Episode 353 – 10 things to remove from your kitchen counters

Does your heart sink every time you walk into your kitchen? If your counters are crowded with appliances, mail, mystery gadgets, or things that don’t belong anywhere near food prep - they make cooking harder, cleaning more frustrating, and the whole space feel stressful.

In today's podcast we’re talking about 10 things you can remove from your kitchen counter today to reclaim space, calm, and clarity.

So, if you’re ready to fall back in love with your kitchen, let’s dive in
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Transcript of this podcast episode
00:00
Does your heart sink every time you walk into your kitchen? If your counters are crowded with appliances, mail, mystery gadgets or things that don't belong anywhere near food prep, they're making cooking harder, cleaning more frustrating, and the whole space feels stressful in today's podcast, we're talking about 10 things you can remove from your kitchen counter today to reclaim space, calm and clarity. So if you're ready to fall back in love with your kitchen, let's dive in. You.

00:43
You're listening to the declutter hub podcast bringing you tried and tested no nonsense tips and advice from the leading experts in decluttering and organising your home. Now here are your hosts Ingrid Jansen and Lesley Spellman.

01:02
The Hello and welcome listeners. I'm Ingrid and I'm Lesley. If you're new to the declutter hub podcast, you're so welcome. What you'll find is that we try and find a fun factor in the serious business of decluttering. And if you've been here for a while, you know exactly what we mean. So thank you so much for listening. If you'd like to get involved in conversations relating to this podcast, it all takes place in our Facebook group. So come and join our lovely, warm, supportive community. To find the Facebook group, go to declutter hub.com, forward slash group to find out more, or you can search for the declutter hub community on Facebook. Here we are again with attendings podcast, and we love it, don't we? Lesley, we do? Yeah, I'm quite excited by today. It's because I think kitchen counter tops get a bit clutter, don't they in some people's houses. I feel like you're either a sort of more minimalist person and you like things to be away. And then there are a lot of people who like things out. I'm going to talk a little bit about that and the reason for that later, but I think the sometimes, to me, the kitchen counters look a little bit sad, a little bit unkempt, a little bit kind of, you know, things out a little bit dusty, not been moved for a while. And so we just want to kind of regenerate kitchen counters. And your choice as to what you have on your kitchen counter is completely up to you. Of course, this is, this is your choice, your way you you cook the way you you want to. You food prep the way you want to. But we've got some ideas, and you can always change things up, if things are not working right? Ingrid, absolutely. And I think we it's one of those things that we get really used to, don't we? We have things out, and it's been like that forever and ever, and we don't even think about it. We could do it differently, but we do see in everyday life that we struggle with putting stuff away, with prepping food. We're always moving stuff about but it hasn't occurred to us yet, actually, why is all this stuff out, and why do I need to keep it there? And I think this is what this podcast is all about, is to help you think, inspire you and go, Okay, let me have a fresh look at my kitchen. How does this look? Do I feel overwhelmed by all this stuff out, have I got too much out? Hmm, let me have a look at the suggestions Ingrid and Lesley have made. Let me rethink this whole kitchen counter situation and make my my life easier, because the more stuff is out, the more difficult it is to do things, prep food, clean things, because, you know, even I wipe my kitchen counters three times per day, Lesley after breakfast, after lunch, after dinner, I just give it a quick wipe with my cloth, with my microfiber cloth, some fresh soapy water. But the more stuff it's that is out, the more difficult it is to get this, usually quick job done. So I really hope that we inspire our listeners today, definitely, definitely. So let's get started with our number one. So we're going to go, we're going to ask you to look at the appliances that you've got. We've all got some appliances out on our work counters. We've all either got a coffee machine, a toaster, sometimes like microwaves, things like that, air fryers, a big one, slow cookers, many, many things that people have on their work surfaces. And sometimes it's tricky because we don't always have the COVID space for them as well. So sometimes they're out because we've not got space for them in the cupboards. But we would urge you to look at whether or not they are they justifying the space that they take up on your countertops. It's really, really really important to think about that. I mean, you know, things like toasters, kettles in the UK,

04:46
air fryers. Now we're typically used every day, but you know things like

04:50
food processors, often a little bit seldom used. It depends. It really depends on how you cook, right, doesn't it? So there's no right or wrong answer, but this is what we see.

