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Simple Way To Keep Your Kitchen Clean

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I just love walking in the door after a long day’s work to a clean kitchen. Imagine it. The counter tops are clutter free. There are no dirty dishes anywhere. You can hang up your coat and get busy preparing the evening meal with a beautifully clear work-space. And, after dinner, it is so easy to clean up because you have been rinsing the cookware, utensils and dinner dishes – putting them into the dishwasher – as you go. Perfect!

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Simple way to keep your kitchen clean all the time #tips

So, why has it been so seldom that I have enjoyed that scenario? Most of the time, keeping the kitchen really clean has been a daunting task. For instance, I would go to the grocery store, only to bring bags of groceries home to cluttered counters. By the time I got the groceries out of the car and into the house, it was almost time to cook. I would do my best to put them away but there was always something that has no where to be! So the cluttered counter gained a little more clutter with some of my groceries having no place to put them. And there were still unwashed dishes in the sink and a full dishwasher. Who can work in that? Well, I did but I was really tired of it.


That is when I made the best discovery that IS working for me. It is all about planning. I have changed my dinner making process. Now, 30 minutes BEFORE the time that I would actually start cooking, I clean my kitchen. Yes, I added “clean the kitchen” to the FRONT of the operation. It looks something like this:

Timeline For Keeping The Kitchen Clean Every Day*

*Whatever time you serve dinner, just add a 30 minute kitchen prep [cleanup] time before you START to cook!

3:00 pm – clear and clean kitchen counters, put away clean dishes from dishwasher. If there are any, load dirty dishes into the dishwasher.

3:30 pm – prepare dinner [cooking and setting the table] and rinse pans and utensils as you go. Put them into the dishwasher, as well.

4:30 pm – dinner is on the table. Eat dinner.

5:00 pm – clear table and put the dinner dishes in the dishwasher. Run the dishwasher.

It is up to you when this load of dishes will be emptied and put away. I usually put a few things away,  as the evening goes on, each time I that I am in the kitchen. By bedtime, the clean dishes are all put away.

Simple way to keep your kitchen clean all the time #tips #organizing #cleaning Share on X


Does this happen to you? My dishwasher does NOT DRY the dishes. Oh, it isn’t broken. It is one of those energy-savers that runs forever and pools of water are still left on top of the glassware when it is finished. Ugh! I use a drying mat on the counter to let those wet glasses dry before putting them in the cupboard. But it is frustrating! 

Have you found a way to keep your kitchen clean all the time? Share your tips with us!

Finally, a simple way to keep your kitchen clean #tips #organizing

Enjoy!

 

 

 

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Kitchen Cleaning – "The Counter Attack"

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How to keep that kitchen clean #tips

Kitchen Cleaning: 5 quick tips that will help you keep your kitchen neat and clean.

 

Is your house so messy that you feel immobilized?
Are you overwhelmed with the daunting task of getting it back in order?
Have you been halted by the lack of real time to do it.
I’ve been there more than once. Have you?

Just contemplating how to get it all done can stop you in your tracks—along with the looming reality that quickly it will get messy again (unless everyone moves out. LOL)  You may struggle with the thought, “Why try?” Right?

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Times like these call for a kitchen counter attack!

The term “counter attack” has more than one meaning. The first is a war term most often used to refer to a retaliation for an attack. Ever feel attacked by the stuff in your house? The other way to look at it is to “attack” the mess on a counter top.

 

This epiphany came when I was standing in my kitchen at midnight, waiting for my big girl dog, Lexi, to come in from outside. I had my trusty bean-bag heating in the microwave, preparing to keep my toes warm under the covers when I went to bed.
Dirty dishes piled in the kitchen? Tips on how to get through it!

I looked around the kitchen and said to myself “I have to wake up to this?” The kitchen had been relatively clean after dinner but through the evening it re-cluttered. Dirty dishes sat in the sink and on the counter (again) because the dishwasher had just completed a full load. There was no place to put them!

Next, I was seeing the future.  In the morning, I would soon be greeted by a kitchen that needed a major rescue before the day even started. That’s when it hit me. I was standing there, waiting for a dog and a bean-bag. Could I do something to make this better? You bet.

I did what time would allow, concentrating on one section of the kitchen counter plus the stove top. I was determined to have that part “clean as a whistle” to start the morning right.

I cleared the stuff, washed and polished it. The process took less than 5 minutes and that corner of my kitchen looked GREAT. I felt better. Lexi came inside and we went to bed.

Keeping the kitchen clean #tips

Waking up to a clean kitchen is a beautiful thing.

The next day, I took that new revelation and put it to work. Whether the kitchen or the bathroom or my office, they were three places that had “counters.” I looked for lttle opportunities to do something to move things toward “clean” and made a lot of progress.

 

5 Quick Things To “Attack” While Waiting In The Kitchen

  1. Stovetops are an obvious starting point if your microwave is installed above the stove.  Waiting for something to “nuke”? Wipe the stove down and make it shine.

  2. Take out the trash. Yes, the kitchen waste basket fills quickly. Wouldn’t it be nice to wake in the morning to an empty, newly lined trash basket?

  3. Make a to-do list for today, tomorrow or later in the week. Get a grip on what needs to be done and when.

  4. Throw out old food. Yes, while waiting for the coffee to perk or your microwave to “beep,” open up the refrigerator or a cupboard and throw away food that is about to spoil or has surpassed the expiration date. Get rid of it. Removing just a few items is liberating and gets you steps closer to “organized”!

  5. Sort the mail. This may not be completely doable while waiting for something short to happen but you can at least weed out the junk mail and throw it away. Other more important envelopes can be laid aside for a more thorough look.

Is the clutter ganging up on you? Here are 5 quick tips to help you get your kitchen neat, clean and under control! #cleaning #tips #home Share on X

So, what tips do you have for catching up with a kitchen out of control?

Enjoy!