Motivation Monday: How to Keep Your Kitchen Counters Clear

I am a self proclaimed minimalist wannabe. As much as the idea of a sparkling white clean home, with having nothing but the bare minimal sounds nice, when it comes to putting it in practice I often come up short. A youtube creator I follow, suggested clearing everything off our kitchen counters for a couple of weeks, just to see how we felt.

I decided to take the challenge, but do it in my own way. Now I am here to challenge you to the 'Youth Pastor's Wife' version of clear kitchen counters.












Here are the steps:

• Clear off everything (and I mean everything, but maybe the microwave!). I put everything on my kitchen table so that all the counter tops were bare. 

• Decide what things are absolute necessities to keep on the counters. (I decided a coffee pot was a necessity, however, most say you can simply store it when it's not being used. I have an itty bitty baby, and I want access to the coffee pot, one handed!)

• Necessities include:dish soap, microwave-I added my canisters, because they add some color.

• Only add back things that you enjoy, or that you use on a daily basis. (I love seasonal decor, as well as a couple of other decor items.)

Here is the key. While many minimalist challenges want you to not have ANYTHING on the counters, my challenge is to have the counters as bare as possible, while still keeping what you love on display.

Here is what's on my counters:Microwave, paper towel holder, dish and hand soap, coffee maker, canisters, salt and pepper shakers, recipe holder (for decor) and a trivet (also decor), and lastly, a spring centerpiece. This may sound like a lot, but it is pretty sparse compared to how it was before!

I absolutely love my counters now! I don't think I could ever go back to piles of paper, several coffee gadgets, mug display, random kitchen gadgets and decor cluttered around.

So I challenge you to a kitchen counter clean out this week! Follow me on instagram (@youthpastorswife)  and tag me in your photo. I love to see these posts help people!

Before I end this post, I want to share some of my favorite kitchen cleaners. I absolutely love the Mrs Meyers soaps and all purpose cleaner, and I've recently discovered the Method degreaser. The degreaser made cleaning my stove and oven a breeze! I am adding link on amazon where you can find these products, but if you would like to check out Grove, I am also including my referral link. If you try it out for a couple of months, you get free shipping, as well as a bunch of other free cleaners for just trying them out. I am not sponsored, but I really enjoyed trying out more of these natural based cleaners, at an inexpensive price point. I think it's worth a try, even if you just do it for the 2 months they give you for free!








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(note: I get $10 for anyone who decides to purchase, however, I am not sponsored by them)

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