05:00
And it's important to go the things that are out that are taking valuable space need to be used on a regular basis to justify that spot, don't they? So have a look and go, Is this a sensible amount of appliances? Or have I just got there because I did use it? You know, we change. Our habits change, right? So it might be that you always used to have loads of toast when your kids were at home, and now you might only have that every two or three weeks. Can you put that toaster away? You know, obviously it's got to come out of the cup cover to be used as as they all do. But can we change things up? Really look at your current behaviors. We're trying to create a lifestyle that that fits us, but honestly, these kind of things, we just leave them the same for years and decades, don't we? And without evaluating things absolutely right? Lesley, so let's move on to number two, which is oils and vinegars. We find them next to the cooker or your stove or your home, or whatever terminology that you use. They are there the oils and vinegars ready for action. But then when we look at them in detail, we think, Hmm, how long has this been here? Is it maybe even expired? Do I actually use it? I mean, to be fair, I have oils and vinegars next to my cooker, but I use them all the time. Not vinegars, but the oils, they're next to my cooker, because daily they get used. So I don't want to walk around my kitchen grabbing it, but sometimes you see things next to cook ocean. You think, I wonder, really, wonder if this is getting used at all, or if it's not better to put this in the cupboard away if it's rarely used. I think there's, like a we this is something that we always do, what we've always done right Ingrid, if we've always had things out when we can really, we can go through like a re sort of generation of our kitchen, our whole kitchen, and still have the oils and vinegars out, but it's okay. Like, you know, the thing is, with an oil and a vinegar, you're not going to forget that you need it. Do you know what I mean? Like, there are many things. We put them out there as visual reminders, don't we? That's why people have the oils and vinegars. They're there as visual reminders. We think that we're doing it because it's easy. Actually. How big are our kitchens? We're not walking like 15 yards across the kitchen are. We might have to walk into a into a in across the kitchen, to another cupboard, or something like that. But we don't always need them right next to us. That's a personal choice, whether or not you want to. But we would say, you know, have a smaller amount of them. If you do have oils and vinegars, it's good for them to look intentional, so make sure that they're on a tray, or they're in a lazy susan or something like that, or just in it. You know, as soon as something is on a tray, it just looks that bit more intentional, doesn't it? Ingrid, yeah, and that's exactly what I have Lesley together with my salt and pepper, my flour shaker that it all kind of belongs. It's on a little lazy Susan, and it belongs there, and it's there, and it gets cleaned. You know, every, every week or so it gets, it gets wiped down. So it makes complete sense to have it there. How about you, Lesley, anything like that, out with you, or in, in the cupboards, or out of the cupboards. Everything's in, everything's in, and everything's always been in. Yeah, my work surfaces, to be fair, are fairly clear. I like them quite clear, really. And we'll talk later about exactly what I do have on that once we've gone through the list. But yeah, I'm a clear work surface gal. I'm happy to go across to my pantry and grab my oils and oils and vinegars when I need them. Excellent. Well, let's go on to number three. Then, oh yeah, this isn't a good one,

08:23
a pot with utensils like spatulas and whisks and, I mean, plastic. I mean, you name it. There's just the thing is, the pots are always overflowing. Are there? Lesley, there's never just three or four things. It ends up being a catch all for everything. And then you can hardly get anything in. You can hardly get anything out. Everything is tangled. And then, indeed, the seldom use things, they all look a bit like you think they can do a little run in the dishwasher, while the things you use all the time probably look like they've had the best day, because they've been used like all the time for the last 20 years. So there needs to be a balance there, I think, to make it not look so messy. Yeah, I think it would be unusual Ingrid for you to be able to get all your utensils into one of those utensils pots. And so you're undoubtedly going to have a draw with other utensils in it. And so it's about, how many of those do you need out? And indeed, do you need them out? Just because you've got a part with utensils in does not mean that you always need to do that. If you can put them all in a drawer and it gives you that cleanliness that we're looking for on the kitchen counter, go for it. So I think this is an opportunity for you not only to remove it from the kitchen counter, but to go through those utensils and go, How many wooden spoons do I actually need if I've got a metal version and a plastic version of something, you know, like spoons and stuff like that, am I ever using the stainless steel version, or is it scratching my pants? You know, you might have changed all the things that you're using in your kitchen and your utensils need to suit. So it's really important for you to look at that a.

10:00
Do I need utensils out at all? Can be can they go into the drawer? See, have I got too many? And of course, if you're like, you know what, I do need my utensils out because I've not got drawer space for them. Do you have an alternative? There's loads of great things that you can do now, up behind cooker and sort of like cooker hoods, cobs and things like that. You can put metal racks where you can hang them. So think look at alternative options, which keep it off the countertop but still have it close at hand, if that's what you want, for whatever reason, either because you want it close at hand, or because you have not got draw space for it. So look for alternatives, honestly, on Amazon and things like that. Now there are so many alternatives to for different things, but make sure that those things are sensible for you. Yeah. And while you're at it, please give that port a clean as well. So if you do decide to do a bit of a clear out of your utensil pot, the pot itself also can maybe, do you know, a little had a little wash up as well, so it all looks nice and fresh again. Now let's move on to number four. Lesley, Oh, I feel that we might do very different things here, paper towels on the counter. So you've got those paper towel holders where you've got the can you put a kitchen towel on, and they're very in all kinds of different materials. I've actually recently bought a new one because my old one was looking just a bit worn after about 20 years. I was like, okay, needs an upgrade.

