10 Things You Should Take Off Your Kitchen Countertops to Declutter

The kitchen is the main hub of the home—it’s one of the first things you go to in the morning for your coffee and breakfast, and one of the most prized places come evening when it’s time to whip up a well-deserved dinner. But how often do you get frustrated with how little real estate you have to cook, bake, or even clean and dry dishes? If you find yourself constantly moving items out of the way, it’s time to reconsider what you place on your kitchen countertops.

The first things to take off the kitchen countertops if they feel cluttered are items that don’t serve a purpose. It’s tough to enjoy a beautiful vase filled with flowers if you’re constantly moving it to make room for food prep. Candles, picture frames, and small sculptures also are unnecessary.

Related: 11 Easy DIY Projects to Declutter Your Home

As pretty as that bowl of fruit looks on the kitchen countertops, if it’s taking up valuable real estate, it’s gotta go. To declutter, try moving the bowl to the dining table, making it a functional centerpiece.

Unless home bakers place a fresh cake atop a cake tray at all times, it’s best to move a cake tray off kitchen countertops. Any other trays or serving platters that serve a function only every so often should also find a new home inside a kitchen cabinet or hutch.

Those who have designated a corner of the kitchen countertops as the home for spices might have noticed that collection has grown, creating a cluttered mess. If it helps to see spices, consider purchasing some acrylic shelves (available on Amazon) for spices and mounting them on a wall or inside a kitchen cabinet for quick access.

A knife block is a bulky kitchen item that’s doing cooks no favors in the quest for kitchen countertop space. Most knife blocks consist of steak knives that don’t need to be on display, so go ahead and group those together in a utensil drawer. For cooking needs, invest in a magnetic knife holder for the wall (available on Amazon).

Related: The Best Kitchen Knives for Everyday Cooking

When messes occur, having easy access to paper towels is a must, but is it really worth sacrificing space on the kitchen countertops for a roll? Purchase a wall-mounted paper towel holder instead (available on Amazon). There are so many convenient places to mount it. Just take a look under a shelf, inside a cabinet, or on the wall, and wonder why you never considered freeing up space by mounting a holder before.

Although most home cooks use their cutting boards on a daily basis, stacking them on kitchen countertops is doing their workspace an injustice. Taking time to reorganize cabinets can lead to a surprising amount of space for storing cutting boards for easy access.

Those who use their food processor a few times a week and sacrifice countertop space to keep it handy might want to reconsider where it sits between uses. It’s really only one more step to pull it out of a cabinet and onto the countertop.

An aesthetically pleasing utensil holder might seem like the perfect display for grouping together cooking spoons, tongs, and basters. But if family members constantly must move it out of the way to make room for pots, pans, plates, and cutting boards while prepping, cooking, or serving, it might be time to get rid of the holder. Take a look at what’s in the utensil holder, and see how many of the items actually find use on a regular basis. If only a couple of utensils appear on the frequently-used list, there’s probably no need for a countertop utensil holder at all.

Related: 7 Ways to Declutter Without Throwing Anything Away

Beautiful and handy cookbooks might feel right at home displayed on the kitchen countertops, but they’re not necessary. Instead, purchase floating shelves (available on Amazon) for cookbooks and stack them on their side to show off on a kitchen wall.