The kitchen is the soul of the home. Having a functional clean kitchen will facilitate meal preparation as well as ease in cleaning and maintaining order and organization. Most kitchens have lots of cabinet space which involves more cleaning and organizing. No one has that kind of time or that level of motivation to tackle the entire kitchen. Therefore, we are going to break our cleaning and organization into small steps to make it more manageable. Today we will begin on the south wall and only clean and organize the cabinets, counter tops and appliances on this wall. Begin by gathering your cleaning supplies and turn on some upbeat music. Light a candle and pour a glass of your healthy beverage. Let’s get started:

First, take everything out of one cabinet. Using some Murphy’s Oil Soap mixed with water, clean the inside and outside of the cabinet, including the walls and inside the cabinet door. Now take a look at the items you removed from the cabinet. Are all these items useful to you? Are they purposeful and worth the space they consume? If not, they may need to be repurposed or rehomed. The kitchen is no place for clutter. In order to be functional, the kitchen needs to be streamlined and easy to work in. Therefore, in this room, we are only going to keep what is essential to the process of preparing and serving food. Back to the items that you have removed; assess them for usefulness and put all others in a box or bag to either donate, sell, use in another fashion or to give to someone. As for the remaining items that you are going to utilize and keep. Clean these items before replacing them by wiping them with a cloth damp with a water/vinegar mixture. This will remove grease and oils which tend to build up in the kitchen. Replace the items so that they are easy to access. Then move on to the next cabinet.

You should have already cleaned the small appliances but if not, clean them now. You can access the link on how to clean these kitchen tools so that they are clean and functional. If your oven or microwave is located on this wall, it is time to clean them as well. Remember to clean the drawer under the oven and remove it completely if possible. If not, take the vacuum and clean the area under the oven when the drawer is pulled as far out as it will go. If you have a self cleaning oven, turn it on after you are finished cleaning this wall.

Continue cleaning all the cabinetry and items inside until you are finished with all the storage spaces and countertops on this wall. Don’t forget to clean the top of the cabinets with some Murphy’s Oil Soap and water. Then, place a sheet of wax paper down on the top of the cabinet to make cleaning easier the next time. Here are some helpful hints to clean specific items in your kitchen:

• Pots and pans: You can give these essential cooking tools a good cleaning with a paste made from baking soda and water. This will act as a mild abrasive to remove cooking residue and baked on dirt and oils. After the scrubbing, rinse well in warm water and dry.
• Glass baking items: These you can clean in the same manner as the pots and pans. Use a paste of baking soda and water to scrub the glass ware and rinse well. You will be amazed at how good these glass items look after they have been scrubbed.
• Wooden bowls: These items can be washed in warm water with NO soap and dried immediately. In order to keep them hydrated, you can use a little cooking oil on a paper towel to rub into the wood so that it absorbs well and protects the wood. You can also use beeswax for this.
• Cast Iron: Do not wash your cast iron in soapy water. To effectively clean case iron, you can put a little water in the bottom of the pan and cook on the stove top on high heat for several minutes. Then let cool. The food particles will have burnt off the surface and you can just wipe them off with a towel.
• Pot holders can be washed in the washing machine along with kitchen towels

When you have finished this wall, take a healthy beverage break and then complete your beauty routine for today. We will move on to the next wall tomorrow.