11:31
So, yeah, I definitely have kitchen paper towels on my on my kitchen, but one roll and not the all the other ones, because they're always coming a pack of six, right? Or three, they're bulky. The rest is all neatly away in a cupboard. But I have, do have one out. But, yeah, I do have a bit more counter space than I don't have a tiny kitchen. I think that's also, I think, what, what counts as well? Yeah, definitely. I think paper towels. I mean, you know, it won't surprise you that my paper towels are not out there, in on the cupboard, under the cupboard with other with my other cleaning products. But again, it depends on how you utilize paper towels. Some people use that all of the time. Some people even use that to wipe up spills, and, you know, to wipe kitchen counters rather than using a dish cloth. Some people use paper towel, which I wouldn't do because I feel like it's a little bit wasteful, if I'm honest. But you know, because I think you can use that with a reusable microfiber cloth or something like that. But you've really got to look at your own behaviors. I don't use paper towel every day, you know? I mean, so I probably use it maybe like once a week. Do you know what I mean? So why then would I have it out on my work surface? I think there are loads of nice paper towel holders. They look lovely. It's no problem. They look nicer when they're full, rather than being empty, to be fair. But what I did want to say about paper towels, just as an add on to this, is, as English said, they always come in sixes. No, they don't always come in sixes. They come in ones and twos sometimes as well. So don't go crazy and buy six things, because that is a lot of storage that you've got to find in your kitchen. So as well as paper towels being on the kitchen counter, potentially taking up space or not, depending on whether you want that, you've also got the ones that are on the top of fridge freezers and stuff like that, because there's nowhere else to put them. It's like it would take a whole cupboard just to keep six kitchen towels, right? Yeah, really think about kitchen towels, because we're tuned to bulk buy them. And if you're like me, and you only use like, one or two things every week, then one roll of kitchen towel is going to last you two or three shopping trips, and you're going to have time and think, oh, you know, that needs replacing. Next time, I'll get another one or two. You know, you can get them in twos. You don't have to buy six, you know, sometimes like 812, like, it's huge. Same with toilet rolls, you know. I mean, we don't have to buy a 16 pack every time we can buy a four pack, you know. So it just really depends on how you use things. You've really got to work out, what am I going to compromise? I might, you know, you might lose a little bit of money on that, because obviously, bulk buying is going to save you a little bit of money, yeah, look at the impact that it's having on your kitchen. Really important. So yeah, think about paper cow to paper towels, and think about your consumption of those before you decide whether or not it needs its space on the countertop. Exactly

14:13
right. Well, let's go on to number five, male keys and paper piles. Why do we have all these stacks of papers, Lesley that end up on kitchen counters, mail that's come in, and we just plonk it down when we because we're in the kitchen, because we some maybe put our bag there, or we end up in there because we've got our hands full with stuff that needs to go to the kitchen. And then there's always a random pile of stuff, which includes papers, paperwork, letters from school,

14:43
junk mail, all of that, and it ends up on the kitchen counter. Oh, I mean, you do need something, you know, the end of the day this stuff comes in, and it needs a kind of a sort of holding area, doesn't it? Until you decide on its next thing. I think, I mean, you know, we spoke about many times on this part.

15:00
Class before that, we're big advocates of recycling stuff as soon as it comes in, so as soon as the mail comes in, we are big advocates of standing over your recycling bins and going, I don't need this envelope. I don't need this terms and conditions. Let me just at least sort of pare it down a little bit to what I'm actually keeping and then put it in the place where it's going to be actioned. Because this kind of paperwork doesn't need to be done every day. Done every sorted out every day. Some things do like, you know, letters for school kids and stuff need to be actioned a little bit more frequently. But, you know, have you got somewhere in your kitchen, in an office designated as a place that is a holding area for your paperwork? For example, have you got something, you know, we talked before about intentional things being intentional. You know, we talk about keys. You know, we're not big fans in for tonight of these kind of dishes of random stuff. But if you intentionally, have got a space where you can put your keys or your lanyard from work and just that, and no other stuff, then that makes it look intentional. Yeah, I've got a little drawer that the keys go into, and it's just, you know, it's a subconscious thing that we do to put those away straight away. Lot of people got hooks on the wall, you know, think about the intentionality of these things. So they don't just, they kind of explode. And all of these things go together, magazines and things and just piles of to do lists. You know, we don't mind it being a kind of temporary, of course, like you're going to put, we're realistic. Have I ever got stuff on my kitchen work surface, ever during the day? Of course, I do. But when I do my resets, and I try to, you know, reset is really designed to get it back to where, where it's intended to be, it's at its tidiest. That's when I'll sort that out. So during the day, of course, I put stuff down on my work surface, but when I'm doing my evening reset, I sort that out, go through it, if I've not gone through it during the day, and then put it in my office where I'm going to action it later. Put the keys away, you know. I mean, to be fair, I put stuff away other people don't, you know. So you know what I mean, I'm moving everybody else's stuff. Of course, I understand that, you know. And so. So I think it's about that intentionality and about incorporating things like this into your daily reset, so that these countertops are not expanding with stuff. Yeah, I think it really also depends on where you handle your paperwork as well. Because if you're somebody who always sits at your kitchen counter, or if you've got an island or something where you do your paperwork and where you fill in the forms, and where you kind of do all of that stuff. It needs to be intentional, but we don't want it to be is a cluttered mess of all these things, because as soon as it gets piled on top, other things get shoved in, and that's when you lose things, and that's when it get gets chaotic, and people start to you, start to rummage through, making it more cluttered. And then the whole thing, which the idea is about this podcast, is we want to have more clearer countertop, so it all just gets easier for you to prepare and cook food and tidy up before and after dinner. So definitely a great number five. So shall we do a little telly? Lesley, how are we doing so far? Yeah, well, so how many of these things do it Do I have? Yeah, as well. Of course, I have some appliances, but not many. Not, not rarely used ones, right? You don't have rarely used ones. No, I don't. So I've got, I'll tell you what I do have. I've got a toaster, a coffee maker, a milk frother,

