are your kitchen counters cluttered? what do you keep out?
we cleaned the kitchen this weekend and tried to reorganize for more space/less counter clutter... it still looks cluttered =/ our kitchen is just too dang small!
we have out the breadbox, mixer, wine bottles, spice rack knives, toaster, coffee maker, box where we keep coffee items, cuisinart griddler, and our steamer/slow cooker. WAY TOO MUCH! i need a house ASAP =(
wonderful clementine / 24134 posts
@mrs. bird: wow. Is there no place to store that stuff? Do you use it all frequently?
We have out paper towels, knife block, fruit bowl, and a drying rack for bottles. Other than whatever is out is junk.
pomegranate / 3008 posts
We have no pantry so part of my cabinets are used as a pantry (seriously, how did I miss that when I bought that house?!) so yes, we have cluttered countertops. Mixer, food processor, coffee maker, baking canisters (flour, sugar, rice, pasta, etc.), toaster, knife block, various breads (sandwich bread, tortillas, buns, etc.), and paper towel holder.
cantaloupe / 6610 posts
I hate counter clutter! We only leave out the Keurig, fancy knife set in the wood block, and a SS paper towel stand. Oh and the granite cutting board that was cut from our countertop slabs.
But I think your kitchen looks very neat- not cluttered!
GOLD / wonderful apricot / 22276 posts
We have our coffee maker, utensil holder, knives, spice rack, microwave, boon grass drying rack, paper towel holder, canisters and a mail organizer. It feels cluttered at times for sure but it's not like I can put all that stuff in a cupboard, that would be weird lol
GOLD / wonderful apricot / 22276 posts
@mrs. bird: Could you put a couple of the things you don't use as much away in a cupboard or a closet, and then just bring it out when you need it?
eggplant / 11824 posts
Our counters are almost totally bare (I hate cluttered counters) - the only things we keep out are a knife set in wooden block and a couple of maple cutting boards. But, we also have a walk-in pantry, which is the only reason our counters are bare!!!
blogger / wonderful cherry / 21616 posts
We had this problem too, we started storing most of our applicances in cupboards. Our kitchenaid is in the hutch cabinet in the dining room, toaster, electric water heater, hand mixer etc are in the cupboards.
We keep knives in the drawer, we have a french press so it has a small footprint and we keep that in a cupboard too.
We got rid of the spice rack because it took up too much room - and just store the jars in the spice cupboard. We also keep all our mixing spoons and utensils in a drawer too. And our kitchen is smaller than yours!
We always keep a lot of fruit/veggies on hand so our counters are consumed with that alllll the time. No room for appliances!
cherry / 178 posts
Oh MAN do I feel you on this one!
We have a mixer, coffee maker, hot water kettle, coffee and tea fixings, flour/sugar canisters, spices, utensils (3 container things of spatulas, etc), knives, and cutting boards all on our counters. It drives me nuts that it never really looks clean and organized, but my cupboards are so overflowing I'm stacking things on top of them! Cannot wait to have a house w some proper storage.
bananas / 9628 posts
@Thehistoryofus: we don't have a pantry, the doors in the pic are the back entrance and our bathroom. when we got married we were gifted a ton of great items and just don't have anywhere to put them, so we're busting at the seems! we don't use the mixer that often, but it don't fit anywhere else. the griddler and rice cooker/slow cooker get used a few times a week, but put the food processor in a cabinet where the rice cooker had been =/ i think i could find space for the griddler, but that's about it
cantaloupe / 6206 posts
Oh boy. Also no pantry here. We have 1 small counter and have a toaster, coffee maker, grinder, knives, cutting board, 2 spice racks, wine rack, radio, drying rack, and spoon holder thing. It's a lot.
All our other appliances (kitchenaid, slow cooker, hand mixer, George Foreman, french press, etc) were piled into a cabinet until we had ELFA shelves installed last week in our 2 feet of free wall space. Seriously changed my life. I'd post a pic but it doesn't look like you have space in there anyway for shelves. 
