Tired of Cleaning Your Kitchen? Unhappy with the results? Don’t be too quick to blame cleaning solutions. It may be as simple as clutter on your work surfaces stopping you from getting to all the grime and dirt.

If you have no room to store your appliances, they will clutter your counter tops. Cluttered counter tops never get truly disinfected because you’d have to lift and move everything sitting on them, twice, in order to do it properly.

More often than not, this means you put off cleaning those surfaces and the dirt turns into long-standing grime. When there is too much prep work involved, those of us who have long days at work, are raising kids, or aren’t as physically energetic as we used to be, never really get around to it.

We can make kitchen cleaning easier and more convenient, by designing our homes to include plenty of storage space for things that would otherwise be ugly cumbersome clutter.

In the kitchen, this means having at least a third more cabinet space than people typically install, and lots of hooks to hang things from on the walls. Avoid hanging heavy pans and utensils overhead from a ceiling rack, like some designers do. Not only is hanging heavy pans overhead dangerous, it also makes one feel subconsciously oppressed and uneasy when standing beneath them. The cooks will put more love into the cooking when they feel uncomfortable. Give them plenty of clear head room.

Think about those large appliances you have on your counter top. The food processor, popcorn maker, cake mixer, crock pot, toaster oven, coffee or bread maker, breadbox, and blender. At least half of these items aren’t used everyday, and could be put in a cabinet. To keep from straining your back, build your cabinet into the wall itself, so it’s at the same height as the counter you will scoot it out onto when you need it. When it’s easy to put away and take out again, you won’t be tempted to leave it sitting there on the counter where it prevents you from wiping up puddles.

For appliances you do use everyday, try a wall mount or a door less cabinet at just the right height for access and easy use and an electrical plug in back. When you finally get everything off the counter, you’ll find you have room to work, and cleaning up will take about 30 seconds. Run a soapy sponge over the counter and then use a small hand sized rubber squeegee to pull all the soap, water and food remnants into your sink. The process is so easy and quick when there’s no clutter, you’ll do it all the time without even thinking twice.

You may reprint this article provided that the resource box with the author info remains intact and retains all of its links in their active form.

Anne E. Moss writes more about home decor on her websites and shopping blog. Learn more about kitchen design and view recommended products on http://home-kitchens.net/ and http://home-design-ideas.com/

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Anne_E._Moss

Author: Anne E. Moss

 Mail this post

Technorati Tags:

Related Posts