18:29
that's it. Okay, so I've got a coffee machine and a kettle, a microwave,

18:37
a kitchen food processor and the kitchen aid, because we use them all the time, but everything, so a toaster in my house gets rare. Well, rarely used. Yeah, rarely used. So that's a way. So I think, I think we're, I don't really have any rarely used things, because even my food pressure process, we use all the time, oils and vinegars. I've got out. I know you've got them in. You've got no utensils out, but I do you have no paper towels, and I do mail keys and paper piles. No, I don't know, just talking about the appliances, but what I do have, actually English. I've got, like, one of those cupboards where you can open the door, and so it's kind of on your countertop,

19:20
behind a door, yeah, and in there I've got so I can just pull them out. And that is my smoothie maker, which I use probably two or three times a week, and my air fryer that I use probably four times a week that I just pull out of the cupboard when I'm using it. So, yeah, so it's behind a door, but it is kind of on the countertop, if that makes sense, yeah, yeah, okay. So yeah, we're doing okay. I mean, I'm always winning on the counter top some. Yeah,

19:45
you do. You're, you're absolutely good choice. Like your kitchen, in my kitchen, well, neither this is just preference, right? Like your kitchen's not anymore, any less usable, or anything like that, as a result. And as you say, you've got a lot of counter space as well.

20:00
Yeah, and you do a lot of cooking, you know, as I do as well. And so, you know, it's all about looking at your own behaviors, you know, I think people will be like, where's Lesley's kettle? So I don't have a catalog, actually, because I've got a cooker, you know, those taps

20:14
amazing, which I absolutely love. And so things like that make a big difference, you know, like taking one of those applies, yeah, off. Okay, let's go to a break, break Ingrid, and then let's come back and do number six to 10 after the break. Hi everyone, welcome back. We are continuing with our 10 things to remove from your kitchen counters to make it less clutter and feel less overwhelming. We've done one to five. We are now on to number six, and number six is cookbooks and recipe print outs. Oh, I want to know what you're doing. Lesley, in this situation, well, bear in mind, some of our members were horrified when I did a recipe book Declutter. Do you remember like for that minute? I do have only about 25 cookbooks, but they're in a cupboard. And so I've got them in a cupboard. I don't really like a lot of you know. So books, to me, can, if not curated nicely, be quite visually cluttered, yeah, and I don't really like that look, right? So, and I don't use recipe books hardly all. I mean, to be fair, I don't even know why I've got that many, because I just got on an app. I get all my recipes off an app now, like, I don't ever look but there's some that you've got, like, you know, like, I was doing your, you know, there's some that you've, you've had for years, that you use for, like, Yorkshire puddings and and you're like, you keep on going back to them and stuff, or very little recipes and stuff. But I've not got many, but they are so I have all my recipe books, which is probably like 20, I don't know, 1520, maybe. And then I've got a little box where I put my ones that I have printed out. So if I have got any printed out once they're in a box which is right next to where they are in the cupboard. So no, I would not have those on my countertop. And I would actually feel quite strongly about not having them on a countertop. A shelf is good if they're out on a shelf, but I'm not sure about a countertop, because I think they're quite grimy, because they've been used a lot, and so I don't think they're very sanitary. Oh god, you're going to tell me now that, aren't you that you've got them on your countertop?

22:20
Well, first of all, of course, let me explain. I did, actually my husband, I both did hospitality. So we actually, through the years, amassed a large amount of cookbooks, which we have since, really thinned out. We decluttered loads. We still have some cookbooks left. They actually live upstairs, because there are really the nice, the fancy ones, the famous, the famous chefs and things like that, that we really both appreciate. And currently, there are two recipe books in my kitchen, and they actually live on my kitchen window sill. They're kind of tucked in a corner so they're a little bit they're not next to the cooker, so which helps a lot. One of them, I don't know why it's there, because my husband got it as a gift or something, and it ended up in my kitchen. I actually needed to thank you for reminding me. I need to ask him about this. And the other one has a recipe that I absolutely love, which is with rice and broccoli and like chicken and spring onion and ginger. And I we eat it on a very regular basis, and the kids can cook it as well. So that's why it's still downstairs, because we have to kind of make sure we get the measurements right of the honey and the soy sauce and the garlic and all of that. So but yeah, so that's why it's there, because I love it, and we eat it all the time, at least, at least once a month.