ETA: Actually even with the shelves our counters still look like yours. We just have more space in our cabinets. 
blogger / wonderful cherry / 21628 posts
When I lived in an apartment my counters were always cluttered! I have more room now, and it is nice. I have my mixer, a chopping block, a knife block, and a decorative jar filled with bottle caps on my counters.
bananas / 9628 posts
@JoJoGirl: no space for shelves =( the opposite wall has our fridge which is in the wall and an opening to the hall where the bedrooms are, so those pics are our entire kitchen... it is basically one side of a hallway. we don't even have a coat closet or a broom closet, so hiding things is tricky =(
blogger / watermelon / 14218 posts
We have tons of counter space but since they're pretty unusable (cabinets are too low above them and they are really shallow.. bad kitchen design! our drawers are also so shallow that I can't even put a 1 cup measuring cup in them! now I know what to look for in a kitchen when buying!!!) they got cluttered really really badly. My parents came over, took one look at the counters and took us straight to Ikea. One tall, deep bookshelf with doors later we have a beautiful pantry standing next to our fridge and my counters still have a LOT of stuff on them, but MUCH LESS! Changed my life!!!!!
right now my counters have, going left to right (the counters are in a big u-shape all the way around the kitchen): Keurig, mixer, dry goods canisters, wine rack, rice cooker, knife block, dish rack, sink, scrap rack, toaster, toaster oven, Ninja, Magic Bullet (thank my MIL for both of those), slow cooker, spice rack, stove, utensil crock. Dang, that's a lotta stuff. But I really hate storing appliances in cupboards.
pomegranate / 3580 posts
Our rental house has a teeny tiny kitchen, too. On our counters we have: a toaster, two tier basket for bread and fruits/veggies that can be out, Keurig, KitchenAid mixer, knife block and containers for flour, sugar and coffee. I'm not a huge fan of kitchen clutter, but I do like a few things out. What about getting some of those wire "baker" shelves? We had to get the small one and I don't like that you can see everything on them, but they do help keep the counters a bit cleaner.
ETA: I almost forgot...DH puts DIRTY dishes on the counter instead of the sink. It's how his mom preferred they did it growing up, but it drives me bonkers
pomelo / 5093 posts
No, my counters are nearly bare. I do not do well with clutter of any type.
wonderful olive / 19353 posts
Our kitchen countertop is pretty cluttered because we have a tiny kitchen as well. I've even already stored away our BIG appliances like our food processor, slow cooker, nuwave, etc. We leave our rice cooker, mixer, toaster, blender, deep fryer, and toaster oven out though since we use them often. Plus, we're completely out of storage space.
hostess / watermelon / 14932 posts
I will totally trade you my kitchen for yours! yours is a dream compared to what I'm working with! lol. let me get a picture. old house = no closets = everything jammed into the kitchen!!
hostess / watermelon / 14932 posts
Those bottom cupboards barely fit a thing, they're so shallow! And the counters suck. Lol.
pomegranate / 3244 posts
We have an oddly designed kitchen with not much counter space, so we've been pretty good at trying to keep clutter to a minimum. There is an 8-inch wide counter between the stove and wall, there we keep the rice cooker and toaster (both used daily). The things we don't use as often (slow cooker, food processor, blender, george foreman grill) are stored in the cabinet underneath. On the other side of the stove there is about 18 inches of counterspace before you get to the sink. There we have two canisters with wooden spoons, spatulas, etc. On the other side of the sink the counter extends another 5 feet or so before hitting the wall. There we have the microwave (a small, mini, apartment model) and knife block. Not having much space made me really good at figuring out what was truly needed on the counter!
We are lucky in that the cupboards are quite deep, and we have two large storage closets. They were just empty so I bought cheap bookshelves at target that would fit inside, so that is what we use as a pantry.
ETA: here is a photo
grapefruit / 4703 posts
This is an old picture from before we finished the kitchen (some trim pieces are missing and the window's not painted), but we have: the Keurig, k-cup holder, utensil holder, knife block, toaster, paper towel holder, mail sorter, shredder, and apparently a basil plant (it was the summer!) on our counters.
