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Dec 09 2010

Challenge: Declutter your kitchen benchtop

Category: Challenge

The kitchen bench can be a dumping ground for so many things:

  • junk mail
  • handbag
  • kids ‘things’
  • just stuff in general

these items tend to make a home there and never get removed leaving your kitchen looking untidy and cluttered.

THE CHALLENGE:

Let’s remove all this clutter so when you look at your kitchen you feel as though you are on the path to becoming organised.

See HERE for more details on how to organise your kitchen, such as Pantry, Tupperware cupboard and the kitchen drawers.

Supplies needed:

  • Laundry Basket
  • Cloth
  • Hot soapy water

How to declutter your kitchen benchtop:

  1. Return all kitchen items such as cutlery, saucepans, mixing bowls into the cupboards.
  2. Put kitchen appliances that you don’t use frequently back into the cupboard.
  3. Grab the laundry basket and remove all rubbish.  Don’t forget to recycle
  4. Empty rubbish into outside bin.
  5. Return all other items back to their home.
  6. Fill your sink with hot soapy water and give the benches and laundry basket a wipe down.
  7. If your feeling very energetic, wipe down your cupboard doors as well.

Create a new home for your junk mail, either goes directly into the trash…or see these ideas HERE.

On my benchtop I have:

  • The home phone
  • An orchid to help hide ugly electrical cords
  • Some christmas decorations

A fruit bowl would usual sit on a kitchen bench, however I put mine on my stovetop.  And a kettle would be a common item to been seen as well, however we don’t drink tea or coffee, so we keep our kettle in the cupboard, to the dismay of my lovely extended family:)

This is a picture of my benchtop – clutter free.  In the new year I will post on how to handle your paper clutter which is usually the biggest culprit for making a home on the kitchen bench.

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  • http://www.lilyrosedesigns.com.au Rachel

    Hello Organised Housewife!

    I have liked both fb pages. We have quite a large bench space in our kitchen so we have a number of items on the bench, partly because we use them and partly because we need something to fill in the space.

    I have a breadmaker and fruit bowl which swap sides, depending on whether the breadmaker is on or not (silly powerpoint!). We drink lots of tea and coffee so I have a kettle and 3 canisters on another part of the bench.

    Finally we have a smaller bench over the plate cupboard and under the cup cupboard with our toaster and coffee maker, which we tend to use on the weekend.

    I can manage a huge amount of cooking and prep work with this on the bench and when It's just this it looks rather streamlined as they're all stainless steel so they match quite nicely.

    Hoping my entry is good enough to win as Lucky Trix Creations' products are gorgeous!!

    Thanks for keeping me organised this year and look forward to next year's challenges in our new, and significantly smaller, home!!

  • http://www.lisaclark.com.au Lisa C

    Morning Organised Housewife,

    Unfortunately I have quite a small kitchen and 1/4 of it is used as my office! So I'm stuck with folders, more folders, blank disks, a laptop and printer (with cannisters for sugar, tea and coffee) and everything else! Sadly I don't have any space in the house for an office either and I don't feel I'm working efficiently (with my business or for the kitchen) with everything so cluttered so I will try your suggestions, but not sure if it's looking so good, any further suggestions??

  • Lise H

    Good morning! Re your latest challenge – at one end of my long island bench I have the toaster and espresso machine (with a small shelf above it for tea, coffee and sugar canisters), at the other end of the bench I keep the fruit bowl. On the other side of the kitchen on the other bench I keep my utensil jar next to the cooktop, and on the other side of the cooktop is my my knife block, and my kettle is on the cooktop. I am very particular about keeping the kitchen benches clear of all other appliances and clutter, I like to put things away as soon as I've used them. I'm lucky that I have a study nook/kids homework area with 3 desks in it in a room right next to my kitchen, so I don't have to open mail/pay bills/etc on the kitchen bench (and can also supervise the kids doing their homework while I'm cooking dinner). I have loved reading all your suggestions this year, can't wait for more great ideas next year! Merry Christmas from an OH fan!

  • Mhairi

    Morning!

    Oh, I SO needed this challenge, our bench-tops were chaos!

    We now have:

    Main Bench

    * 4 glass canisters (all the same size) which hold coffee, tea, sugar & milo.

    * Kettle

    * Pretty glass chopping board (if that isn't out, hubby just cuts on the bench)

    Small Bench

    * Microwave – on top of that is; phone; notepad & pen; baby monitor.

    * 3 Christmas snow-globes.

    Woo hoo! It's amazing how different it feels to walk into a clear and clean space – it alleviates the guilt so much. I can't wait for the next challenge!

  • http://www.declutteringandmore.com Tammy

    Oh isnt it amazing how these benches just seem to be a magnet to all the junk or homeless items?

    I try to keep mine as clear as possible but with 7 children and a hubby at home someone is always dumping something there!!!

    I have done your challenge, I "like" you on facebook and am heading over to "like"Lucky Trix Creations….

    Nothing better than seeing a beautiful clear bench when you walk into the room!!!

