Make your life easier and find other homes for things, so the counter is just a quick wipe-down and ta-dah! The kitchen is clean.
Having a system in place to keep them clear
Keeping your counters clear takes effort, you can’t just remove all the appliances and then never worry about it again. The appliances were on the counter because it was a habit to keep them there. The first couple of days after a change are nice, and you’ll want to keep everything off those counters. But as the days wear on and the weeks pass, leaving the toaster out on the counter isn’t going to seem like a big deal.
Not putting the mixer back in the cupboard after you make cookies is going to come up.
First, remember the one-touch rule. Put them away while you are right there, so you don’t have to come back and do it later.
Then, build a tidying routine into your life. I promote a simple morning and evening routine of:
- Quick pick up of the kitchen (tossing trash, putting things away, etc.)
- Doing the dishes
- Wiping down the stove and counter
It’s very basic and should take 10 minutes or less on most days.
The key is to do it after breakfast in the morning and after dinner at night. Being consistent means that nothing piles up and becomes overwhelming. The dishes stay manageable; the counters are never a disaster, you are in control.
Get my free chart set to help cement those simple habits:
One touch rule is brilliant! Great point about frequent usage too. I already realized something that’s currently sitting out that could easily be put away. Thanks for the actionable tips!
The kitchen counters are my challenge!!! I Don’t have a problem being organized anywhere else in the house, but my counters are ALWAYS cluttered. I seem to use everything that is in the cabinets and everything that sits on top. Ha!! If I am doing some kind of health regiment, it sits on the counter so I won’t forget it. I don’t have an issue putting mail or anything there, it is just the KITCHEN stuff itself. I seem to be hopeless.
I did a big declutter of cupboards a while back and found a home inside for my cookbooks! But, yeah, those counters. The one-touch rule is also a struggle for me. But I can see where it’ll save me so much time and frustration. Thank you for sharing!
[…] Before Going All-In The Secret to a Perfect Minimalist Style Home is Easier Than You Think 3 Tricks to Keeping the Counters Decluttered and Clean Practical Minimalism for Real-Life […]
Ugh, any suggestions for a dear husband who dumps everything on the counter and says ‘I’ll put it away later’. Drives me crazy!!
I meant to reply here, not below, lol:
My husband does the same……..when he comes home from work, the whole length of the counter gets strewn with his keys, mail, documents, sunglasses, wallet, etc. I have placed a decorative basket on the counter in the hall and asked him to drop all his stuff in there so that he can find it all when he leaves in the morning. He still drops everything on the counter, but it takes me just a few seconds to gather it all up and dump it into the basket where he knows to look for it. It really helped the clutter and I don’t have to nag.
I leave my Kitchenaid mixer on the counter because it is too heavy for me to put in a cabinet. It’s easier for me to wipe it down than lift. I also have a Cuisinart air fryer/convection oven on my counter. I use that just about every day. My stove needs to be replaced, but the Cusinart was cheaper to buy at the time. Maybe someday life will be the way I would like it to be!
wHERE DO YOU PUT FRESH FRUIT AND VEGGIES YOU DO NOT WANT REFRIGERATED EXAMPLE POTATOES ONIONS TOMATOES
I put mine in wicker baskets in the circular corner cupboard to the right of my sink. The baskets help them breathe but keeping them under the counter keeps them out of the light so potatoes don’t go green.
the whole kitchen is my challenge i have no cupboard space for such things
My husband does the same……..when he comes home from work, the whole length of the counter gets strewn with his keys, mail, documents, sunglasses, wallet, etc. I have placed a decorative basket on the counter in the hall and asked him to drop all his stuff in there so that he can find it all when he leaves in the morning. He still drops everything on the counter, but it takes me just a few seconds to gather it all up and dump it into the basket where he knows to look for it. It really helped the clutter and I don’t have to nag.
Thank you for the great tips and advice. The one-touch rule and clearing of the counter is a must for me as I have very limited counter space. In order to work in my space I need to keep everything off the counter that doesn’t need to be there and I must clean as I go.
I love your one-touch rule! When I started to use it, I realized just how many “procrastination stations” I had!
This is great – love the one touch rule!
In Responses to the comments above –
VEGES AND FRUIT – I buy only what I need rather than whole bags, and I do a monthly cook up, so I cook it as soon as I come home and create frozen meals. I also peel and half my bananas and put them in snaplock bags in the freezer for smoothies and baking. I also freeze puree apple for breakfasts. I have a baby – so when he becomes a toddler I might store a couple fresh fruit in a wire basket in the cubboard (you can get a wire colander from the $2 shop that works too.
SMALL KITCHEN – I realised that if you buy small stackable flat rectangle tapaware containers then you can fit more ingredients into a smaller space in your cubboard. Below are some of the containers I use for in various sizes – 500g containers for herbs, spices, tea, coffee. 1L containers for cocoa, chia seeds, coconut, oats. And I have the larger ones for sugar, rice, icing sugar etc. They are 2 and 3 dollars. All my food fits on one shelf.
https://www.kmart.co.nz/product/2-pack-1l-food-containers/3216932?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIjpjxpuf49wIVx5lmAh3bzwMMEAQYHyABEgKYIfD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
For snacks, I use 2 plastic clear tubs, and I have banana muffins, scones, mini quiche in snaplock bags in the freezer for snacks too.
My question:
Where do people with clear benches put there jug?
What does everyone do wither snacks, chips etc
That is my big dilemma
What does everyone do with their snacks, chips etc
That is my big dilemma