Tuesday Morning Tidy: 12 Months of Tidy - Kitchen/Bath Part 1

It's month three of my 12 Months of Tidy! After a small space last month, I'm taking on our kitchen and adjoining bathroom. This space does have a caveat, however. I always make kitchen updates in the fall prior to hosting our big family Thanksgiving, so I actually have these spaces scheduled twice. So, while I'm fully committed to my three steps this month, I'll be back in the fall to revisit.

As a refresher, my three steps for each space are:

1. Clear, clean and repair. Identify any materials needed in advance to make this possible.

2. Assess how we use the space for making improvements.

3. Identify ways to maintain it more easily going forward.

For part 1, I'll focus on the first topic--Clear, Clean and Repair. The kitchen and nearby bathroom have minimal repairs to be made, so I have just very basic materials needed in advance.

• Trash bags

• Standard cleaning supplies

Clear

In every room, I start with sorting initial items into trash, donate and relocate. If things are not useful and in the right place, they go into one of these three piles.

We've lived in our house for over a decade, with growing kids, and we've accumulated items we definitely don't need anymore! I started with clearing out the following items:

• toddler dishes

• plastic utensils and cutting boards; we are switching to healthier options

• old spices

• expired pantry items

Now that everything is cleared, I'll be spending the next week cleaning.

Clean

Kitchens and main floor bathrooms take some abuse! We are in them every day and kitchens are subject to heat, spills and lots of activity. A couple times of year, I like to give both spaces a deep cleaning. This weekend, I plan to do the following:

• deep clean oven and stove top

• mop floors

• wash runners

• deep clean kitchen towels

• deep clean coffee pot

• dust and clean surfaces

Repairs

Ironically, our ice maker just went out, so I'll be calling to have that repaired. Those things are a blessing and a curse.

After removing the old and unnecessary items, I'll be putting a few drawers to better use and updating some basic kitchen tools. Check back in a couple weeks for more!