23:38
So yeah, recipe person. So are, you know, those people who can kind of throw things together and sort of, I mean, I'm absolutely I've got to follow a recipe to the absolute letter every time that I cook. But my kids don't like they just make it up as they go along, which is quite impressive I've taught them to cook. I don't know where they've got that from, because they've definitely not got it from me. They're all better cooks than me, to be fair.

24:05
But yeah, I'm always really impressed by people who can, like, just know instinctively, you know what to add in and stuff like that. I'd always get it wrong. You know what

24:16
I which it sounds really weird, especially with the hospitality background, you would actually think that I would cook everything from recipe and fancy cements, you know, but I don't know. We just,

24:28
I've got about, I don't know, 50 different things that I make, and they just, you know, they get I don't even have to think whatever kind of just, kind of, just step in here. She's got 50 things that she makes, and she's probably made them one per year over the past 20 years, or two per year. Perhaps I'll give her that, because she never, ever cooks, because her husband does all the cooking. So this whole idea of, oh, we do this, and we've got this lovely rice dish that and broccoli that we cook, he cooks everything, lunch and dinner every single day.

25:00
Okay, yeah, right. I know every Yeah, parading as a cook, but oh well, we've got hospitality backgrounds, and we love cooking, like cooking, and when based around business, it's like the end of the world,

25:14
especially since, since lockdown, actually, I think before that, because I think for about 10 years when the kids were little, or or, yeah, but 10 years, I cooked two meals a day. So I cooked at five o'clock for the kids and at seven o'clock for me, for me and Jan. And I think when lockdown came and Jan started to work a lot more from home, I was like, You need to I've done 100 years of cooking, so I'm very lucky he cooks. Sorry for you that you cooked two meals a day. No, not at all. Not at all. I'm really glad that I this. Most of the cooking has gone to there's gone to him, and he's because he's a very good cook as well. So I think there you go. Yeah, proper.

25:54
I can cook. I can cook. I do cook. I think I would say about twice a week. The rest is, is, Oh, thank goodness, it's done by by yarn. Let's move on to number seven. I say, right. Number seven things like food storage containers, so fruit bowls with, like with fresh fruit bread bins with, with loaves of bread and maybe crackers, and I don't know, croissants and things like that, spice jars, kind of things that don't live in the fridge. They kind of need to live outside of the fridge, but where and they end up on our kitchen counters, don't they? Lesley, yeah, they do, I think. And I do think again, you've got to be really careful with what you what you want. You know, this is kind of like for ambient food, then really. So that food, as you say, that's not in the fridge. So fruit bowls are a bit of a catch all. You know, there's just something about a fruit bowl that is like a clutter gatherer. So clutter hot spot, so you've got your nice fruit underneath it. Next thing people start throwing keys in there and bits of don't they? Yeah, what's going on with the fruit bowl? It's both supposed to be for fruit.

27:07
Bread bins are the same. Stuff goes on the top of bread bins. So, you know, if you have a bread bin for your bread, which is always good use, so anywhere dark, it can go in a cupboard. I don't have a bread bin. I've got a cupboard. It closes and it's got ample kind of breathing space for the bread, and it's dark enough that it doesn't go moldy super quickly. And, you know, spice jars, you've really got to think, because what happens is that people have a few but not all. Do you know, it's like overflow stuff appears in the counters, and this is where we need to pare down and go. What do we want here? Yeah, what do we actually want this to look like? What do you want this countertop to look like? Do we want it to be easy to clean? Do we want more space for cooking? You know, invariably, most people don't have enough space to cook the meals in the way that they would want. We want to spread out a little bit, don't we, and it's all these random things that are stopping us from doing that. But of course, you know, we say things that you can remove from your countertops, and we want you to evaluate it. But the sort of bad news is that often, in order to facilitate what we're suggesting, which is really think about putting things away a little bit more often, you need to declutter the rest of your kitchen as well, because you need to create space in the cupboards. Because a lot of the reason why the countertops are so full is because the cupboards are full, and so it's a bit of a kind of chicken and egg situation. So yeah, we are focusing on the countertops in the same way that we were in a if we were in a bedroom, we would be talking about floor droves and things like that. It's the equivalent of that, right? You kind of have to tackle what's underneath first if you want to make headway. So we're not shying away from that and saying, This is an easy thing to do, because finding a space for a bread maker or a, you know, a food processor, is not an easy thing to do, but it's possible, if you can look at the rest of the stuff in your kitchen, isn't it? So it is a potentially a bigger job than we're kind of making out, but we just want you to give you a little bit of food for thought, don't we? Yeah, well, you won't be surprised to hear Lesley, of course, I've got a bread bin because we eat bread, bread all the time, because that's what you do in in Holland, people have bread for for breakfast, bread for lunch. I think if people could, we would have bread for dinner as well, because we just love bread. But yeah, so I got a bread bin, and I don't have a fruit bowl, because my kitchen, when I bought this house came with these two kind of wicker baskets as drawers. So one of them is for my fruit and one of them is from, like, my potatoes and onions and those kinds of things and garlic and that kind of thing. So yeah, and so I Sep I can separate it out, which I think is good. So no fruit bowls here, but, oh yes, have I seen them in my clients houses over the years? And they definitely become a catch all for everything. So Ingrid, you talk there about having wicker baskets in your kitchen, which I think is a really good addition to any kitchen. But I want to talk a little bit as it's not entirely on a countertop, but a lot of people have got those.

