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.

Don't beat yourself up. When my kids were tiny my whole house looked like that. It's about priorities...they grew up happy and confident. My house is tidy now but I kind of muss the chaos of those days 🙃

Sorry op but that's pretty messy.
My kitchen could easily get like that with 3 dc too but little clean ups throughout the day help.
Unusable dining table stresses me out.

Op our bikes don't fit in the shed either. They go out in the garden on the side with a cover over them. Available from Amazon.
Cereal boxes - either adjust one of your shelves in the cupboard or decant them into storage jars that fit in your cupboard.

I suspect you need a trip to charity and the tip to do a declutter

No, I wouldn't like that set up but if it works for you and your family that's what counts.

I am quite a messy person. And even I think it is messy.

That's disgusting, and dangerous. What if someone came over unexpectedly?

Just no. No hook for the helmet in the kitchen! Put the helmet in the hallway or in the shed where it belongs. Not to mention the bloody green bike with dirty wheels. A kitchen where you cook needs to be clean. Not full of rubbish and old recycling.

Ahhh, I do like to see a cluttered kitchen/dining table! Makes me feel seen.

OP, you will get slammed by the Neatniks on here but it looks pretty normal to me, by my standards and the standards of those friends whose houses I feel most comfortable in. Is it tidy? NO! Is it spotless? NO! Is it a high-traffic, lived-in space? YES! Kitchens are meant to be functional, not part of a show home. I have to admit that the presence of the bike in there would irritate the hell out of me because bikes probably shouldn't be in kitchens and I know I'd be barking my shins on the pedals, but I'm sure there's a reason.

I also wouldn't myself be drying my clothes on the Lakeland airer in the kitchen because I know they'd pick up cooking smells, but you've probably got a better ventilation fan than I have. My own airer is used in the living room alongside a dehumidifier and that isn't ideal either, but hey, ideally I'd have a utility room and enough space in there for the airer.

Ignore all the petty comments about THINGS on SURFACES and WHY haven't you immediately put the Ella's Kitchen pouch in the bin with tongs and why aren't your tea towels instantly hung up on dedicated hooks, etc etc. Empty lives, OP, empty lives.

Haven’t been through all of these responses so apologies if I’m repeating others. Some thoughts/suggestions:

• Take the pictures off the shelf and hang them up, then use that shelf to store cereal boxes (or add another shelf).
• We struggle for bike storage too. We bought those cheap waterproof covers and store them at the side of the garden. Still a bit unsightly but easy for the kids to access and doesn’t get under your feet in the house.
• Tiny tweaks would make a big improvement in this kitchen. Put things away when done using them - so margarine straight back in the fridge, empty bottles/wrappers in the bin, tea towel hung straight back over the oven door when finished using it etc. Looking at this photo, that’s half the battle sorted very easily.
• If you’ve run out of cupboard space, could you maybe get a small box/crate type thing to store a collection of items - for example we have a cheap but nice looking little wooden box for all our non-refrigerated condiments, which keeps them all in one place and frees up a shelf. Also suggest really going through your cupboards, seeing what can be cleared out and/or stacked in a more space-saving way. In the past we had a family of 6 in a smaller kitchen than this (and I’m naturally quite messy & chaotic!) but clever storage etc meant we didn’t need so much stuff out.
• You have quite a bit of floor space there. Could you get a mini kitchen island or butcher’s block with shelving/a cupboard for some extra storage? Ikea do these fairly affordably.

If nothing else, I would make my top two priorities: 1) keep surfaces free of rubbish (empty plastics etc) - there isn’t really a good excuse for having litter lying around for longer than a few minutes; and 2) find some way, any way to free up that table space so you can sit around the table and eat as a family. Then you’ll have a lived-in but perfectly acceptable family kitchen.

