Cleaning Up The Kitchen And Correctly Storing Produce

I don't know if y'all are like me in the sense that your house, specifically your kitchen, can get messy really fast. It is the place that we spend a ton of time and the first place we unload after walking in the door. Its the place that friends congregate at, and I start crafts in. It gets cooked in every day, Bray has his bath in everyday, etc.  I hate when its dirty and messy, more than any other room in the house. I want it to look like a designer kitchen at all times, but then I am brought back to reality. I cannot have my counters completely empty at all times. I won't put my soaps, scrubbing pads, and bottle cleaners under the sink at all times. I have multiple appliances that I use daily that I want easy access to. So this is to show what a difference a little cleaning and reorganizing can do.  This is before I changed it all up:

The main reason I was inspired today to finally clean it all up and out, and switch locations of items, was the need for more storage of fruits and veggies. You see- I have almost always kept all my produce in my refrigerator. Everything. That was until I started reading multiple sites from Pinterest telling me that there are actual proper ways to store produce, and that I was doing it all wrong! Whoops! I tried out some of the recommendations and wanted to hit myself for doing it wrong for so long! Now I have a large metal basket that can store any and all produce that needs to be on the counter, and I have a print out of what should go where on the side of my fridge.

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 I also decided that I needed to get the coffee maker off of the main kitchen counter since we use our espresso machine way more than our coffee maker nowadays. I moved the espresso machine and syrups to a corner, so just call us Starbucks;)

 And the coffee maker to the bakery counter:

I finally organized my cookbooks and baking items, and moved the sugar, flour, and oats to the bakery counter as well, instead of on the main kitchen counter.

This is what it all looks like now, while keeping it realistic. Yes, the Vitamix is not a pretty sight, but we use it every morning- so it stays. Sure, the bottle cleaning brush isn't beautiful, but its necessary. I am just glad that I moved the not daily items to the bakery counter, and the really necessary stuff stayed put. I know some of y'all might be giggling over my kitchen towel attached to the dishwasher. I am completely unable to hang a normal towel on the bars because the dogs think they are toys. I however cannot crochet, so I am left to buying towel like this from thrift stores, or from my mom...which leads to some ugly but practical towels! Oh well! I am mainly glad that I learned that how you store produce makes a ridiculous difference, and now I can enjoy my tomatoes, avocados, etc. at how they actually should taste!

 Have you done any easy changes in your house that make a huge difference in not only looks, but ease of daily use?

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