  • Alicia Ilievski

    All done! I loooove my bench tops clear but some how they just seem to gather stuff whilst I am not looking. I am a visual organiser so I feel like if I put something away it wont get done. Means I usually have piles of stuff everywhere. I am working hard to finish one task at a time. Ive just become a coffee drinker but I always put the jug away.

    My bench has…. a kitchen aid mixer and kitchen aid blender (pink and on display because I love them) Knife block (am still considering a relocating on this item), a fruit bowl and pair of pears LOL, they are an arty farty piece and again somehting I love.

    Always loving your page.

    A xx

  • Lorilee Briggs

    Hi! This is the first challenge I have completed! Often inspired, but never manage to find the time. I am a "liker" of both your page and Lucky Trix Creations, and my benchtops are clean and clear except for my kettle, tea and sugar, fruit bowl and paper towel holder! Woohoo! Thanks for the inspiration!

  • Samone

    Both liked on FB.

    We have a small bench but its covered in 'stuff'. I even had a lil' bowl for tiny 'stuff' like cute lil hair clippies!

    Thanks for today's post I'm going to declutter my 'stuff'

  • http://www.mylittlemogo.blogspot.com Debbie

    My kitchen is decluttered… but wish I had your nice big kitchen:0)

  • Stacey K

    All done! Even re-sorted my baking basket that the family used as a dumping ground. Got rid of the part of a wine barrel fruit platter, put away the toaster, cleared away all the bits & pieces now I just have my kettle & food processor (too big & heavy to put away) out & my Christmas pretties. Great challenge as always. Going to try to put before & after pics on your facebook page!

  • http://beccisscrapjournal.blogspot.com/ Becci Sundberg

    My kitchen bench is almost always decluttered, it driveds me nuts if it's messy (which it is a little right now after shopping hehehe).

    Anyways at one end of the Ushaped kitchen is the stove, then the bench next to that has a utensil holder and glass chopping board (it's a pretty one). Then there is the kettle and bits, next is the sink, then the microwave and then the last side of the kitchen benches is completely cleared!

    My fruit bowl is kept on the dining room table as the boys like to eat fruit after dinner and it helps to keep the kicthen decluttered.

    Now I am all liked and decluttered!

  • Carolyn

    Morning,

    Great Challenge! My Kitchen has been bugging me for weeks. Finally decluttered yeterday and my hubby was really impressed when he walked in last night. Thanks for the link to the Luck Trix Creations which I have liked and left a message. Of course I like the organised housewife.

    On our bench we now have the phone, a box of tissues, bread box, toaster, knife block. Second bench – kettle and canisters, microwave. ON the other side a small fish tank. I will probably add a bowl of fruit, once I go shopping later.

    thanks again for all you challenges, I look forward to keeping up with you next year. Have a wonderful Chrissy.

  • Heather

    All done, now on my bench is a fruit bowl, knife block, canisters and the phone.

    Liked both pages

    Lovin the challenges, I feel like slowing I'm getting my house organized, Thanks

  • Samantha Savva

    oh I loved this one. Since moving into our new house our kitchen downsized dramatically. We now have next to NO space on our kitchen bench.

    So The junk mail and recycling now as a new home. the Otto bin straight after I read it instead of storing it waiting for my hubby to take it out (which could take weeks hehe).

    Our Kettle and Toaster broke before we moved and I never replaced the Kettle as we drink very little tea and coffee so the toaster has been stored in the cupboards as again we dont eat a lot of toast and if we want toast we do it the old school way and put it under the grill. Or if we want tea and coffee we boil the water on the stove top. Takes just as long as a kettle to boil.

    So now we only have a the microwave and the sandwich press and thats it.

    Thank you again. I love these challenges

  • Sharon

    Thank you so much for setting this challenge. I love seeing my kitchen bench so sparkling clean! I have a fruit stand full of fresh fruit for the kids, my toaster and my bread basket, the kettle and jars for coffee, tea & sugar, my recipe holder and a Christmas decoration. I really love reading your blog even thought this is my first challenge I've actually done. Thanks for putting together these great ideas for us…xxx

  • Lisa

    I forgot to come back, oops. Ok, so our kitchen bench has a cupboard at the end where the kettle and toaster are supposed to be hidden but the door never gets shut. It also has the brekky cereal and jam etc. Once the cupboard is shut we have the fruit bowl, a Christmas decoration, the biscuit barrel and because my partner baked last night there's a cake container LOL

    I had to put the milo and coffee away into the cupboard where they belong. Things like cordial and flour etc get left out as well, you would think we had no room in our cupboards!

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  • Kelly

    LOVE LOVE LOVE your ideas! I’m just wondering if you ended up posting about organising your paper clutter? I always end up with mountains of things all over island bench, just random papers & general bits & bobs that don’t really have a home & to be honest i have no idea how to rectify this happening again every time i clear it off. Any ideas would be great!

    • http://www.theorganisedhousewife.com.au Katrina

      No I didn’t unfortunately I was preparing to write about that but then we had the sudden loss of my mum, but I will be blogging about it this year :)

  • Kathy Strong

    A women after my own heart…….Thank you!