I love having a clean kitchen. There is something really satisfying to me to look into our kitchen and see the countertops clean, the appliances sparkling and a candle burning by the sink.
There’s just one reason it’s difficult to keep our kitchen in that tip top shape all of the time and it’s super simple.
We cook. A lot. At least 3 times a day!
Pots and pans are out, ingredients and being prepped and food is being served onto plates all day long.
We also have two little girls 2 and under who somehow leave a constant trail of smudges and crumbs in their wake.
In this season, I have a choice to make.
I can either be the stressed out mom who is constantly trying to clean up after my family, or I can adopt a few habits to keep our kitchen clean most of the time.
I’m going to choose the second option.
There are a few simple habits in place in our home that keep me from stressing about cleaning up, but also gives me moments of sparkling kitchen bliss!
Cleaning and homemaking in general is a balancing act. You have to find what works for you.
This is what works for our family right now, and it will probably look different as our kids grow and we add more babies to our family! That is ok!
Our Simple Habits for Clean Family Kitchen
Dishes in the dishwasher.
My husband jokes that you had better not set down a glass for too long if you’re drinking something, because you’ll look back down and it will be in the dishwasher!
That’s pretty accurate.
If a dish is dirty and you’re done with it. It goes in the dishwasher.
That is a rule in my home! There is no piling up your dishes in the sink or keeping them setting on the table after a meal. We rinse them and place them immediately in the dishwasher.
When it’s full, we run it!
I never had piles of dishes to clean off and sort through, firstly because dirty dishes really gross me out, and second of all WHY? Why would I move them from the table to the counter to the sink and then to the dishwasher?
Take out the middle man. Get it done the first time! Put it in the dishwasher!
In that same spirit…
Wash pots and pans right away.
If I’m done with a skillet or a pot and it’s not going in the dishwasher, I wash it as soon as I’m done with it and set it over to dry.
As soon as I’m doing using that kitchen item, it is cleaned. There’s no time for it to sit and let gunk get hard and crusty (gross!!), and it doesn’t even feel like another job, because I’m doing it straight away.
No dirty pots, pans, cutting boards of knives for me! Get them clean before you even have a chance to dread washing it!
Do a 5 minute tidy-up.
After every meal, or baking time through the day, I spend 2-5 minutes tidying the kitchen back up.
I’ll quickly wipe down the cooktop, counters, sink, and cabinets after putting everything away.
This way, when it’s time to do a more deep clean of the kitchen, there isn’t a ton of built up grime.
Wiping away the daily messes really keeps me from having to scrub away big messes later.
Run the dishwasher as soon as it’s full, and unload it as soon as it’s clean.
I’ll be honest, one of my least favorite daily chores is emptying the dishwasher and putting everything away.
In fact, if I put it off, I will put it off for HOURS!
Then, everything starts to fall apart.
My dirty dishes have nowhere to go, my 5 minute tidy-ups can’t be completed and my kitchen is turning into a train wreck!
So, to combat all of that mayhem, I unload the dishwasher as soon as I see the green light telling me it’s finished.
I don’t think about it, I just do it.
It’s like eating vegetables you’re not really a fan of, just get it over with!
Sure enough, about 4 minutes later, all of my dishes are neatly placed back into the cabinets and drawers and my kitchen is nice and clean.
Simple habit, bit difference.
Be very selective about what gets countertop real estate.
In my ideal kitchen, the only things on my countertop would be my coffee maker and our fruit bowl.
Our current kitchen doesn’t have any cabinets that our Kitchen-Aid stand mixer will fit into, so it’s out on the counter too.
That’s OK, but I’m super selective about what gets to just hang out.
Why?
Because anything that is setting on your counter is something you’re going to have to clean off very regularly.
It’s inevitable, flour, pasta sauce, oil, coffee! It’s all getting on everything that’s setting on the counters at some point. I want to keep my counters very clear so that I can QUICKLY clean up and wipe down.
I know a lot of people get a ton of joy out of vases and tchotchkes. If that is you. Good for you!
It’s just not my style, and it helps me keep my kitchen clean much more easily!
That’s it!
Implement these simple habits, and you’re sure to be enjoying a cleaner kitchen super soon!
I hope this is helpful to you!