We also have an island that you can't see and that's about 30 square feet of counter with nothing on it.
I had a teeny tiny kitchen with about half the counter space you see here before, so that was #1 on my list when we renovated.
bananas / 9628 posts
@sorrycharlie: you win! That is a terrible space! Looks like it would be awkward to move around in. Ours is just straight, but everyone has to walk through it to get to the bedrooms or the bathroom and it's hard to have more than one person in there at a time. I do envy your window though, we don't have any windows in our kitchen or bathroom 
I hope we both get kitchen upgrades in our future homes!!
pomegranate / 3521 posts
The only thing we keep on the counter is the KA mixer, paper towel holder, kettle is always on the stove, and some containers with pasta in them (which I could put in the pantry but I feel like our counter top is too naked without them)
I think your kitchen looks fine. Could you get rid of the bread basket and some of the little stuff on the stove? That may help??
pomelo / 5789 posts
@mrs. bird: i think your kitchen is beautiful. So much more organized than mine.
Question, where did you get the breadbox? Ive been keeping our bread on top of the microwave!
wonderful pea / 17279 posts
@mrs. bird: at least it looks neat
Hmm on the counter we keep kitchen knives in butcher block holder, small butcher block cutting board, one of those utensil holders to keep your stove/counter from getting messy while you cook, paper towel holder, Keurig machine, K-Cup holder, dish drying rack, holder with most frequently used spoons & spatulas, and fruit basket. One of our outlets is always plugged in with a cell phone or tablet.
bananas / 9118 posts
We keep appliances that aren't used every day on a shelf in the garage. I just bring it out when I need something.
bananas / 9628 posts
@travelingbrit: thanks! i was beginning to worry that i was going to get reported to some hoarding show after hearing how many bees have clutter free kitchens! =D our breadbox is from homegoods, i got it a few years ago but see similar ones there frequently.
cantaloupe / 6800 posts
We keep out: Keurig, knife set, paper towel holder, all my cookbooks, two utensil holders, spoon rest, wine, S&P.
I can't stand it! We keep all of our little appliances in the lower cabinets, They're all jammed on top of eachother, but they aren't in my way.
cantaloupe / 6800 posts
@Shutterbug: 
your kitchen! I've been trying to figure out where to stop the back splash i'm looking at..I LOVE that yours goes all the way to the ceiling.
blogger / wonderful cherry / 21616 posts
@mrs. bird: okay pictures:
Our kitchen is tiny- amazingly though bigger than our previous kitchens haha!
The cupboards are really deep and that's a huge advantage. We are able to store some lesser used items near the back. Our pretty much never used items are in a box in my closet- cake stands and such.
So what's on my counter: tons of fruit, butcher block, French press and currently a cleaning spray.
blogger / wonderful cherry / 21616 posts
@mrs. bird: okay pictures:
Our kitchen is tiny- amazingly though bigger than our previous kitchens haha!
The cupboards are really deep and that's a huge advantage. We are able to store some lesser used items near the back. Our pretty much never used items are in a box in my closet- cake stands and such.
So what's on my counter: tons of fruit, butcher block, French press and currently a cleaning spray.
apricot / 275 posts
Yes, our kitchen counters are always cluttered...but with JUNK, not necessities like your nice, organized counters! 
That being said, here are a couple of suggestions to free up some space for you:
Get rid of the butcher block knife holder. Hang one of these & save tons of room (plus they look cool, in my opinion) http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/00136621/
The bread box takes up a lot of room. I would store that for now & keep the bread on top of other food items in the cabinet (bread is usually short enough to fit & won't get smashed).
Along the same lines as the knife rack, makes spices work as decor with a cool hanging spice rack. West Elm has a really cute one: http://www.westelm.com/products/mrk-hanging-spice-rack-d538/
or move it to the inside of a cabinet with a few of these: http://www.amazon.com/SpiceStor-Organizer-Cabinet-Spice-Clips/dp/B005J9FNTK
That should help quite a bit!
apricot / 275 posts
After posting that, I think I am going to make a blog post out of tips like this Thanks for the inspiration!
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