Kitchen Process Gains Momentum

After a couple weeks of dealing with an unexpected death in the family, I am blogging again. My precious father-in-law passed away just three days after learning he had lymphoma. About 6 weeks prior, he had part of kidney removed because they thought he had carcinoma (so removing the tumor would remove the localized cancer). We are all heartbroken to lose Grampa. He was 75. My life must go on, so with a little hesitation, I move forward with my own life.

Today is Sunday. Since Friday, I've been mulling over how to tackle the remaining chaos in the kitchen. It's been nearly three weeks since doing Counter #1 (A) and establishing the Sandwich Station and prep area. This has been working really well for me and continues to stay clean as I make sure to remove any items and wipe it down each night.

I'm a visual person and NEED to SEE my kitchen to continue this process. I totally enjoy using my computer and making diagrams like this. So my focus is 1)identifying "areas" and 2) deciding what should happen in those areas of the kitchen. This has been a surprising exercise because I've never really thought about any of this prior to entering this area of self-education. In the past, I simply cleaned off the counters...only to quickly messy them again soon after.

If you have an interest in which counter gets used for which purpose, you can click on the photos to read the detail. Here's a summary:
-Counter A is the Sandwich Station and prep area
-Counter B is a combination of counter and bar counter. G is a small bar counter with space for chairs (to the far right). I've chosen to put those chairs in the playroom for easy access. This way the kids can utilize the space near the bar as they love to pay with their toys on the floor. The goal for this area is simply to STAY CLEAN unless we are doing a puzzle or project. I use the bar area for filling orders for my online business pretty much daily.
-Counter C must stay clean at all times so we have space to put things that we pull out (or need to put into) the frig. It will be wonderful to have a clean space to pour milk for dinner and prepare cereal for breakfast!
-Counter D is a small area that is ok for dirty dishes to hang out.
-Counter E is designated to be clean and clear at all times. This is a space for dirty dish overflow and where I keep a counter-sized trash can. This trash can is a plastic grocery sack that sits next to the sink for easy disposal of everything that comes through that area since my garbage can is NOT located under my sink, but across the room.
-Counter F is difficult to reach. I've put the toaster in this "deadish" space which seems to be working. I also like the toaster on Counter C (and may move it) but I don't like the crumbs which always end up in the silverware drawer (directly underneath Counter C).
-Counter G is the bar area used for puzzles, projects and filling orders.
-Counter H is a junk magnet! It is the tiny space in front of the microwave, just perfect for "setting things down" if you know what I mean. This spot is now OFF LIMITS. We need it to stay cleared off so 1)we can open the microwave(!) and 2) the microwave can open when the cutting board is pulled out.

The purpose of this post (for me) is to introduce the up and coming "after pictures" for the kitchen. "Before" pictures of the kitchen are here. It's pretty gruesome and all the stuff on the counters is what I'm dealing with tonight as I prepare for "after" photos tomorrow.

Things I'm doing tonight:
-cleaning Counter H in front of the microwave ("a-don't-set-anything-here-EVER" zone)
-cleaning up crumbs and drips on the oven
-cleaning and purging Counter C (emptying and recycling water bottles)
-purging off Counters E, B, F, G (finding places for each and every item & wiping counter)
-maintenance Counter A & D before bed (as has become habit)

Every night I've been picking up the dining room, entry and Counter A before going to bed. It doesn't take but a couple minutes and the rewards are fantastic! Coming soon...kitchen "after" photos!!