When My Kitchen Is an Absolute MESS

I don't know how it is in your home; but in mine, having the kitchen go from relatively neat and orderly to utter chaos only takes a few hours--or less.  Normal life in a family of seven has been known to occasionally cause messes.  ;-)  But other causes for me are:

1. days in which we're gone from home most of the day, especially if we've gone grocery shopping, and I'm not at home to do the routine straightening and putting-away that naturally occurs at multiple times during a day at home,

2. days in which I can or freeze food,

3. days in which I prepare a meal to take to someone else, and

4. holidays (like the 4th of July, which is when I took the pictures in this post).

I admit that at times, when I look around at clutter that covers every flat surface and piles of dirty dishes that won't fit in the dishwasher (or are too stubborn to actually let themselves get cleaned in such a device), I can start feeling discouraged in a hurry.  But recently I've started analyzing some steps I take to restore order, and I've discovered that it's not rocket science!  These steps are really quite basic, but it's helpful for me to write them out in a list.  That way, the next time I feel like my kitchen is next thing to a pigsty, I'll shrug and say, "No biggie.  I know how to whip this room back into shape in a jiffy!"  :)

My first step is kind of silly, but for me it's extremely helpful to take a minute or two to go through the living room and put away things that are out of place: cushions back on the couch, games back in the closet, books back on the shelves, toys back in the baskets, etc.  My living room is actually a pretty easy room to keep neat because I basically know where everything goes in that room.  If there are a lot of things out, I call the boys to come help me do a Room Rescue; they're so familiar with that that they don't even fuss much (most of the time).  ;-)  Once that room is orderly again, I find myself ready to tackle the kitchen.

My second step is to turn on some music.  It's fun to pull out my big case of CDs and look through the pages to find one that's just right for that particular cleaning-up session.  :)

My third step is to pour a drink.  Recently my drink of choice has most often been my mother's stevia-sweetened iced tea, which she so faithfully prepares every day to keep Jeff and I well-stocked!  :)  But when it's cooler, some hot tea or hot chocolate or something along those lines sure tastes good, too.  Once in a while, if I'm really having a hard time convincing myself to be energetic enough to clean up the kitchen, I'll splurge and have a Vanilla Coke; and occasionally, I'll even drink plain ol' ice water.  :)

My fourth step is to empty the dishwasher, and obviously that's so I'll have space to put the dirty dishes I'll clear off the table and counters.

My fifth step is to choose a zone.  FlyLady talks a lot about zones within a house, and I've adapted that idea on a smaller scale to divide my kitchen into different areas.  I have five zones: 

1. the long black bench,

2. the kitchen table,

3. the telephone counter, as I call it,

4. the counter between the stove and the sink, and

5. the counter between the sink and the refrigerator.

When I'm ready to start the work of restoring order, it helps me so much to simply choose one of those areas to tackle first.  Rather than flitting around and putting away a cereal box from the table followed by a piece of junk mail on the telephone counter and then a bag of groceries on the black bench and then a stack of dirty plates on the counter followed by some eggs that Tobin and Shav carried in from the chickens and set down on the table, I (try to!) focus my efforts on one area at a time, dealing with each item there, and--the best part!--feeling a wonderful sense of accomplishment as I make a clear space.  The energy that comes from completing one section propels me on to attack the next one.

My sixth step, which usually comes into play when I'm dragging a little, is to repeat to myself this motto: "Pick up one thing at a time.  All you have to do is reach out and grab one thing.  Just pick it up, that one thing, and deal with it.  That's all you have to do!"  That keeps me moving forward, even when I'd rather quit.  :)

If I had an official seventh step, it would be this: enjoy the sense of accomplishment.  Pause every now and then to remember, for example, what that black bench looked like when it was piled with bags of groceries and books from violin lessons and the diaper bag and a random sock someone dropped there.  And now stop and look at it: totally uncovered, clear of all clutter.  Ah, beautiful!  :)  

I don't usually take pictures of this process, of course.  :)  But for this blog post, I did; and it was especially rewarding to see the contrast between the before & after shots of each zone.  Hey, maybe I should take pictures of this transformation more often, just to keep my spirits up!  ;-)

A general shot of the kitchen on the Fourth of July, with my dear Shavi finishing his lunch:

The black bench before:

The black bench after (and I'll add that since then, I've found new homes for these books, even the basket of books we were using for homeschooling, so these days when this bench is cleared off, it's totally cleared off):

The table before:

The table after:

The telephone counter before:

The telephone counter after:

The counter between the stove and the sink before:

The counter between the stove and the sink after:

The counter between the sink and the refrigerator before:

The counter between the sink and the refrigerator after:

Let me tell you something about this last set of pictures.  First, I did not take that final picture on July 4th when the others were taken.  Reason being, I didn't get that zone fully cleaned up on that day.  There are many times when I get the first four zones neat and clean, and then get stuck at this fifth zone.  It's frustrating to me, to be sure; but I've also discovered that, even if I only get some of the zones cleaned up, it's a whole lot better than having none of them organized.  Progress is a good thing, even if the entire task doesn't get done at one time.

Having a little bit of a mess in one area is far superior to having an absolute mess in every square inch of surface space!

And now, if you'll excuse me, I have some work to do in my kitchen.  Is my living room picked up?  Yes!  Do I have a drink?  You bet, but my glass of iced tea might need refilled; I'll do that first. But...hmmm...what music to listen to?

What a fun thing to ponder.  I think, to be different, I just might choose a Christmas CD...   :)