30:00
Like, three tiered kind of vegetable things, you know, where you put, maybe potatoes, onions, maybe you can put some carrots and things like that. And they sort of typically sit on the floor of a kitchen, don't they? Those things really need to be taken care of, don't they? Because they get a bit messy. With a particular onion skin, it's like, really brittle. It breaks off. It's all messy. It goes everywhere. So keep on top of those that every time you're refreshing those vegetables, or every time you're, you know, bringing new vegetables or potatoes or fruit or whatever it is in, make sure you do a wipe down. So take everything out before you put the new in, because, yeah, it starts look a bit grotty if you don't do that. So it's important is that these things that are out will become havens for dust, havens for spills and splashes and oil and all that kind of stuff. So make sure you're taking care of those things before you fill them up after you've done your weekly shopping. Yeah, absolutely, absolutely.

30:56
Let's move on to number eight, Lesley, which is decorative items, little bowls, little candles, plant pots, things that kind of go with the season that you like to have out to decorate your kitchen. Vases, we can include in here as well. It's out, it's in a place, and it's never, ever moved again. And then when we look at it, we see, like, a whole layer of dust on this candle. And you actually wonder, how long has this been here? Because, of course, if it's out, it gets dusty, and we just become a bit clutter blind. Don't be Lesley to all of this stuff, because we kind of place it there. Or when you've got these kind of kitchen with like this end shelf with like three shelves, like this little round corner shelves. We don't really know nothing really fits there. No appliances fit there. The cookbooks are too big for it. So we kind of think, oh, let's create something. And then you think, oh, gosh, this has not been touched for a very, very long time. And it's a shame, because it is a nice place to put something, but it has to be the right thing, and it needs to be kept on top of the problem is it starts out with a nice, decorative bowl, but then the dough the bowl gets stuff in it, and then the the shopping list gets tucked behind it, and then the unopened mail goes there. And, yeah, that's the problem. So those little decorative end nooks in your kitchen, which are there to supposed to look lovely, they just become this catch all, don't they, because it's the perfect spot for things. So you've really got to evaluate whether or not a decorative item is going to work in your kitchen or whether you just need it for functional things. But really, really important, because no point in having a decorative bowl if actually what you need to do is put like a little place where you can put your mail, for example, if that's a sensible spot for it, or whatever. So just think it through. So some kitchens can take the decorative stuff, and some kitchens just need to be a little bit more functional. So yeah, decorative items. Have you got decorative items in your kitchen?

33:07
Gosh,

33:11
yeah, maybe one or two of my windowsill. But they get looked at all the time, all the time, because you're absolutely right. It is a place to put little wires and and loose change and shopping lists. I'm like, okay, yeah, I have to, I put the hand, my hand up here, but just two. But in, dude, I don't have those end bits that I can really see. What I'm envisaging that I see a lot in clients houses full of stuff. Wonder, what? Like all those end but we can't call them end bits. They must have a name, right? Yeah, everybody knows what we mean, like in but they're really big. In British kitchens, they are everywhere, right? Yeah, kitchens around the world where they can't quite fit a cupboard in, and they want to round it off, and so they put a little bit of beading around, don't they? Yeah. End corner. Do? Go

34:04
courses, podcast, to Google the name of this

34:10
anyway, so just be careful, because decorative items don't work well in a lot of kitchens. So you really need to be realistic about that. So according to our number nine England, I mean, you mentioned, you mentioned window sills, and this is the prime spot for these. And can we just talk about window sills as well? These should not be full to the brim of like pen pots and scrubbers and all that kind of stuff. And, you know, seedlings and, you know, we need to keep these windowsills nice, right? Yeah, definitely, it becomes an absolute dumping ground. I I'm kind of because a lot of times, and this is where we're going with this, if you're wondering where we're going with this, a lot of times kitchens that have a sink have a window above it, not always in my kitchen, not.

