Clean Up Your Messy Kitchen and Dining Room

In any home, the kitchen is truly where the heart is. It's where your family gets its nourishment—not only from the food you serve but also from the gatherings that so often take place there. Because it's such a nerve center, it's also a tough place to keep organized and clean.

That clutter often spills into your dining areas, whether it's part of the kitchen or a separate dining room. Regardless, this is where you entertain, not where you store that "I'll get to it later" clutter. If you use these areas for anything aside from eating, I'll help you establish a system to clean up after yourself immediately and quickly.

6 Steps to a Clutter-Free Kitchen and Dining Room
Step 1: Upload your "before" photos

Step 2: Think it through

Step 3: Think F.A.S.T.

Step 4: Create and maintain zones for your kitchen

Step 5: Create and maintain zones for your dining room

Step 6: Upload your "after" photos

What You'll Need to Get Started
Digital camera
Computer

Upload your photos


Improve Your Chances of Appearing on The Oprah Show!
1. Don't pick up your mess before you take your "before" photos. The messier, the better!
2. Take a photo from each and every corner of the room. Get the widest angle possible—the more we see, the better.
3. Get creative! Take a few photos of specific areas of the room—your table, your pantry, etc.
4. Make sure the room is well lit. If not, use a flash.
5. Make sure your camera settings are on the highest resolution possible.
6. Turn off the time/date stamp.
7. Don't include anyone in the photos. Rooms only, please!
8. Try not to submit blurry photos. We may not be able to use them.
9. Remember, you can only submit up to three photos, so pick your best ones!

What You'll Need to Get Started
Download a room function chart 

How to Create a Shared Vision
Gather your family. If it's your bedroom, talk with your partner about what you envision for the room. If it's your child's room, have a discussion about what they envision for the room—but keep in mind not everyone will share the same idea. Be mindful of each other during this process because having to toss treasured possessions can be a highly emotional exercise for most people. This is a tough job, and you are going to engage in tough conversations, so get off on the right foot together.

Establish a basic premise. The best way to enter a tough discussion is to establish where you stand at the start with love and understanding. Before you talk about the clutter, talk about what is important to all of you. Discuss what you want the final outcome of this cleanup to be. Agree on ground rules, and return to this initial conversation when things get difficult or uncomfortable.

Don't make it personal. As you discuss your hopes and goals for the rooms in your house, make sure you don't start blaming your spouse, partner, roommate or children for the mess. Instead of focusing on whose mess it is, think of it as a group problem that you're going to solve together. Don't use words like "yours" and "mine." Talk about the clutter and challenges surrounding it as "ours."

Don't point your finger at others. The goal is to reframe the discussion away from the item itself to its significance in your lives. Here are some questions to help you make decisions about what to keep without starting arguments or passing judgment.

• Instead of "Why don't you put your shoes away?" ask: "What is it that you want from this space?"
• Instead of "Why do we have to keep your stuffed animals?" ask: "Why is that important to you? Does it have meaning?"
• Instead of "There's no room for all of your stuff in there," say: "Let's see how we can share this space so that it works for both of us."
• Instead of "Why do you have to hold on to these ugly sweaters your dad gave you?" ask: "What do these sweaters make you think of or remind you of?"
• Instead of "I don't understand how you can live with all of this junk," ask: "How do you feel when you have to spend time in this room?"

Complete a Room Function Chart. Download a copy and give one to each member of your family. Fill them out individually, then meet to compare your results. At this stage, it is best to simply hear what everyone has to say without dismissing any idea. The more comments, feedback, insight and discussion, the better! Welcome surprises and be prepared for some interesting points of view.

What You'll Need to Get Started
Trash bags
Download signs to help keep your piles in order:

• Keep 
• Donate 
• Recycle 
• Clutter to Cash 

F: Fix a time. Schedule a time that suits everyone involved. Cleaning up is a family affair, so get everyone on board by scheduling your kick-start at a time that works for everyone and make attendance mandatory! Set aside a Saturday or a Sunday, or a few hours every day, to start the process.

A: Anything not used in 12 months. Face it: If you haven't used an item in the last year, it is highly unlikely you really need it or that you are going to ever get enough use out of it to justify it cluttering up your home. Take the plunge and get rid of it! Ask yourself these questions as you encounter each piece of clutter:

• Do I use this?
• How long has it been since I've used it?
• Will I use it again?
• Is it worth the space it takes up in my house?

