DAY 1

CLEAN – Kitchen

Our kitchen is the central place of our home.  Visible by everybody that visits and we can see it while we eat dinner and sitting in the lounge room. For this reason I like it to be tidy through the day and at the end of the night, to make it easier to relax.  Plus having a tidy kitchen makes cooking and baking much more enjoyable.

Cleaning task

I don’t want you to clean the cornices, floor, stove, oven, dishwasher, fridge, freezer or pantry today, we will get to them soon, instead today’s task is a good kitchen clean:

[wlchecklist name=’Day1CleanKitchen’]

Tip:  Cleaning stainless steel appliances:  spray appliance with vinegar and wipe over with a soft cloth.  To remove fingerprints and give it a shine use some olive or baby oil on a cloth along the direction of the stainless steel grain.

Here are a few posts I have shared previously about the kitchen:

• 9 Easy Steps to maintain a clean kitchen
• How to clean the kettle
• How to clean the microwave

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DECLUTTER – Kitchen Bench

Remove everything from the kitchen bench that does not need to be there:

• Paper clutter – consider making a specific home for all your papers
• Rubbish – should be thrown in the bin straight away
• Appliances
• One too many canisters

[wlchecklist name=’Day1Declutterkitchenbench’]

My kitchen is very open plan, all visitors to the house see it.  I don’t keep too much on my bench except for the appliances that I use nearly every day such as the kettle and Thermomix.

I got these canisters from the Reject Shop, whilst they are the perfect colour for my kitchen, they aren’t completely airtight.

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ORGANISE – Under the kitchen sink

You want to make this cupboard organised enough that everything has a place, to avoid it from becoming a mess and you only have supplies in there that you use, to avoid it becoming too cluttered.

1. Remove everything from the cupboard and reassess what you have
2. Throw away anything you no longer need
3. Organise your products appropriately amongst the kitchen and laundry

[wlchecklist name=’Day1Organiseunderthekitchensink’]

Key for me to keeping this cupboard tidy is exactly what I outlined above.  Only keeping the cleaning products I use for the kitchen under the sink and giving everything a place. 

These drawers are from Bunnings. In the top drawer, I keep my tea towels. Previously I stored them on the other side of the kitchen. I’ve moved my stash to directly under the sink so we don’t drip water onto the floor. In the lower drawers, I have dishwasher tablets and spare sponges.

This tension rod holds my cleaners helping to keep the cupboard clutter free. I got this rod a few years ago from Daiso. Tension rods are extremely hard to find. Bunnings don’t sell them. Spotlight do, however their smallest is 80cm.  

I placed 3M hooks on the cupboard door to hold our gloves.  I have 2 pairs one for my small hands and one for my hubby (our water is sooo hot here, which is good and bad, we need gloves so we don’t burn our fingers). 

I have recently changed from my glass jar of reusable wipes to this plastic tub, only because I wanted more wipes on hand as I found I was using up the 6 wipes that would fit in the jar far too quickly.

• Microfibre clothes were $10 for a pack of 20 from Bunnings
• Container for wipes, Decor from Spotlight $14.99
• Stackable Drawers $19.98 each from Bunnings
• Tension rod from Daiso
• Sink Tidy Caddy $19.99 Spotlight
• Long white Slide n Stack plastic basket $16.95 from Howards Storage World
• Smaller white plastic basket from local dollar store
• 3M hooks, local supermarket or Bunnings
• Gold Bulldog clips from Kikki K, but can also be purchased from Officeworks

I also want to show you my old house’s under sink cupboard. I kept my bulky appliances on the lower shelf and kitchen cleaning products on the top shelf. To keep everything grouped together I used plastic baskets found cheap from the dollar stores or Big W.  

I kept my toaster under the sink, purely as I had nowhere else to store it.  I kept it in a plastic storage basket to catch all the crumbs, makes it easier to keep the shelf clean.  My homemade antibacterial wipes are great to have on hand for quick clean ups.

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NEW HABIT – Clear the kitchen bench

To help you stay in control of you home I will share a new habit for you each day to add into your daily routine.

Clear your benches and clean the dishes before relaxing for the evening.

These are the steps I take each evening when cleaning the kitchen:

1. Clear dining table
2. Pack dishwasher
3. Wash all pots and pans, cutting boards and any other items that don’t go in the dishwasher
4. Clear away clutter on the kitchen bench
5. Wipe over the bench, picking up all crumbs and cleaning up spills
6. Empty sink, wipe over sink
7. Turn on dishwasher
8. Leave clean dishes to drip dry and put away in the morning

By following these steps above not only helps me to relax in the evening, but I also wake in a better mood with a clean and tidy kitchen.

[wlchecklist name=’NewHabitDay1′]

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5 MINUTES ONLY – Tidy a bookshelf

These 5 minute only tasks are little snippet tasks that you can do while on the phone or have a few spare minutes while waiting for the pot to boil on the stove.  If you can’t complete them that’s fine, at the end of the challenge I will provide you with a full list of al the 5 minute tasks, so you can work through them all at your own pace.

[wlchecklist name=’5minutesonlyDay1′]

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DOWNLOAD

Print the daily sheet and checklists to keep for reference while you are completing the above tasks.

Throughout the eCourse, I will provide you with checklists for each room.  It’s important to note I have provided a complete cleaning checklist so at the end of the eCourse you have it as a reference.  However, please note as mentioned above there are some tasks on the list that you don’t need to complete today. ie. you do not need to clean the cornices, floor, stove, oven, dishwasher, fridge, freezer or pantry, they will be completed on another day within the eCourse.

• DAY 1 DAILY TASK SHEET – file behind ‘Daily Task’ divider – click to download.
• KITCHEN CLEANING CHECKLIST – file behind ‘Checklist’ divider – click to download.
• BLANK KITCHEN CLEANING CHECKLIST – use this to create your own checklist, file behind ‘Checklist’ divider – click to download.
• KITCHEN ROUTINE CHECKLIST – file behind ‘routine’ divider – click to download.
• BLANK KITCHEN ROUTINE CHECKLIST – file behind ‘routine’ divider – click to download.

Please share your progress in the comments below