35:00
So I my my window is on the other side of the kitchen, so I've got, like, a radio kind of thing. I bought thing in my in my so I can listen to some radio when I'm having breakfast, and that's why I've got a couple bits. But a lot of people have their window above their sink. So it gets like this, because you're there, you find some stuff for your pockets, or you're empty. A lot of times, have the washing machine in our kitchen, and we find out there's some loose coins. So there's a button that's about to fall off, and we put it in the window sill, because we think it's a great visual reminder that we have to do something, or we end up putting a lot of cleaning supplies there as well. The Hand Soap goes there, and the washing up liquid goes there, and an array of stuff then appears, which makes it looks very messy. And cleaning those windowsills can really help, really, really help. We need to keep on top of the cleaning stuff for the kitchen, and we need to fold it and put it away neatly when we've used it. You know, it's not nice to have, like, six or seven, like, dried up, crusted a bit brown dish cloths, is it? Yeah? So I make a point of, I probably wash my dish cloths every two to three days. I would say, Yeah, something like that. And I think you do need to keep on top of that, you know, you need to start to look a bit like, right? Yeah. It's time to take them up and get those washed. Every time I wipe round, I make a habit of folding the dish cloth up and putting it over the side. I make a point of putting the brush that I've got, because I've got one of those little half bowls next to it, and I do use that for my cleaning stuff. So I put my I've got a little scrubber in there. I've got a brush and a dish cloth that goes into there, and so I just put it in there. Now, if you've not got one of these half bowls where you can put that kind of thing, or if you don't want to use it, there's nice little kind of caddies that you can get for cleaning stuff. What you don't want to do is just leave them randomly around. I think it's important to neaten up your cleaning supplies as well, because those are the things that make your kitchen not look as if it's been reset. Yeah, I agree. I think it can look very messy. I I'm like, you, I've got a little half bowl as well, so that's where the sponge goes and the washing up, brush, brush goes, but I make sure that I rinse it all. So one, I've used it after dinner, and I've done my my my kitchen tidy. Everything gets rinsed. Everything gets cleaned out, and then I put it away, and I've got a hand soap and my washing up liquid, and that's it. Everything else is in my cupboard, under my under my sink. So, I mean, my husband drives me completely. Said every time I go down to the flat, I think he has this idea that bleach cleans things. I'm like, here's the thing, Steve, bleach doesn't clean toilets. Like, you have to scrub toilets to get them clean. Bleaching them is just to get rid of a little bit of bacteria after you've cleaned them. Every time I go down, all the cleaning products are there next to it. I'm like, you don't need all we've got this beautiful, brand new bathroom. I'm like, you don't need cleaning products next to your toilet. They can go under a sink. And so really, really really important to think about that cleaning products are never going to look beautiful, and so don't have all your cleaning products out, put them under your sink if you can or or failing that, if you can't do that, make it look intentional in some way, with some kind of kitchen caddy, also possible,

38:16
right? Well, let's go on to number 10 then. And I know you feel very passionate about this. Lesley, so

38:24
off you go, knife blocks. What do you mean? I feel passionate about her. I thought you felt passionate about having knife blocks out in kitchens. No, I've got a knife in my kitchen,

38:36
showing the way. You've got the idea of me feeling very passionate about a knife. But what I thought that I thought you were like, need to be put away. It has to be stripped. It has to be in a drawer. Okay, you've got a knife block. So if I

38:48
you literally take it back, that apology requires, I know I'm sorry. I definitely okay. So well, we're finished talking about number 10. We both have knife blocks. We both have them out. Nothing to talk about here. I'm sure we can think of something to talk about. So yeah, if you do have a knife block, which is a useful thing to have right to keep your most used knives, have I got more knives than I have in my knife block? Absolutely. But I've got a knife block with five different knives in that I use all of the time. If you've not got space, because they are a bit awkward sometimes knife blocks as well. I'm con to be fair, I'm constantly moving mine around because it doesn't quite fit anywhere. And it's a bit random, you know, it just sits a bit randomly in the kitchen. And I've tried it lots of different places. I put it in front of, you know, I've said I've got this drawer where my appliances sit behind, so typically it sits in front of that. So obviously I have to move it. Then when I open the thing up to get the appliances out, which a bit of a pain. But you know, if you can't have a knife block, which is a really useful thing to have for safety and to keep your knives working their best, the metallic strips that you can put behind cookers are also really good and make things very access.

40:00
Bowl for you and keep the knives in tip top condition as well. And they're going to make sure that things stay off your countertops and so, yeah, so if you have not got space for a knife block, or it's taken up quite a lot of space, think about getting one of those magnetic, I said metallic magnetic strips that sit up behind your countertops, or cookers. Yeah, I have a knife block as well. It sits next to my cooker. I use it all the time. I think it's for safety. I think it's really important, but definitely, again, just like with utensil pots, don't forget to regularly clean those knife blocks as well, because they often sit close to where you're cooking. So they do get, you know, splashes of of fat and oil on them. So it's also a thing that needs to be wiped on a regular basis. I'm not doing very well. I think Lesley very well. No, we'll have to come come round and clear. Sort your kitchen.

40:53
What knives do you think are the the important knives to have in the kitchen? Oh, gosh, definitely a bread knife. Crucial, I mean that, and it needs to be sharp as well. We've got a new one, which is lovely. So a serrated bread knife? Yeah, definitely. And then I would say at least two, like, small kind of paring knives, yeah, crucial. We have a big, like, proper kitchen, like a kitchen knife last night, yeah, chef's knife.