The cat is lovely 😍

Hilarious. What IF someone DOES come over unexpectedly? I mean, they might decide to climb up onto the cluttered workspaces and trip, look at all those trip hazards. Or possibly lunge unpredictably at the bike and impale themselves on the handlebars? Or maybe get a static electric shock from a pair of synthetic pants drying on the airer. (OP I'm sure your pants are not synthetic)

If someone pops round 'unexpectedly' I would expect them to take the place as they find it. This absurd and tyrannical insistence on constantly maintaining your house to be 'visitor ready' is just oppressive bullshit. Don't fall for it. Everyone seems to live in terror that their friends and neighbours will discover that they don't live beautiful Insta lives. HARDLY ANYONE DOES!

Someone asked where we ate dinner - shameful response is on our laps with trays in front .of the tele! But any Sunday roast etc we all eat at the table. The children eat at the breakfast bar, even with the table clear they have always sat there and my little one is still in a highchair.

In defence the clothes have never smelt of food, I think it's the fact I have the window open as my house gets very hot when cooking and I also use lenor outdoorables which smells insane ❤️

I do think some extra shelving would be beneficial, we have another wall which u can't see near the highchair (where I am standing to take photo) and I can put bits up there to help the clutter. The bike does need to go everyone is 100% correct

It’s not just the clutter, it’s the empty bottle laying on the worktops, the toys on the floor and the tea towel slung on top of the hobs. That’s not just day to day chaos, that’s untidiness. I don’t mean that to judge the OP, I just wouldn’t call that normal.

It sure is.

Cue a whole stream of people pearl-clutching about anyone who allows cats on the kitchen table.😂

The one thing that really stood out to me was the tea towel and clutter on the hob. It's a fire hazard and your whole kitchen could be ablaze in seconds it the gas was accidentally ignited

I am not a naturally tidy person, but I am also autistic and that amount of stuff and mess would make me feel really anxious. The only way I can manage things is to have a place for everything and I spent a huge amount of time decluttering and reorganizing a couple of years ago to enable that. It doesn't mean things are never messy... But never that messy!

In my opinion - not normal mess.

That looks like my kitchen when I'm not expecting visitors. I would get a cover for the bike and leave it outside. Get the kids to put their crap in their rooms. Their chaos is their business, not for the kitchen.

Practically, if you have a spare wall, get an IKEA kallax unit and some boxes and use that to hide stuff that needs sorting

That's a good point - I suggested a bike store, but actually a piece of tarp to chuck over it in the back garden is a much cheaper suggestion!

Also look at other storage solutions for the cereal for example - decant it into plastic storage containers that do fit in the cupboard.

Sort Your life Out started again this week on BBC I think. It definitely gives me inspiration when I watch it (until I actually have to think about doing something in my own house at least!)

Table and the bike is stressing me right out

My counter tops do get like that esp with teens helping themselves to stuff but I wish they didn't!

Messy and I wouldn’t be able to get in the headspace to cook in a space like that.

But I don’t think it’s awful - just need to clean as you go. (My kitchen is far from pristine!)

Doesn't look too bad - nothing that can't be sorted with a 20min wizz round. Just a bunch of things that need to be put in place. You do need to find a better solution for the bike, but caught at the wrong time we occasionally have a trike in our kitchen...

I'm sure they'd cope but it's the fact that it makes it hard work for the OP that's the point not what others would think.

Priority is having a safe exit in case of fire @harlacem0507

Toys have no place in the kitchen. Zero. Get the dc shifting all the toys to their room tonight.
Either get a bike rack or a bike cover. On a hall rack or covered in the garden.
Heated clothes rack in the large bedroom or if you potter about at night folding clothes, say, then a short extension lead.
Take the cereal out of the box and peg the inner wrap shut or grasp the card top and roll it down. Store in a cupboard.
Get the dc to tread on the card and plastic bottles and put in recycling.
Drape the tea towel on the oven handle.
5 minutes putting food stuffs away, wipe down and done for today.

Tackle the table another day, and toss those bar stools then.
Start training on recycling, your dh can lead on this.

Oh sweet Lord, this would have me rocking in a corner
Clutter and mess do funny things to my head though, so no offence! Your actual kitchen will look lovely when tidied.