Kitchens are a high traffic area in the home. Make sure that your kitchen remains tidy and hygienic by taking the time to spring clean.
Even if the closest you come to cooking is making a cup of tea and toast for breakfast, kitchens are still busy and potentially messy places. Food, the family noticeboard and numerous kitchen items all need to be stored in the kitchen. In addition, the coffee maker lives there, reason enough for many to visit this room frequently.
For safety and health reasons, it is important that kitchens remain clean and clutter free. General weekly cleaning is necessary, but it is important to regularly clean more carefully. Remove items from countertops and cupboards to allow access to wipe these surfaces. Clean out the refrigerator and pantry, rinse out the dishwasher and generally ensure that all surfaces are clean and hygienic.
An Organised Pantry
Prevent pantries becoming cluttered and disorganised by establishing a menu plan. Prepare a meal plan for one to two weeks then check the fridge and pantry for any groceries that will be needed to prepare the meals. Make a shopping list and go to the supermarket buying only the items on the list. Menu plans limit unnecessary grocery purchases, keeping the pantry uncluttered with the added advantage of helping to control the weekly grocery budget.
Sort through Cookbooks
How many of the cookbooks on the kitchen shelf do you actually use regularly? With the large number of very useful and versatile recipe websites, large collections of cookbooks are unnecessary. Limit cookbooks to those that are particularly useful and used often and consider selling or donating any others. This will remove dust-collecting clutter and free-up some shelf space.
Consider creating a household cleaning checklist to ensure that kitchen maintenance cleaning is done regularly and not overlooked.
Task for the Week
Cull those cookbooks. Keep only those that you really use.