41:27
And we have a long, thin one for fish, so you can fill it fish. And we've got a short kind of kitchen knife, which is, like, really, which is like a size up between a paring knife and a chef's knives, like that right in the middle, perfect. I mean, and we have, like, we have, yeah, quite good, expensive kitchen knives, but they last, like, Yeah, I think it's good to pay. It's good to pay, um, pay decent money for now, yeah, go through them all the time. But yeah, so my knife blocks got five, and I've got two chefs knives that are almost exactly the same, actually, same size and shape. I've got one long, thin one, which I use for meat, and I've got two pairing knives in my knife block and my bread my bread knife is actually in a different draw because it doesn't fit my knife block. So, yeah, there you go. Well, let's do a telly. Lesley, I feel I'm so losing this one. Yeah, so cookbooks, yeah, I have to come clean. I've got two, I mean, which doesn't sound excessive, but they're there. No recipe printouts, though, so hopefully I'm winning a little bit of kudos back on that one. Oh no, they're in a drawer. They're in a drawer. Oh, so they're not as long as they're on the counter, you're allowed to have them. You're just not allowed to have Well, no, yes, that's not

42:39
the purpose of this tally, yeah, um, food storage. Like for I don't have a fruit bowl.

42:47
Do have a bread bin. Space jars are away, and the rest of the ambient food is in my wicker basket. So I think I'm doing good on that. Yeah?

42:56
Decorative items. Uh,

42:59
yeah, two,

43:02
two kind of candles, literally work. You can have them. So it's not that you can't have them, it's just that they've got to work and they've no they're they've got stuff dumped in them. So I'm losing, I'm losing. I'm coming clean. Are you still a professional organiser? I know I'm coming clean. I'm coming clean. Uh, cleaning supplies, yeah, but tidy. So they're not just washing up liquids, but the rest is away. So I think I'm doing good, and I do have cheese I forgot, like eight out of 10. Why are we doing this podcast? Let's Yeah, no. But the point of the point of this is, do I ever, I mean, I feel like it needs a little bit of work? No, I'm joking. Do I ever walk into your kitchen and go, this is an unusable or that your food prep and your working area is being compromised, or your stuff is getting filled up? No, the point is, it's about personal choice as to what you want on your countertops. And it's always good to evaluate, because we change. We transition our lives. Change our cooking style changes. So all of these transitions that we have in life might mean that we want to change up what we do. Well, I had five years ago. It's not the same as what I've got now in my kitchen, workshops, workshops. This is something that constantly needs to be evaluated. So I've got, I think zero out of 10,

44:24
zero out of 10, and you have got eight out of 10.

44:30
So we all know who's winning. But yeah, so listeners now you you have to tell Are you Team Ingrid or Tim Lesley?

44:38
I know you know, whenever we do this and say we're Team Ingrid or team Lesley. It's always team Ingrid. That way.

44:44
It's fine. But anyway, hopefully we've given you a little bit of food on that. Just just evaluate. Just look whether it's suiting you. Look whether you can clean effectively. Is it like a half an hour job to move your stuff, to be able to clean underneath? Because that's what we want to be able to do at the end of.

45:00
Day. We want to be able to do that reset every night, and we want to incorporate cleaning our countertops as part of that. And we can't do that if they're full to the brim with excess stuff that we're not using on a regular basis. Yeah. So tell us in the comments. Let us know. We would love to hear from you. What is out? What have you kind of thought? Oh, wow. I need to have a look at that. I need to remove move it. I need to change it. I need to clear out a cupboard so I can put it away. Or, Yes, why is it there the first place I'm gonna go all the way team Lesley, because I agree, it's all too cluttered, but it needs to work from you. We would love to hear from you. So thanks for being here, and we'll see you next week.

45:45
Thanks so much for listening to the declutter hub podcast. Don't forget to subscribe to us in your podcast player so you don't miss an episode and we'll see you next week.
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Episode 388 – Start as you mean to go on – plan 2026 for decluttering success

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Joanne says:

7 June 2025 at 3:15 PM

Hi Ingrid & Lesley,
Just to say I'm really enjoying your Declutter Podcasts, they are so inspiring and listening to them whilst I do the housework gives me more enthusiasm to tackle the cleaning and decluttering.
Your friendly chat on the Podcast is good company and I laugh along at the jokey banter between you both.
I am so glad I found these Podcasts, I'm really enjoying them, from Jo

Reply
1. Ingrid Jansen says:
  
  9 June 2025 at 10:06 AM
  
  Thank you Jo for your lovely comment and glad to hear we are keeping you company whilst decluttering and cleaning. You have 350 episodes to get through, so enjoy!
  
  Reply
Episode 353 – 10 things to remove from your kitchen counters

Episode 388 – Start as you mean to go on – plan 2026 for decluttering success

Episode 387 – Our 2025 year in review – the big Declutter Hub round-up

Episode 386 – 10 Tell-Tale Signs that you need to Declutter your House

Episode 385 – Life Skills for Kids with Katie Kimball

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