- Firstly food preparation and cooking area - Where keys and mail is dropped when walking into the house



- Where the main phone is for the house

- Maybe there is a breakfast bar

- Possibly there is a laundry cupboard

This part is actually really easy.

All you need to do is work out what part of the bench you use for what. We all have a part of the bench that we prefer to chop our vegetables etc on, a place where breakfast is normally served, where the main phone for the house is (this one, okay some of you out there don't have your main phone in the kitchen but in general, it is the central phone for the house), is there a key hook on the wall, a ledge in the kitchen where you put your mobile phone and wallet(for you men) and ladies where you drop you bag?

The other thing that these days is becoming more and more common is that people are having their laundry cupboards in the kitchen (saves space in smaller homes)

Now is you clear everything that is on your bench right now, you can use the kitchen table to put everything on, or on the breakfast bar if you have one. The great thing about this is that it clears the bench.

Give the bench a good wipe down and let it dry. It will be nice and fresh when you put everything back.

Now go through everything. I mean everything! If you have some small containers with all in-sundry in them, clean them out to, baskets with bits...you name it, this is a clean start for your kitchen bench so give it your all.

You may want to get a few grocery bags, one for Rubbish, one for Belongs in another room in the house, One for storage, and one for charity.

Now as you are going through things start dividing them into these bags. If there is something that you come across and it hasn't been used for a long time ie Months, even a year, and its not sentimental, then in the charity bag.

Finally, you will end up with only what you need on the bench.

- Bread boards

- Toaster

- Kettle

- Phone

- Maybe a nice dish

- Paper towel holder

- Fruit bowl

You may have more things that you want on your bench, and that's fine, but we just want to get rid of all the bits that creep from other rooms onto the bench, i.e., hair clips, small toys, cd's, DVD's, keys, glasses...

If you are going to have mobile phones in the kitchen then why not get a flat basket or dish that is decorative and useful. So that everyone knows where the phones are put. If you don't have a key hook then this can also be where the keys live. It makes it so easy when you know where everything is.

So once you have gotten rid of the don't belongs and the rubbish, you can start putting everything back where it belongs.

Breakfast bar wise, it makes it so much easier in the mornings is you have a clear space by the breakfast bar. The tray with all the breakfast condiments can be brought out of the pantry and put on the bench, nothing has to be moved.

It also leaves this area free when you are serving dinner and need a space for the plates to be set out. And lastly if you have children is a brilliant place for them to do their homework at night, you can be cooking dinner, but still be there to supervise and help with the homework.

Lastly, if your laundry is in the kitchen, hopefully it is behind closed doors. Attempt to keep those doors closed when not in the laundry, and wipe them down from time to time.

If you don't have doors then a curtain or screen can be an alternative. Oh and try to keep the laundry piles inside the laundry cupboard, not spread around the kitchen.

Once again I hope this has helped and given you some ideas.