Is everyone's kitchen as hectic as mine? (Photo)

[harlacem0507]

A little bit outing but I wanted to know if people can relate to this hectic kitchen of mine! It gets cleaned and tidied every day but most things I can't seem to store anywhere as have very little storage in my house, but honestly, does this kitchen seem 'normal' or very unorganized, messy, chaotic etc? Because I'm not sure if I'm being overly critical to myself for having a kitchen like this or I do in fact need to seriously organise it better! (The white blob is my son!) For context I have a husband and 3 children aged 13, 7 and 15 months and work part time.

I'm actually extremely glad you've brought this up, as I didn't know that and I've up till now been a flylady fan!! Not any more. I'm genuinely glad to know.

@harlacem0507 his collar bone should be healed by now if he broke it 6 weeks ago. If he’s not yet back at work (presume very heavy physical job) then he’ll have more time to do light domestic chores. Putting a couple of empty coke cans in the recycle bin won’t kill him. He could even do it with his unaffected arm if he’s that worried!

I'm not a neat freak by any standards, but, yes, it's messy even by my fairly lax standards. Work tops could be a lot less untidy and you could put the Cheerios in a cupboard. The bike needs to go - do you have a garage or shed?

Gorgeous kitty! And a nice kitchen.

Laundry is also the bane of my life. I don’t know the answer. I did laundrette once a week when I didn’t have a tumble dryer.

No that would drive me insane these days. My kitchen always has clear surfaces unless I'm cooking a roast or big meal, however, I don't have little kids any longer and it certainly was a lot less tidy then. I do sometimes have a drying rack hidden behind the door and I have definitely had a bike/skateboard/scooter lurking in the past. It's just stuff. As long as it's hygienic that's all that matters really!

My kitchen isn't big enough to get that messy, but no I wouldn't be able to focus if my kitchen was so cluttered. Not saying mine is perfect by any stretch, but when we got our new kitchen I made sure there were as few things on the sides as possible. So much quicker to clean!

The bike is my 7 year olds not the 15 year old but yes it's the idea of opening the shed up and squeezing it in there getting it out twice a day that makes me think oh sod it.

The airer actually drives me insane it's sooo big and awkward I can't even get to the back door as it's plugged in and has a very short lead so only place I can put it!

The Cheerios can't fit in the cupboard would you believe I think we just have/own too much stuff? It's little things like that too make it look messy I know.

OH is helping but with one arm he's a bit rubbish compared to what he used to do.

Curious, what's broken window theory?

No

That mess & clutter wouldn’t fly in my house

Sorry OP that’s really messy. No judgement!! It’s really hard to keep on top of things.

My rule is to clean up as we go, so plates etc straight in the dishwasher. Also the motto, “don’t put it down, put it away”. That goes for rubbish too! It makes a huge difference.

I also just don’t have anything but appliances living on kitchen counters if I can help it.

You could pop a tall (floor to ceiling if possible) storage cupboard between the back door and the slanting wall. Use that for extra storage. You can even pop a basket in there for your “extra” bits that don’t quite have a home yet if you need to just hide some mess for a day or two!

Just curious.

Do you vet the politics of the owner/ceo of every business you use? (and I'm no Trump apologist)

Could the bike be stored on a wall?

You can be clean and tidy (not saying the OP's dirty btw) and still have fun. I'm not sure you were being objective

Well, I too am a flylady fan because her system works well for me. I didn't know anything about her political leanings because her daily stuff on her website doesn't mention any of that. I'll continue using her system, and I recommended it to @harlacem0507 as I think it might help her.

It's a theory that really pertains to crime which suggests that visible signs of crime and disorder, like graffiti or a broken window leads to even more disorder.

It was popular in the 90's and used as an approach to 'clean up' NY city by coming down hard on even small acts of crime.

The perpetual clothes drying is a bit of a fact of life if you don't have anywhere else to put it - just on the dryer being in the way as it has a short cord point, could you get an extension lead? Clothes airers aren't high voltage dodge things like fan heaters that shouldn't be used with an extension. That would give you a bit more flexibility for where it's sitting relative to the powerpoint at least.

Sorry final post - sell the airer and get a tumble dryer!

OP, I bought a motorbike cover for our bikes (about a tenner on eBay) so I can just put them in the garden and cover them up. Also I take cereal out of the boxes and use bag clips for the plastic inner packaging. Indeed I do that with a lot of things as it means smaller to store. I works with stuff for freezer too.

I've recently had a big de-clutter of my cupboards and have got rid of loads of stuff taking up space that I didn't use. I'm a bit of a hoarder by nature but having everything neat and tidy is much more pleasurable. Maybe that's what you need. I also have a couple of "baskets of doom" on top of the fridge freezer to throw bits in to stop them sitting on the kitchen table.

Cheerios-decant into a container that does fit in the cupboard.

Leave broken windows, then you leave the next thing, and the next...till everything's a tip etc.

Put an extension lead on the dryer? And if it's not in the way, there's no problem putting it in DC's room and it'll keep it toasty warm! My friend had to do that in her tiny terrace and it wasn't an issue for the DC at all

And the 15 year-old can help with the bike!

It’s certainly ‘lived in’ 😂 but thinking about it I’d probably rather come round to yours for a cuppa than one where all the surfaces are empty and everything is hidden behind closed doors and you’re afraid to have a coffee in case you’d leave a ring on the marble worktops. You’ve a lot on and it’s not always possible to keep on top of everything. Brave to post a photo though!

Right? Glad it's not just me who thinks this is off.

Op, if the bike has to be squeezed into the shed then maybe the shed would benefit from a declutter so your wee boy can get the bike inside himself?

And your clothes airer? Just get an extension lead and move it somewhere else?

The cereal - I decant into plastic containers that fit inside my cupboards.

I think you’re so ground down by how busy your life must be that you’re probably scared of change just in case it makes things worse.

Could you maybe try changing 2 things and see how it goes?

This is a thread about a messy kitchen. Maybe politics isn't really necessary here?

You're welcome, by the way. Glad it's going so well.

You're projecting your issues there dare I say it

The 2 older children and husband need to embrace the Put it away instead of just down mantra. I doubt that every random item in that kitchen was left there by you.