I guess it is rather easy for me to maintain the kitchen, because as you know I put a lot of thought into the arrangement. This is the first kitchen I use that is solely tailored to my needs. I can think of a few improvements, but they'd basically be decorative improvements not functional ones. The areas in my apartment that don't look good so far are the ones that need more thinking - and then rearranging.

Jazzlady:
I think it is an ongoing situation, in one's apartment or home, as things change and we change. I am always rearranging things here. LOL

When I first read your post Bless I thought you had seen my to do list week after week that says 'clean kitchen counters'.

We have a breakfast bar as you come in the patio door and down the hall from the back door to the garage. Today I cleaned it off and so far it is still clean.

One of the things we have there is a magazine holder with 3 phonebooks. 1 for our local area, 1 for my work area and another for yellow pages only. We really do not need 3. I have seen the under counter shelves that you can pull down. Talked to DH about that but his project list is long. We also have the phone in the same area at the phonebook and a pencil/pen organizer. We keep our Murf binder next to the magazine holder. DH eats breakfast their each day so his little slips of paper with numbers written on them are over a 2 ft area.

I have a cake plate with fruit on it year round and we have a banana hook too. I try to keep the cake plate as the 'centerpiece' but have never kept the counter decluttered.

I have a pattern for a fabric docking station on a hanger. This is the area DH drops his cellphone. I will add that to my project list when the sewing room is done.

The counter challenge will be a hard one for me but I need to get it resolved.

Mine is coming along. I still have a scale on it I am trying to find instructions for. In the meantime I piled a couple of small things on it.

All the dishes are put away and everything else is cleaned off it.

I cleared it off in the morning, after I made breakfast, and wiped it.

Then I cooked lunch! I wiped off the counter again, after I washed the lunch dishes.

Then I made evening tea! I haven't yet washed the tea things and put them away.

There isn't anything non-kitchen related in my kitchen. No mail, no phones, no toys, etc. Just a lot of kitchen related stuff!

Had to replace my coffee pot, and purchased another one,that is smaller. 4 cups. I have an electric one if I need to make more coffee when company is here, and can also put a pot in a thermos I keep on the counter for the coffee I already make (why use extra electricity to keep it warm. have done that for years!).

I have a very tiny kitchen, so if I leave even one or two items out of place on it, it looks messy!! I have my knife set and spice rack on one side, a fruit bowl on the other. In the little useless counter between the fridge and stove, I put my coffee maker. Other than that, that is it!

I've done some counter clearing, and cleaned off a chest of drawers which also serves as a counter of sorts. But I need to focus now on the microwave cart, which has storage underneath the shelf on which the microwave sits. It's very cluttered. More urgent, the doors on the cart have fallen off - screws fell out, but I can't find them - and the magnet helping to hold the top part of the doors closed is coming loose. Particle board just doesn't work too well after a number of years - and I realize now that the cart is almost 19 years old. So I need to repair it so I can properly store everything.

I am keeping up with the kitchen counters.

I still keep a lot of items out on the counters on a permanent basis, but, I am getting better at putting away the extra items.

Cleaned the counters this morning and I didn't have anything that needed to be put away, which is a sign of progress, isn't it?