How a Neat Kitchen Can Change Your Life

You’ve probably heard the saying, “the kitchen is the heart of the home.” That seems to be the case for many people, even those who don’t cook much. It’s where so much of your family life takes place. The bonding, important conversations, planning and preparing; and of course the eating. That’s why when your kitchen is neat, it can change your life. And when it’s not, it can add a lot of stress to your life.

So why do people struggle with having a neat kitchen? And why is it so hard to maintain?

There are a few reasons in my opinion.

The usual ones might be: You’re busy, it’s too small, it gets messy easily, etc.

However, there’s another which I think is the biggest problem of all. And it’s this:

You became used to the clutter and don’t realize you can make a change.

It’s one thing if you’re frustrated once in a while with the spaces in your home, but you shouldn’t be frustrated every day.

Everyone deserves to have a pleasant experience in their kitchen, and I hope with some insight I can make that happen for you.

constant frustrations make you want a neat kitchen

It used to be so tough for me to navigate around my kitchen. It seemed like there was never enough room.

Either I was trying to retrieve something without other things toppling down, or I was trying to jam a drawer shut that was too full. Not to mention when I had to move over everything in a cabinet to locate something from the back.

Do any of these seem familiar to you?

Like me, you probably got used to these frustrating scenarios and accepted them as your reality. Constant stress in your kitchen. Constant stress in a place where you spend time every day.

I was honestly so confused because by nature I’m not messy at all; I’m neat and organized. But for some reason, my kitchen was still stressful.

Every once in a while I got fed up. And when I did, I would decide it was time to “reorganize.”

For the longest time I was “reorganizing my kitchen to have more space.”

I laugh at myself now but at the time I genuinely thought this would solve my problem.

I bought the containers and baskets that you’re all familiar with. The ones that will magically turn your kitchen into the cover of a magazine? (Spoiler alert, they don’t). Or at least not on their own.

There’s nothing wrong with having baskets and containers (I have a few myself.) But they alone won’t solve the problem.

I labeled the containers and baskets, filled them up, and stacked them neatly.

For a short time, I was satisfied that I figured everything out and it worked well. Then a few weeks or months would pass by and I’d be frustrated again.

Either the setup wasn’t working, or things would overflow again and get disorganized.

I remember thinking to myself, “there’s got to be a more efficient way to live.” I knew deep down that there was a better solution out there.

The root of the problem wasn’t being solved and deep down I had a feeling I knew what the root of the problem was:

reorganizing doesn’t keep your kitchen neat

It seems logical to solve the problem of a cluttered kitchen by organizing it.

But organizing doesn’t necessarily create more space. Yes, if you’re smart with your space you’ll fit more into it. But it doesn’t actually make your shelves longer or your cabinets wider.

So then you might say, “get a bigger kitchen.” Seems logical, right?

Unfortunately, if you don’t fix the root of the problem, you’ll clutter up a big kitchen as well.

I’m sure you’ve seen videos on YouTube titled “huge kitchen organization” featuring really big kitchens and pantries. Month after month the same person seems to be reorganizing their big kitchen and pantry. I can’t help but wonder; if the organizing is working, why does it still get out of hand so often?

What if you don’t want to spend time doing gigantic organizational projects? What if you just want to maintain a neat kitchen, which only requires a ten-minute declutter session say, once a month?

I realized that it’s not about the kitchen, it’s about the person using it.

Through some of my declutter research I came across two excellent books that I highly recommend. They have great insight into the importance and benefits of neat and tidy spaces.

One is The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo, and the other is The Minimalist Home by Joshua Becker.

the magic of minimalism

Now before you get scared off by the word minimalism, thinking that I’ll tell you to live like a monk with one pot and one ladle, don’t. There’s so much more to it.

This journey is an eye-opening experience that can change your life, and where you’ll learn a lot about yourself.

I never thought that the concept of “decluttering” would apply to me because like I said I’m a naturally neat person. However:

neat clutter is still clutter

I noticed that if I’m going to have too many things in my kitchen, I will be sacrificing the ability to have a more pleasant cooking experience.

This idea truly changed everything.

The more I learned about it, the more grateful I was that I did. Research shows a direct correlation between clutter and stress. Unbeknownst to us, stress affects our sleep, productivity, and ability to focus. The problem with clutter is a lot of people don’t even realize they have it. They think only messy houses have it, the ones where you can’t see the floor.

My kitchen underwent a true metamorphosis.

For the first time ever I looked around and saw things differently. I had too many things in my kitchen, and unless I got rid of stuff no amount of organizing will help.

I noticed that I was trying to make room for things that I didn’t even need or use when I could simply get rid of them and free up space. Whereas before I looked at something and thought, “I need to find space for this.” Now I look at something and think, “do I need this?”

I knew that the sacrifices I’d be making by getting rid of certain things would be worth it. They’ll be worth the peaceful feeling I have when I cook, and the subconscious peaceful feelings I have even when I’m not cooking.

