Whats on YOUR kitchen counter?? - Page 2

[bluey]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/89582422@N00/3496889743/

Pretty clean no? It will be lovely.

Well, we are currently in a small rental house while we are building the above dream house:

At the moment I see:
breadmaker
knife block
some recycling that needs to be dumped in the bin
a toaster from breakfast
spice rack
kitchenaid
cereal box from breakfast
butter crock
compost crock
assorted dishes from breakfast: apparently the dish fairy hasn't been yet
books (courtesy of dd#1)
coffee maker
microwave
camera
cell phone
remote (why?)
snap press
container of popcorn I didn't put away last night. I did put the popper away though!

In my new house, most of that stuff will have a place. I very carefully planned this kitchen to within an inch of it's life to ensure I had a spot for everything. Having a cluttered kitchen makes me anxious.

[mommaof3boz]

LOVE the pics everyone. How exciting. I spend most of my time in the kitchen and laundry rooms (like every other mom). We live in a 100 yr old farmhouse and I am constantly thinking how things could work better, where something could go, what could go, etc.

[LeighB]

Originally Posted by vm9799

here are my kitchen counters:

photo #1

photo #2

i keep them very clear unless i'm actually in there cooking/baking.

ooo, I'm a little bit in love with your kitchen, lol. It's about the same size and layout of mine...but yours is much cleaner and put together.

[Purple Sage]

Funny this question should come up...my mission today is to find new homes for the collection of clutter I have on one section of kitchen counter..including:

My diaper bag and purse (this is right by the back door, which is convenient but looks like crap).
Paper bag for recyclables that need to go out to the recycling cart.
Several containers filled with crayons, markers, pencils & pens. They are only here because I have figured out where to put them when 2yo can't reach them but 5yo can.
Bowl for compost stuff (currently empty).

The rest of the counter space has:

Microwave
Cell phone
Cutting board
Coffee maker

[freestyler]

Almost nothing. I can't stand it when surfaces get cluttered. We have three counter spaces. On one of them there is:

coffee maker
toaster oven.

That's it. We also have cutting boards, but I store them vertically when not chopping stuff.

[vm9799]

Originally Posted by LeighB

ooo, I'm a little bit in love with your kitchen, lol. It's about the same size and layout of mine...but yours is much cleaner and put together.

aw, thank you! we actually just remodeled our kitchen in january....it was HORRIBLE before! lol! today we are getting a new fridge delivered so i'll have to "update" my photos again. and we plan on a new range sometime in the next year as well.

[kirstenb]

Microwave
Knife block
Bowl with fruit
Mixer
Olive oil bottle
Balsamic vinegar bottle
Garlic holder
Canister with utensils
Canisters with flour, sugar, and brown sugar
Butter dish

I hate having the microwave on the counter but it's not our house and there is not a built in microwave, unfortunately. I have having the stand mixer out too but I have no where else to put it.

[Drummer's Wife]

I normally try and keep the counters clear and uncluttered (someday my kitchen will be like SAHDS's )

But right now there is quite a bit of crap on the counters, including a couple toys, a random fork, a glamour mag, baskets of fruit, coffee pot, toaster, canisters, olive oil, sea salt, a calendar, my albertsons monopoly game, etc,....

the stove is icky from DH making green chile and the appliances need to be wiped down badly! The kitchen sink is gross, too Maybe sharing photos will motivate me to clean it up.

oh, above the sink is a bunch of cans and a empty milk jug that needs to go out to the recycling bin... as well as my toothbrush cause I have a weird habit of brushing my teeth in the kitchen.

Pics here

[Alyantavid]

Way too much.

a pile of stuff I have to deal with tomorrow
basket of pens, papers, etc
ds1's school art project
a stud finder
recipe box & books
microwave
tin bucket of seeds for the garden
knife set
wooden box of meds, supplements, vitamins
empty glass milk bottle that needs returned
crockpot of beans for dinner
papertowels
toaster
coffee pot
salt & pepper shakers

and because I just did them, a rack full of dishes

[lucyem]

Everything. No joke. Basically you cannot see the counters. Part of our problem is this kitchen is not a good layout. The set up makes no sense to me. Then the lack of storage makes things tough. Not to mention everything that should be in my barn (to be built next month) fills the mudroom. So think domino effect and everything that should be in the mudroom is in my kitchen. Meanwhile DH does not want to work in his office so his office is now half the kitchen table. Looking from right to left we have: Kids buckets, fish tank rocks in a bowl, radon testing equipment, microwave, started veggie plant trays, sink of dishes, cutting board, empty fish tank, bread maker, paper towels, 2 clock radios, bag of stuff to compost, plant and lots more. The island is just a floating pile of everything.

Recently I cleared out a little room I had wanted for an office and made it a pantry. That has helped but is still underway. I am probably only about half unpacked from our move which does not help either.

[kay4]

coffee pot
4 slice toaster
blender
crockpot
dish towel and dish rack

[PaytonPlace]

We have a ton of counterspace in our new house which is a HUGE blessing. So it makes it look like there is hardly anything at all on there.

coffeemaker
KA mixer
cookie jar
fruit stand/basket thingy
standing paper towel holder

[springbabes]

My DH and I were just fighting about this earlier today. He thinks the toaster should always be on the counter, plugged in. I think it should be in the cupboard. He likes to leave the juicer out too even though he only uses it once a month. We have enough crap on our counters! Even when all the dishes are done and everything is put away we still have. . .

