The kitchen is an extremely difficult room to organize; no matter how often you scrub, sweep and stack, if you do any of these six things, it will still look messy.
It may be obvious, but too much stuff on your countertops causes total chaos. It doesn’t matter if it’s a few small appliances or decorative containers – the more items on your countertop, the more it will appear cluttered. Stick to only one or two frequently used gadgets (such as the coffee maker and toaster) and hide everything else behind cabinet doors or on shelves. Organizing your workspace, whether it’s the kitchen or the office, is key.
Cute things like your kid’s crayon drawings or lots of stickers and magnets will make your kitchen feel cluttered instead of adding artistic value. Instead of sticking everything on the fridge, designate a suitable place for it on a corkboard. This will keep things tidy and expose your homemade masterpieces.
Dishes in the sink will make your kitchen look more disorganized. The solution? Make a rule that you don’t go to bed in the same house as dirty dishes. This means you either have to run the dishwasher and clean everything that’s in the sink, or find another place to sleep. Then in the morning, you can take the dishes out of the dishwasher and put them away while you wait for your coffee to brew. It’s the perfect system for combining mental comfort with cleanliness. Don’t leave something for the last minute, especially if it doesn’t require much effort.
The kitchen is probably the center of your home, so it needs to collect everything from batteries to rubber bands and measuring tapes. Give all those random things a storage spot that’s handy. It sounds counterintuitive and logical, but giving trinkets a place to hide until you find a better location and purpose is much better than leaving them in plain sight. Remember to be very deliberate about that space, though – keep them on one shelf or in a drawer and don’t let clutter take up more space.
Decorative details on all the furniture and walls create an imbalance and exhaust the vision. When decorating your kitchen, it’s better to go for simplicity. It is an environment made up of many elements, so adding too much decoration will make it look overloaded. Add a few delicate trinkets in different places instead of stuffing everything just anywhere. Keep in mind that both the refrigerator door and the entire kitchen space is not an art exhibit.
A kitchen style that doesn’t fit in with the rest of the house is a basic mistake that mostly applies to open kitchens or those in American style. Rooms that are connected to other spaces in the home, such as the living room or dining room, absolutely must work together. Buying pieces for the kitchen is natural, but a common mistake is sourcing accessories and furniture in different styles. The problem is that the kitchen pieces don’t match the rest of the home decor. When you have an open kitchen, you should think of different spaces that come together as a whole, otherwise it will seem like a stash for everything that doesn’t fit.