Changing your mindset:

To create a neat kitchen you need to slowly start shifting your mindset. You’ll need to start using the things you love over and over again, as well as have them serve a dual purpose.

So if up until now you chose from eight different mugs when you made a coffee, maybe pare them down to two. Of if up until now you switched between using two different pots for boiling pasta, maybe pare down and use the same one every time.

You might also decide that an entire cabinet you designated to something like cupcake baking or cake decorating is not worth the space and you’d rather put something else there. If you empty a cabinet you can transfer things to it from a different one and have two neat ones instead.

It’s important to remember that if you hold onto things that you use only once a year, it’ll make the things you use every week harder to get to. See if you can borrow the things you use once a year, or use something else for them instead. If you feel like you still want those items maybe think about putting them away in another room and just grabbing them when you need them. This will free up space for your day-to-day use of the kitchen.

letting go of your fantasy self:

This is another big one to tackle if you want a neat kitchen.

It certainly was for me.

It’s time to realize the meaning behind why you’re holding onto so many things.

I had lots of stuff for my “fantasy self”. Or the person I thought I “should” be. Like the teapot I held onto because I thought it would be so cute if I had guests over, filled it with tea, and poured it into their cute little teacups while they snacked on biscuits.

I know, right? Who was I kidding?

Holding onto those things was holding me back from having the kitchen of my dreams which was a kitchen that worked for me.

The few times a year that my guests are interested in tea, the idea of taking out that teapot and filling it with hot water is so far-fetched and unpractical. Before I can think twice, I take out a good old mug from the cabinet, fill it with hot water from my urn, and my guests are quite satisfied.

If you really want to create a neat kitchen, you’ll need to go the extra step and start thinking this way. Otherwise, when you eye some of the things in your kitchen you won’t get rid of them because you’re imagining yourself using them in scenarios that are likely to never happen.

When you let go of the things for your fantasy self, you’ll start enjoying the life you have now.

Being able to change my mindset from not having enough space to creating a space that worked for me was so important. I started to think about every item I had and why I had it.

Maintaining a neat kitchen:

It’s probably more important to learn how to maintain a neat kitchen than how to create one in the first place. The first step is decluttering your kitchen, the second step is protecting the new neat one. Firstly, be aware of how quickly you can accumulate stuff.

Things are so affordable and easily attainable these days that your kitchen is at risk of getting cluttered quickly. You’ll see countless advertisements everyday that make you think you need all sorts of things. And the temptation is strong, I know. But:

It’s not worth it.

Those things are fighting for precious real estate in one of the most important areas in your home: the kitchen.

Remember there’s a price we pay for having too much stuff, and it’s not just money. One, you need to manage all the clutter, and two, stuff attracts stuff. As soon as we have one thing, we want another.

It’ll take getting used to but it’s worth strengthening the muscle of self-control when it comes to buying things and bringing them into your home. With time, if you really want to, you can achieve it.

You won’t miss not having a neat kitchen!

I can’t even explain the difference between cooking in my kitchen before I decluttered it and after. Cooking now is so joyous. Reaching for things is easy, putting them away is a breeze, and there’s plenty of space on my counters to work.

Not a single thing I got rid of was worth the stress it would have caused to own it. And I wouldn’t trade the pleasure I have now for all that stuff.

Once I cleared everything away I was actually able to use my kitchen freely knowing that anything I needed was within arms reach.

My kitchen has become functional and not just a storage unit for lots of excess stuff.

meal prepping is more likely to happen in a neat kitchen:

If you’re wondering what a blog about meal plans and recipes has to do with a neat kitchen…everything!

Meal planning and prepping are a lot more pleasant in a neat kitchen; they kind of go hand in hand.

When your space is neat, your mind can focus and plan out the week in an organized way. Then you can cook everything while easily moving around your kitchen.

You also won’t be overwhelmed by all the stuff you have which automatically makes you accomplish more.

So how does a neat kitchen change your life?

Going through the decluttering process ultimately changes the way you think. You look at things and wonder what their purpose is. When you see how pleasant your kitchen is you’ll want to do it in the rest of your home.

When your brain becomes accustomed to assigning specific items for specific tasks you become more organized in all aspects of your life.

For example, if you train your brain that when you make pasta you use one specific pot and one specific ladle instead of choosing from a few, your brain becomes more organized. You’ll have fewer decisions to make which leaves you with more energy.

Slowly but surely you’ll start adapting a new attitude not only in your kitchen but in your entire house. When you live intentionally, you let go of everything that isn’t important to you. You’ll instantly have time for the things you do care about and in our opinion, that’s life-changing.

In closing:

It’s hard to put into words how passionate I am about bringing more joy into our lives by decluttering them.

I hope I was able to convey the beauty in not only a neat kitchen but an intentional one. A kitchen that you look forward to being in, and that you can easily maintain.

Wishing you the best of luck.