The kitchen is the heart of any home. It is a warm place where your kids help you prepare your traditional Sunday family brunch. It is where you spend days on end trying to perfect baking your first cake for your son’s first birthday party. It is a vital room in your home and you will naturally want to make sure that it is always clean and welcoming for everyone. That being said, it is also the place that gets easily messy. Think about how your kitchen looks after preparing every meal, with dishes piling up in the sink or the familiar sight of tomato sauce splattered all over the kitchen counters. It will usually feel like the only way to keep your favorite space clean is to spend all of your waking hours washing and scrubbing. However, since that is not a viable option, you can check the below tips that you can use to keep your kitchen clean and organized at all times.
Clean as You Go
While you are cooking, do not throw utensils and pots into the sink as they will pile up by the time you finish. It is better if you load the dishwasher as you go. Whenever you finish using something, just put it in the dishwasher right away. This way, you will have finished cooking with the kitchen mess-free and you can rest instead of having to spend extra time loading heaps of pans and spoons that you used for cooking.
Take the Trash out Every Night
No excuses. Make this a part of your daily routine. Place a medium-sized garbage can in your kitchen so that it gets full faster and you will not be discouraged to take it out daily because it still has room for more. This way you avoid the risk of bad odors, especially when you have much compost and food remains. Choose one of the new rubbish can designs that have motion sensors to avoid getting in contact with nasty germs. Although many people like to hide rubbish cans out of sight, if you do not have a can with a neutralizing filter, it is important to make sure your trash can is in a well-ventilated place to deodorize any musty smells.
Get a Handheld Vacuum
Handheld vacuums are essential, especially if you have kids. Worrying about taking out your huge vacuum with its bulky parts will make you put off the task until the weekend. However, when you have a handheld one, you will be encouraged to use it as many times a day since it is easy and compact for you to pull out and put back in its charging dock. Especially if you have kids, you will find that this portable vacuum is a life savior when it comes to cleaning under the kitchen table after breakfast. You can even put your kids on kitchen vacuum duty since it is very easy to use.
Arrange Your Kitchen Cabinets in a Logical Manner
You can seek guidance from organization experts to give you tips about how to best organize your cabinets. For example, save the cabinet above the stovetop for spices and oils, and assign the drawer next to the stovetop for cooking utensils, this way you can have everything handy when you are cooking. This will make arranging everything back into place much easier.
Use Kitchen Cabinet Compartments
Kitchen cubes will help you keep your kitchen cabinets organized. You can find ones with dividers that will keep your kitchen’ insides neat no matter who is unloading the dishwasher. You can also add labels to help your partner or kids put back kitchenware into place easily and maintain the system you are following to keep your kitchen in tiptop shape.
Put a Schedule for Kitchen Chores
Break down your kitchen cleaning chores and divide them throughout the week. Leave the more detailed cleaning of your kitchen equipment and disinfecting your kitchen countertops for the weekend when you have more time. You can even hang up a task list for your kids to check off daily. Have them place their dishes into the dishwasher after they eat in exchange for a nice surprise for whoever maintains the longest streak.
Regularly Wash Kitchen Rags and Your Apron
There is nothing worse than a smelly kitchen rag or an apron full of stains. Make sure you wash them frequently; you do not have to wait until they are totally worn out. You can even keep a stock of disposable kitchen rags to pull out fresh ones whenever you need them.
When you are first designing your kitchen, keep in mind how you will go about cleaning and organizing it. Make sure you do not have any unreachable corners that collect dirt and dust and serve no actual purpose. Your best bet is to put a cleaning system that you can easily follow to give your kitchen a hassle-free cleanup. Use the above tips for some great ideas to help you create the perfect cleaning system.