Remember: The objective is to get stuff out of your home, not to move it into another room. You will be amazed by the sheer volume of unused and unneeded items in your home. Don't spend time inventing reasons to keep these things.

S: Someone else's stuff. It's bad enough when clutter is your own, but it is totally crazy when the clutter belongs to someone else. Your house should not contain anything that doesn't belong to you. If it's something you've borrowed, give it back. If you've ended a relationship or gotten a divorce, now's the time to let your ex's belongings go. If your kids have established their own households, it's time for them to pick their stuff up.

T: Trash. The trash can is your friend. It is your very hungry friend. Take pride in how much you throw away and make it fun. Compete with your family members to see who tosses the most or award a prize to the best purger. Remember the goal: You only want to keep the amount of stuff that makes sense for your space.

Sample Zones for Kitchens
Preparation
Cooking
Cleanup
Eating
Storage

Quick Tips for Your Kitchen
Keep flat surfaces clear. Consider flat surfaces your preparation area—not your storage area! This will keep them clean and accessible.

Work around the "magic triangle." Establish a "magic triangle" in your kitchen between the stove, your refrigerator and your sink. Anything you use most often, keep it in the triangle. Anything you use less often, outside the triangle.

Try the cardboard box test. See what utensils you're really using. Take all the utensils out of your drawers and put them in a cardboard box. For the next month, whenever you use one of these utensils, put it back in the drawer. If after four weeks it's still in the box, you don't need it.

Claim your cupboards. Make use of what you have. Use a lazy Susan, mini step shelves, even back-of-the-door shelving systems to hold extra items.

Check food expiration dates. Every six months, check the contents of your cupboards. Every three months, discard old food or perishables. Also, check your freezer to ensure you aren't keeping food beyond its use-by date.

Never have a junk drawer.

Establish a pantry with a purpose. Pantries are harder to manage than refrigerators. Why? Our pantries are usually chock full of foods we buy because they look good, because they seem like good foods to have on hand or because they're on sale. They're sort of like clothes closets—full of impulse purchases and sales mistakes. Get the golden rules of pantry organization.

Identify clutter foods. Like the boxes full of who-knows-what filling your basement or garage, clutter foods are foods you think you should have in your house but don't really eat. Zero in on the main culprits.

How-to Videos
Establish the Magic Triangle 
Weed Out Useless Utensils 
Maximize Your Kitchen Storage Space 
Control Your Cookbooks 

Sample Zones for Dining Rooms
Eating
Storage
Collectibles
Formal china
Entertaining supplies

Quick Tips for Your Dining Room
Consider the dining room table sacred. Do not use this large, inviting surface as a catch-all.

Establish the zones. Keep the area free from clutter and also off-bounds to the television and other distractions that stop you from interacting fully with one another. All you need is a clear table and storage space for dishes, formal china and entertaining supplies.

Keep what you use close at hand. Take all the plates and dishes you own and spread them on the table. Do you need and use all of them? Gather matching flatware and glasses together. Discard any that you no longer like or use, as well as any that are chipped or damaged. Place the items you use most within reach. Store large serving platters or anything you use least often on the lowest or highest shelves toward the rear of the cupboard.

Linens and napkins. If possible, keep all your table linens, tablecloths and napkins in your dining room. Assign a drawer or shelf for linen sets so that anyone setting the table or putting things away can see where things belong.

What You'll Need to Get Started
Digital camera
Computer

Upload your photos


Improve Your Chances of Appearing on The Oprah Show!
1. Take a photo from each and every corner of the room. Get the widest angle possible—the more we see, the better.
2. Take the "after" in the exact same place you took all the "before" photos. That way they will match up perfectly.
3. Get creative! Take a few "before" and "after" photos of specific areas of the room—your countertops, table, pantry, etc. Just remember to have the same angle for both photos!
4. Make sure the room is well lit. If not, use a flash.
5. Make sure your camera settings are on the highest resolution possible.
6. Turn off the time/date stamp.
7. Don't include anyone in the photos. Rooms only, please!
8. Try not to submit blurry photos. We may not be able to use them.
9. Remember, you can only submit up to three photos, so pick your best ones!