Your old kitchen looking new!
Could you possibly be upset with your kitchen/diner always looking mucky, messy, filthy, maybe even looking like a hazardous area? It doesn’t necessarily mean you have to spend money and time on ripping it all out and starting again. After all, if you keep to the same habits, it won’t be long before your new kitchen will look just like the old one. Add a few small new habits on a regular basis to your day and you might find your old kitchen looks like new.
If you have a dishwasher – empty any clean dishes out of it and put them away. This should take no longer than 5 minutes. Now, if there are any dirty dishes lying around, stack them in the dishwasher and start it going. Again, this should take no longer than 5 minutes. Just by itself, putting away the clean dishes and stacking dirty ones in the dishwasher will help make your kitchen look cleaner and tidier. And it will do a lot for the hygiene too.If you don’t have a dishwasher, then wash your dirty dishes and RINSE them under the cold tap and leave them to dry for a few minutes. By rinsing them, it cuts out having to use a towel to dry them. While they are drying, run a fresh bowl of hot sudsy water and put the next lot of dishes in to soak. If you still have more dirty dishes, stack them neatly beside the sink. Put away the clean dishes, then wash the next lot and rinse those and leave to dry. Keep moving those clean dishes into the cupboards, putting the next lot of dirty dishes in to soak and stacking the next lot of dirty dishes beside the sink. This clears your table and working surfaces quickly and helps make the kitchen look cleaner and tidier. Depending on how many dishes are lying around, it might take 15 – 30 minutes to do this the first time but if you make this a regular habit, the dishes will get clean and tidied away in a very short time.
Once your table is clear of dirty dishes, see if you can clear it of anything else. Can you put condiments (salt, pepper, etc) away? Is there any milk left out, or anything else that needs to go back in your fridge? Have you table mats out that could be wiped and stacked? Are there any old magazines or newspapers that could be dumped or recycled?
Once the dirty dishes are off your counters, give your counters a wipe to remove any crumbs.
Once all your dishes are washed and either put away or draining after being rinsed, wipe out your sink. You may want to clean it a couple of times a week, but clear and rinsed is a great start. If any food particles have got stuck in the outlet, clear those. It only takes a few seconds and it helps the water drain away faster.
Put your dish towels tea towels, etc in the wash and put out fresh ones.
A clean kitchen can be easy to achieve with a few quick regular habits that become like second nature once you have practised them for a few days. Look at your kitchen with fresh eyes. It may not be a new kitchen you need but a few new small habits that will make your kitchen look like new and keep your family healthy.