With the warmer weather coming, there’s going to be yard work and gardening calling our names. But we still get hungry, and cooking and some baking still needs doin’. How do we manage the outside work and kitchen work at the same time? We make sure our kitchen is clutter-free.

There’s some very good reasons for getting rid of everything we don’t like, use, need, want, or have room for (the definition of clutter): we’ll have more fun cooking, we’ll have more time and energy for the very reason we’re in this room (to cook, bake, eat, socialize, etc.), and we’ll experience quicker and easier clean-up (with willing help from family members no less). All this said, let’s look at how to get the clutter out and create “centered” work stations so we’ll have more time and energy for our yard- and garden-work as well.

Here’s how to create a streamlined and centered kitchen in six steps:

1) List your “center” choices. Think about what you like to do and need to do in your kitchen. Do you love to bake? Then you need a “baking center.” Do you and/or family take lunch to work and/or school? Then you need a “lunch center.” Do you feed your pet in or near the kitchen? Then you need a “pet center.” Is there a phone in your kitchen? Then you need an “information center.” You get the idea. List all the activities you like to do and need to do in your kitchen, and those activities become your “centers.” Here’s a list of typical kitchen centers: tableware, cooking, baking, cleanup, pantry, information, lunch, and microwave. Customize your kitchen by adding centers germane to your lifestyle, interests, and family needs.

2) Empty the entire kitchen. Yes, the ENTIRE kitchen. Chances are slim you will put things back where they came from, and you’ll definitely put back much less — you’ll sort through everything, look for keepers (only things you like, use, need, want, and have room for), discard the rest, and reload your spaces with your “centers” in mind. Clear off the top and front of the fridge, and empty out the dishwasher (even if the dishes are dirty—or wash them fast). The goal: completely empty drawers, cupboards and surfaces — you want EVERYTHING out so you can see what you’re working with. Don’t get hung up on where to put stuff or how to sit and stack it. Just empty spaces as quickly as possible.

3) Clean out the cupboards and drawers; lay new shelf/drawer paper.

4) Choose “center” locations, using your list as your guide. Think “outside the box” while doing this. For instance: If you have grade-schoolers and you’d like more mealtime help from them, why not stack table settings in an under-counter cupboard closest to the table so they can get to them easily and help set the table? If there’s a toddler in the house that could wreck dish havoc, just install a kinder-lock on the cupboard door.

5) Streamline the contents. Go from stack to stack, pile to pile and touch each item and ask yourself if you still like it, use it, need it, want it, or have room for it. If you answer “no” to any of these questions, the item goes either to charity, trash, a garage sale, consignment, a women’s shelter, your 5th-wheeler, or an apartment box for the day your children leave the nest. Also, watch for things that you do need, like, want, or use, that belong in another part of your home. They go into a “someplace else” box and will be dealt with as you streamline the rest of your home. Put this box in an out-of-the-way location.

6) Load centers with appropriate contents. Quality-over-quantity is the approach here. Avoid duplicates of anything and place high value on multi-purpose things. Why give precious space to a hotdog cooker, when a microwave, saucepan, or grill will do the same job?

You may need to label centers for a short while, until family gets used to where things are—you always want everyone to put things back EXACTLY where they found them. Finally, be sure to give your new arrangement at least 21 days before you switch things around. We want you to experience less muss and less fuss — to find out for yourself how much more fun and how much easier it is to cook and otherwise work in a clutter-free and centered kitchen!

If you’re like a lot of folks, you need to SEE things done, and then it clicks for you. We knew that, so we made this how-to video so you could actually watch the entire process unfold before your very eyes — in Kathy and Dan’s own kitchen! Order It's Here... Somewhere in the Kitchen today and get your kitchen situation in shape before the outside demands come callin’ your name!