On the counters either side of the sink:
compost bucket
kitchen scrap bowl for chickens
basket for gathering eggs
paper towel holder
bottle of dish soap
cannister of salt (for scrubbing cast iron)
crock that holds scrub brushes
2 gallon jars growing kombucha
several longneck bottles of kombucha getting bubbly
jar of kefir
couple loaves of bread
toaster
jars of whatever I'm currently fermenting

Counter on either side of stove:
2 containers holding knives
jar of clothes pins (for closing food bags, etc.)
utensil jar
olive oil
coconut oil
salt/pepper
butter
giant bag of tortilla chips from costco (too tall for cupboard)
our chicken eggs (I don't refrigerate unless it's hot)
stack of cast iron pans (too heavy to lift in and out of cupboard)
tea kettle (sometimes this is on the stove but it usually gets moved so I can cook)

Island/bar:
long plate holding fruit and garlic
salt shaker
coffee press

Kitchen table:
cloth napkin basket
paper napkin basket (another thing DH and fight about--he doesn't like cloth)
fruit bowl
salt/pepper

I like the look of a clean kitchen with nothing on the counters but I don't know how realistic that is in a busy household of 6 people. I cook at least 2 meals a day and my oldest DD is always in there making something. And honestly, the dishes are almost never done. I mean the dishwasher gets run twice a day but by the time it's washed and unloaded there is always another load waiting there on the counter.

[Siennaflower]

Left of sink:

fruit basket
mason jar for loose change
bag of oranges
cook books

Between sink and stove:

KA mixer
paper towel dispenser
olive oil
PAM spray
glass jars containing the following: oats, brown sugar, rice, brown rice, lentils and pinto beans

Between stove and pantry:

Cutting board
Utensil holder with misc cooking utensils
spray bottle of Sals Suds

Now, my island is a whole different subject. It's our catch all and has miscellaneous junk on it. I really need to just chuck all of it. I would like to get a fruit bowl to use as a center piece on the kitchen table and get rid of the fruit basket. I could probably get rid of the majority of my cookbooks as well.

[MayBaby2007]

Originally Posted by SAHDS

http://www.flickr.com/photos/34172659@N07/3181504562/

and

http://www.flickr.com/photos/3417265...n/photostream/

Not much.

Your kitchen is just beautiful! Mine is simplified like yours, but yours is so beautiful! I'm in love and daydreaming now.

On my counter:

Coffee pot
Knife block
Bowl of grapes

On stove: (my only other "counter")

A maroon bowl with vibrant-colored (fake) oranges
A red candle

:

[graceomalley]

Left of sink: a couple of lunch dishes waiting to be stacked in the dishwasher.
Right of sink: nothing.
Left of stove: crockpot.
Right of stove: microwave.

Kitchen table: fruit bowl.

Hutch: runner, box of tissues, spare change dish, some photos in frames.

[jimblejamble]

On my counter:

Dish drying rack
2 cutting boards leaned against the wall behind drying rack
Soap -- Dish and hand
Microwave, and on top of microwave: 9x13 casserole dish and mortar & pestle
Canister full of flour
Dish full (err, half full anyway...*burp!*) of fresh brownies I made today
Cumbs

[Beauchamp]

A question for those who use glass jars or canning jars as canisters...do you find that they are air tight enough? I have plastic (i.e. ugly) canisters for things like rice, brown sugar, baking flours, etc, that I keep hidden in the pantry because they are not pretty. The glass jars are so pretty on the counter, but do they keep things fresh in your opinion?

[rere]

Originally Posted by Beauchamp

A question for those who use glass jars or canning jars as canisters...do you find that they are air tight enough? I have plastic (i.e. ugly) canisters for things like rice, brown sugar, baking flours, etc, that I keep hidden in the pantry because they are not pretty. The glass jars are so pretty on the counter, but do they keep things fresh in your opinion?

We use canning jars and they work great.

[Neuromancer]

• One lime
• 6 glass cannisters holding powdered sugar, cocoa, brown sugar, granulated sugar, flour, and tea
• One blue/green glass jar with a lid holding brown organic sugar lumps for tea
• One small blue teapot (my husband makes tea every day, so we leave that out)
• One dark blue KitchenAid toaster
• 3 dirty dishes waiting to be washed (there are more in the sink)
• One tealight candle in frosted glass round holder
• One small plastic statuette of TinTin
  
  Next to the sink:
• Knife block
• Photo of husband in a hooded coat (you can't see his face) in a snowstorm -- photo taken by a friend
• Vase with eucalyptus
• Husband's childhood cup containing dishes scrubbing brush
• two other dish scrubbing brushes
• diner-style syrup container with dish soap in it
• paper towel holder
• liquid hand soap

I don't have a good picture, but our counter is white subway tile with the same tile on the wall. There are two lights covered by cages. You can see what the canisters and tile look like here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jsphotos/2378521229/