LavenderBlue

Today I tackled thoroughly cleaning our kitchen counters of clutter. Seems that is our hot spot in the home. Hard to believe how little time it takes till we almost can't see the counters themselves. I found phone numbers to enter in address book, a screwdriver, bottles of olive oil, veggie seeds, a set of unopened hot sauces (we don't have a pantry), Stevia packets, small glass bowls from an estate sale, ketchup/honey/soy sauce/strawberry jam take-out packets, jotted down recipes, etc. My best strategy might be to clear it before bed each night. What is your hot spot and how do you control it?

SusieQOH

The same as yours!!!
My husband likes everything "handy" which translates into messy!
We are constantly trying to figure out how to handle all that little stuff you're talking about.
I notice when things are tidy I feel a lot calmer first thing in the morning entering the kitchen

daisydawg

My kitchen area is always a hot spot. I am trying to declutter more often. Hate going into a messy kitchen first thing in the morning.

zozee

Same! I couldn't stand it one.more.day! So today was the day. Decided I don't even want my large Cuisinart coffee pot any more because it takes up so much space, has many parts to operate/fill/clean for the little bit of coffee I consume. Then there's the mail. Oy vey, the mail. Coupons, bill, flyers, junkjunkjunk. I try to pitch the crap as soon as it comes in, but my lazy streak kicks in. Then there are twist-ties which my guys leave on the counter instead of throwing in the trash when the bread is gone. (Why??) And rubber bands which belong in the drawer, a mere 3 inches from the top of counter. Ahem. And dirty dishes in the sink when the dishwasher is empty. Does not make one scintilla of sense. I got so fed up last night that I dubbed this Kitchen Day. If I did nothing else, I would get those dang counters clean, the fridge cleaned out, the floor swept and mopped. I took before photos in case I needed to see progress.

I'm happy to report that the counters are 90% clear now, the old science project food is now in the garbage instead of in the fridge, the floor has no more clumps of dog hair/loose change/post-it notes/onion peels/receipts from 1985 on it, and it is shining hardwood once again.

Tartan

​I limit myself to one kitchen junk drawer. It has all my misc. kitchen tools that cannot fit in my utensil drawer.

elnan

You ask "Where is your clutter hot spot?". My answer is The whole bloomin house. It is very difficult for me to discard anything, and I am a recycler from before it was a word. For those of you who feel better after you have tossed something, good for you, but hands off my stuff.

JustAbitCrazy

My dining room table is our "dumping spot" when we enter. Impossible to keep cleaned off sometimes.

quilterpurpledog

My husband has a slogan, "Two things I hate, clutter and cleaning up clutter." I have a hard time with stuff on the dining room table. We do not eat there often anymore. So the table gets stuff dumped there coming into the house. I try to deal with it every morning (I am an early morning person) and put everything in its place. The key, I think, is to be sure that there is a defined place for all categories of stuff. I have small baggies for rubber bands, twistie ties, etc. When the bag gets full, it gets emptied into the trash. I set aside an hour every morning to deal with paper of all kinds-filing, paying bills, recording receipts of things we keep track of, sending cards, etc. It works pretty well because it takes less time to do daily than to let it stack up and do all at once. That is overpowering to me.

patricej

every horizontal surface in my house is a hot spot!

jmoore

ditto...kitchen counter is where we drop mail, magazines and such and currently my dining table is cluttered with old lap top, new computer, camera and cords as I get ready to update and move documents and photos onto new system. Hopefully, I'll have it cleaned up by the weekend.