Kitchen clutter can be an excruciating sight to come home to. For many of us, unfortunately, it just keeps creeping back again and again. As one of the most-used communal spaces of any home or workplace, mess, and misplaced items can easily add up on a day-to-day basis. The solution is to have a set of rules in place about keeping your kitchen space in order and stick to them! Here are five practical tips you can implement today to start decluttering for good:

1. Get Rid Of Unnecessary Cookware 

New kitchenware and cutlery designs are released all the time. The issue is a lot of these end up getting purchased on impulse rather than out of necessity. Think about it, how many niche products like new spiralizers and kitchen gadgets do you really need? And how often are new ‘innovations’ in cookware ever worth it? After you’ve cleared your kitchen of any unnecessary extra items, consider investing in practical, high-quality cookware sets. These will contain all your cooking essentials and be consistent in their design, making it easier to avoid miscellaneous purchases later than don’t match. 

2. Keep Your Benchtops Clear At All Times

The simplest rule of creating a clutter-free space is to keep all your work surfaces and benchtops clear at all times. Some will say that small, commonly-used appliances like toasters and blenders are the exception but if you can fit them in an easy-to-reach space like a shelf or nearby cupboard you should do so as it will instantly make your space look cleaner, bigger and more organized. This makes it easier to keep your surfaces clean, as they only need a quick wipe down and you can reach everywhere.

3. Designate A Place For Everything

While you’re reorganizing, let “a place for everything and everything in its place,” be your mantra. Once you’ve reduced your belongings down to a high-quality cookware set and a few essential kitchen items, making sure that everything has a place becomes a lot easier. If you’re in a studio or have a smaller kitchen, you can use wall shelving, your oven or even larger pots and pans to store smaller cookware. When everything has a place, not only will your kitchen look neater in appearance but you will never get into trouble finding things when you need them.

4. Use Dividers To Separate Items

When you lead a busy lifestyle or share a home with a large family or housemates, it can be easy for different items to get mixed up or end up in the wrong place. Combat this by setting clear boundaries in your kitchen where each category belongs. If you have different types of items occupying the same spaces, use drawer dividers, boxes or even book dividers to break up space and ensure that things ate stored separately. 

5. Toss Out Your Fridge Magnets

It may sound laughable but this is perhaps the quickest way to make a major, visible change to your kitchen’s appearance for the better. Especially if you have a classic white fridge that will brighten up your space when it is cleaned and clear of magnets. While travel magnets, photos, and other magnet accessories may hold sentimental value – they can be considered a form of clutter in themselves. If you wouldn’t keep the same amount of miscellaneous items on any other surface of your home, why do it in the kitchen?

Redesigning your kitchen will take time but all of the above tips are affordable, quick and can easily be started today. How many will you try out in your home?