How to Keep the Sink Area and Countertop Organized?

The kitchen is one of those few areas of your house where you can excuse yourself for a bit of mess. But this doesn’t mean you get a leeway. While it can be acceptable to not care about the messy countertop and sink area on some days, it can be troublesome to make it a regular practice. One direct impact of this can be on your kitchen’s aesthetics and performance. Indirectly, it can hamper your health and hygiene. A scattered platform would require shifting some items here and there to begin the work. In a hurry, you can end up
misplacing a few essentials. So that can be another burden.

To maintain a neat and clean kitchen, you have to take your critical eye to the sink area and
worktops. Here are few easy tips to ensure this.

The sink area

Whether it is a single or double bowl for your kitchen counter, these spaces remain busy with scruffy sponges, drippy bottles, and different types of junk. In a small kitchen with limited counter and storage, such scenarios are more predictable. Anyway, your focus should be on keeping things simple. For example, there will be sizeable plastic dish soap, hand lotion, and hand soap bottles. Ditch these bottles on the counter to opt for smaller built-in pumps. Buying large bottles can be both budget- and eco-friendly. That’s why it may not be wise to ignore this. Alternatively, you can refill the smaller bottles and stash the bulky ones inside. Make sure the pumps are either glass or metal materials to reduce waste.

Again, you can bring everything together in a small tray for a more clutter-free experience. Your kitchen will likely have different types of platters or trays. Use one of them to organize your cleaning supplies into one spot. If you wish to add glamour to the sink area, look for a ceramic base. And for a fancier look, you can even bank on marble trays. Since you have to open your ring and watch when doing the dishes, you can keep a small container close to the sink for storing these items temporarily. In this also, your choice would matter. Anything in brass or china can look incredible.

Besides that, a dish rack can be a standard feature on the sink counter. Although some modern sinks come with these accessories, you may still wish to have an extra resource. In that case, selecting something with a minimalist footprint can be helpful. It will be better to search for a foldable dish rack with more than one level of storage.

Sync up these organizing efforts with your cleaning habits. Make it a practice to wipe down the entire length and breadth of the sink counter daily. Arrange the bins that hold dishwashers, counter sprayers, scouring pads, and others. Do you have a windowsill over the sink? If you dump your old coupons and cards in this area, it would be better to check this habit.

The main countertop

Every inch of the worktop is precious. Imagine how you would manage things with your cluttering habits if it were only two by four feet. That’s why you have to be critical about what you use daily, occasionally, and rarely. It can be flavoring ingredients, spatulas, tongs, knives, meat mallets, or anything. Scan your working style in the kitchen to get the hint. Whatever you don’t use daily or frequently is easy to label as non-essential. Of course, you don’t have to throw them out unless they are in distressed condition.

Once the countertop is free, you can again run your watchful eyes through it to consider your cooking style. Which pan and cooking tool do you often use to prepare and cook your meals? To be precise, if appliances like microwave, bread machine, cold press juicers, and others didn’t feature in your activity since the last year, you could move them into the pantry or a place where all your bulky items go. The rest can go into drawers or cabinets.

You may want to grab a few plates quickly while working over the cooktop. You can have a small rack for them near the stove. But if the wall is empty up there, you can build a floating shelf to stack them on it. The plates will be easily visible and accessible too. And if there is some more room, you can store other items too.

According to kitchen experts, home cooks need to be strict about their kitchen cleaning practices. Keeping an eye on the expiry of perishable items can be painful but advantageous in many ways.

A few points to consider

• You are the king or queen of your kitchen. Your primary goal should be to make it most comfortable for your use. Indulging in small luxuries from time to time doesn’t hurt, though. For example, you can infuse the sink area and countertop with plush towels, elegant kitchen mitts, attractive tongs, whisks, etc. These things add value to the kitchen in their unique manner. So it can be fun buying these little things for your happiness. Even candles in the sink area can also be a mood enhancer. You can explore these ideas based on your interest and wish.
• A clean kitchen promotes health and well-being. If you keep these main spots cluttered, you compromise with hygiene and cleanliness somewhere. It can affect your functioning too. Hence, it is better to pay attention to the clutter in these corners and remove them. Initially, it can feel like a task. Once you get into a habit, your perception and approach toward this will change for the better. It will become a part of your daily chore. And keeping things simple in the kitchen is favorable for you for maintenance reasons also. Lesser products will cause a fewer mess. Even if something gets dirty or soiled, you can quickly clean or wash it.
• You can take care of drawers and cabinets in a similar fashion. However, it doesn’t mean you have to do everything at the same time. You can move slowly but steadily to achieve your goal.
• A little organization and some smart tips can go a long way to make your kitchen look great. If you find planning an effort, you can today utilize the help of ready-made storage solutions available in the market. Here are a few effective ways to keep things neat and clean:
• You can have tiered spice racks. They are practical to use and easy to install. The spices will be visible, accessible, and tidy too.
• You can store other small items like spoons, tongs, whisks, spatulas, etc. in your pots. You should use adhesive hooks or other clips for this purpose. They are easy to install and remove.
• You can go for cabinet organizers. They are lightweight, sturdy, and adjustable too. You can adjust them as per your requirements, no matter how complicated they are.
• You can make use of magnetic strips to organize your cooking knives, forks, etc. They will be visible and accessible too.

Here are some additional tips :

It is better to keep the hot stuff on back burners or low shelves. You can place items like pots, pans, jars of jam, honey, pickles, etc. near back burners. They will be there for easy use. Also, you should not put anything over the heat source.