How to Tame the Chaos in Your Kitchen

The kitchen is the heart of our home. Whether you live in a large house or small apartment, our kitchens are the hardest working rooms in our homes.

Wouldn’t you agree?

Because we use our kitchens for so many activities besides preparing meals, they can often become cluttered and chaotic. When this happens, doing the necessary tasks of cooking and cleaning becomes difficult.

I’ll confess that even though I love a clean and organized home, I still struggle with keeping my kitchen decluttered from time to time. I have discovered that if I don’t stay on top of it, clutter can take over quickly. And that keeps me from wanting to go in there to cook.

A kitchen that is overrun with clutter also keeps me from spending my time on the things in life that matter most. When I’m constantly having to battle the clutter in my kitchen, I can’t do the important things God has called me to do.

While I know not everyone has the same amount of space in their kitchen, there are a few constants that we all can apply to keep our kitchens neat, orderly, and functioning in the way they’re intended.

Three quick tips for taming the chaos in your kitchen

Declutter one cabinet, drawer, or shelf at a time. 

Before you can reap the benefits of having a clean and organized kitchen, you have to be willing to get rid of the items you no longer need. And you need to identify items that could live in another space in your home.

Set aside 15-20 minutes a day to go through each space in your kitchen. It’s amazing how much you can declutter in a short amount of time. Taking a little bit of time each day makes the process less overwhelming. When you make it through the whole kitchen, you’ll most likely find you have extra space where you can put things that may be causing visual clutter.

Have a home for everything.

This tip is key to keeping your kitchen decluttered and less chaotic. When everything has a place, it’s easy to put items back where they belong. Often the clutter comes about because there is not a designated place to put it. 

You may have to be a little creative here. While it’s always a good rule of thumb to keep like items together, you may find that’s not always possible. For instance, if you have several small appliances such as a slow cooker, InstantPot, and waffle maker, you will have to put those where they fit best. It’s not always possible to store them all in the same place.

Having a place for your purse, wallet, keys, and other daily items is also key. These are items we often toss on the countertop because we do not have a designated place for them. They get buried under the clutter, and then we spend precious time looking for them. Create a drop zone by your door to keep these items. You may want to install hooks or use a basket to corral everything.

Devote time each day to clear off the countertops.

Staying on top of clutter and chaos is so important. I know this sounds very simple, but if you spend just 5 minutes at the end of your day putting things back where they belong, then you can keep your countertops from becoming decluttered. 

Being diligent about taking care of your kitchen before it becomes too cluttered will allow you to make adjustments as needed. Keeping it clutter-free will help you to see when it’s time to reorganize or declutter even more items. After all, when you go to put an item away and there is nowhere for it to go, then it’s time to rethink what you are keeping.

I hope these tips will encourage you to get a handle on the clutter and chaos in your kitchen.

Leave a comment and share your best kitchen organizing tip.