Tips and Tricks to Clutter-Free Counters: Thanksgiving Edition
Take a peek into most kitchens the last Thursday of November and your senses are bound to be sent into overload mode. The smells of every kind of spice imaginable, sounds of football and relatives that are a bit too loud, and see more food spread out than anyone could even think of finishing. With all that going on in one space, clutter and messes are going to happen. If you’re hosting any kind of event this month, whether it be Thanksgiving, Friendsgiving, or “let’s just get together-giving” we have some tips and tricks that will help make sure space isn’t a problem!
Multi-tiered trays
Whether you have spacious countertops or minimal space, one thing that helps declutter is the concept of stacking. You can purchase multi-tiered trays like these that are perfect for getting things off the counter and in one confined space. We like this trick best when used next to the sink for your hand soap, dish soap, sponges, and scrubbers. This is especially handy when your sink is located on your kitchen island, which sees the most traffic during the holidays. We’ve also seen tiered trays used to consolidate spices, herbs, and cooking oils.
Move what isn’t being used
Unless you use that bulky air-fryer, stand mixer, or toaster oven every day, they’re just taking up valuable counter space. We suggest moving those appliances to the bottom shelf of a pantry or stowing them in your bottom cabinets in the kitchen. Thanksgiving is all about the food being the star of the show! The less you have on your counters the more your guests will be able to take in the splendor of the spread you have created.
Photo from Happily Inspired
Decoration station
It’s so tempting during the holiday season to pull out every decoration you have and find the perfect place for them in your home. While there’s nothing wrong with pulling out the stops with all the special knick-knacks you’ve collected over the years, that can be a recipe for clutter! A really great tip for decorating in the kitchen and dining room area is to install one or two floating shelves that are specifically designated to your seasonal décor. Open floating shelves are a really popular trend we’ve seen come about in the last couple of years and are easily installed yourself. We love our new square free floating shelf bracket. This bracket, while being strong and durable, is the perfect bracket to support any and all décor items for all seasons!
Daily chores
Remember when you were a kid, and you had a chore list? Or now as an adult, you give your kids a chores list? Well time to break out the lists again! It’s really easy with all the busyness of the holidays to let housework fall to the wayside, we’re all guilty of it. Creating a morning and nightly chores list will help tremendously with all the clutter and the random piles of things that seem to stack up on countertops this time of year especially. Assign everyone in the family one morning and nightly chore and watch the clutter disappear!
Entryway
In most homes, the kitchen counters seem to catch all the “stuff and things” right? All that counter space just seems to invite the car keys, the purses, the kid’s artwork, the dog’s leash, the cups of every size, the mail, the endless amazon packages, the backpacks! You name it and it’s somehow found its way to your kitchen counters. We have found the best way to stop the clutter from even reaching the kitchen is to create an entryway by your most used entrance. We’ve seen these spaces created with almost anything, such as a bench for seating, an entryway table, baskets for shoes, hooks for bags and jackets, and simple crates for mail and packages. To create an “outside the box” entryway using a large shelf is ideal. We suggest the large shelf bracket because its steel support bracket allows it to handle the toughest of jobs. Install the bracket with a free-floating shelf and you’ve created a surface area that can hold all the heavy bags, amazon packages, baskets for keys, and mail! Using the bracket and shelf also doesn’t take up any of the valuable floor space at the entryway. However, you decide to make this space come together you will be ensuring that all the “stuff and things” stay far away from your counters.
The holiday season can be stressful, but we feel these tips can help negate any of those feelings and help you focus on your home being at its very best. Even if you use all of these tips or none of them, your Thanksgiving Day will still hopefully end in pie, and we think that’s the real MVP of any kitchen!