Welcome to my kitchen. *sigh* I’m a little embarrassed to show you these photos because this is bad. This is really bad.
Please tell me that you have spaces like this one. Please. This is where everything ends up when we walk in the door: mail, homework, the kids’ books, bug spray, Halloween decorations, spray cleaner, camera parts, Julia’s treasure chest, family photographs, bills, everything. Really there is one of everything there. And it’s a total mess.
So yesterday, on the first day of my 30 Days to Get Organized, I decided this was the place to start. This busy corner of my home, this space that everyone sees, that looms between my kitchen, my table, and the rest of my house needs overhauling and organization. So I put down my new camera, and I started straightening, cleaning, and organizing.
I gave myself one rule. Once I touched something it had to go in it’s place, it couldn’t just be moved to another location away from here. So those bottles of cleaner were put in our garage cabinet until we run out in the kitchen. My calendar and journal went in my purse. I put the kids’ books on their shelves. The used dish rag is now in the dirty clothes. I recycled lots of unneeded and scrap paper, moved my bills to my desk space. I put the bug spray with the other bottles on the porch. I worked for exactly 27 minutes, and what a difference!
This space is beautifully cleaned right now. There is more I can do to organize, and I know I will in These 30 Days, but this feels like a great start. And if seeing the counter weren’t enough motivation, I am going to post updates on my Facebook and Twitter throughout the month of this space with the hast tag #kitchencounter, so you can keep tabs on me. If there ever were a space that needed regular attention, this it. And I need the accountability just as badly.
Yes, looks familiar and now i am inspired to clean my area!
Yay! Go Leslie! I’m enjoying seeing my counter top again!
Deb@MyThirtySomethingLIfe says
Thanks for stopping by MyThirtySomethingLife! So glad to have support and inspiration during this next month — organizing power in numbers! For the record, you are note alone on the kitchen clutter front…I’m right there with ya! Good luck - look forward to reading up on your series!
Organizing power in numbers! Ha! Love it. 😉
You are definitely not alone. In fact, I think mine looks worse. My kitchen counters and dining room table are the dump zones for everything. I need to get my act together. Thanks for the motivation!
Thanks for the commiseration, Ginger. I feel like this counter is a win for me. A small win, but a win no less. 🙂
Wow! Beautiful! I have been working on my kitchen counter all week. I have the same issue. Everyone dumps stuff in that one spot. Mine looks better but not as pretty as yours! 🙂 (I have a Max too!)
Good luck with those counters, Shell! It’s kind of overwhelming until you get started. Now I find myself straightening up and organizing when there’s only a little mess. And YAY for the name Max. It’s so simple and perfect.
stacey says
Jealous of your clean, organized kitchen. Mine needs a makeover asap. thanks for the little inspiration. I think will get right on that 🙂
Oh! Nothing to be jealous of here. I just tried to tackle my spice cabinet only to realize I need to think things through more. So I wiped out the cabinet and put everything back in. It’s clean, but pretty unorganized. Yay for cabinet doors. ;)Thanks for visiting!