Do You Clear and Load as You Go, or Do You Pile up and Load?

We do at least 2 loads of dishes each day, most days it's more like 3. Between packing 3 lunches and bottles, there are always dishes to be done! I unload/reload in the morning when I get up. My husband loads the breakfast dishes (including the coffee stuff) and starts it on his way out the door. We unload when we get home and reload with lunch stuff, bottles and anything that didn't fit in the morning and start it before dinner. Before going to bed, I unload it and reload with whatever is in the sink and run it while we sleep. Dishes in the sink freaks me out!

As for the rest of the housecleaning... not going to lie. I have a housekeeper who comes twice a week.

I put ALL toys away before going to sleep at night b/c I do not like clutter. Countertops? We have a pantry closet and that's where I store all small appliances except the coffee pot. I take something out when I need it. After it's clean, it goes away.

We have the "one touch" rule with all mail and papers... after you open it/read it, do something with it! Either put it into the "to be paid/mailed/signed" bin on the counter, file it away or trash it. No paper piles lying around. That has helped us enormously.

Lots of questions!

I clean up the kitchen as I go throughout the day. I cant stand the kitchen dirty before I cook so I have to clean it before hand if it's not already.

I sweep at the end of the day, mop every few days or as needed.
I clean out the fridge when it looks cluttered (hate that)

I free up my counter space by putting the toaster under the counter and using it when I only need to. I organize the cupboards so I can put in anything I dont use often enough into them. It really helps. Also just keeping things put away and tidy helps but it's just the three of us.

I love, love, LOVE Magic Erasers! Best friends he and I. I also love the new Clorox toilet scrubber where it's a wand that you put the disposable pads on (blue, octagon shape) they already have cleaner in them and they clean great!! Pretty good price for them too. Mop wise, I love my Libman one. It looks just like a Swiffer but you can wash the mop pad afterwards and use whatever cleaner in the sprayer you want.

As far as kitchen habits, I really like to clean as I go. It helps with the dishes later. I made a big dinner the other night and by the time we were dished up and all, all I had to wash was our plates, everything else was done and washed.

If you are thinking of moving, I would go through your kitchen and get rid of anything you dont use. Or things that you use seldom you could always pack up and put away.

I have found that it is easier and faster to keep up with it than to let it go and do it all at once-an also find it easier to wipe up the kitchen floor on hands and knees-and yes-it is getting harder every year!

I can't stand dishes in the sink. I run it before I go to bed, unload in the morning & put everything in throughout the day.

My goal is always to empty the dishwasher in the morning and load it as I go through the day, but that rarely happens, so I end up with dishes on the counter.

I don't maintain two sets of cutlery. I just have enough for the day, or maybe day and a half (maybe that's two sets??) and wash them with the other dishes.

I use a swiffer duster vac as needed for crumbs, but mop when it's convenient for me and needs to be done. I don't mind doing it during the day, I just tell the kids to stay off for a while while it dries.

I clean the refrigerator/freezer, stove, microwave, cabinets (inside and outside), dishwasher etc as needed.

My philosophy is to clean when it's needed. If something is starting to bother me, then I clean it. I'm not a person who cleans just because it's a certain day and that's the day I clean whatever. I just do it as needed.

How old are your kids? A lot of those chores they can do themselves too, if they are proper age. My kids clean off the table, wipe the table and counters, throw stuff away. I could ask my daughter to emply the dishwasher, but I just haven't yet. I'd rally the troops if they are appropriate age.

Do you clear your dishwasher first thing every morning, and load dirty dishes as you go through the day?
-I'm not home during the day. I load it immediately after each meal, and load as I go when I'm cooking.

Do you maintain two sets of cutlery for lunch and dinner, and wash them both once a day, or wash in between?
-I put cutlery and flatware in the dishwasher as it gets used, and when I run out, or the dishwasher is full, it gets washed. I don't assign specific items to specific meals.

Do you sweep/mop the kitchen floors in the morning, afternoon or end of the day?
-Usually about twice a week in the evening.

And what ideas do you use for freeing up counter space?
-I have little counter space, so I put the toaster oven on a cart, and use a French press coffee pot. I don't have a microwave, and don't want one.

How often do you clear out and wipe down the refrigerator (the inside)?
-As often as food starts growing fur.

What is your routine for stove/vent cleaning?
-My stove doesn't have a vent. After cooking, I spray the stovetop with white vinegar and wipe with a dishrag. If necessary, I remove the burners and burner trays and wash them.

What are your favorite kitchen cleaning tools and brands? (Cleaning agents, brushes, scrubs, mops??)
-White vinegar, baking soda, rags, Rubbermaid spray mop with washable microfiber head.

Right before bed I hit the start button on my dishwasher, so that in the morning I'll have clean dishes that are ready to be put away in the cabinets. I try to empty my dishwasher before any of the kids get up, so that I have a clean slate to work with and the kids can put their dirty dishes directly into the washer as the day goes on.

If I do it this way, then usually the only things left in the sink or on the counters at night time are the pots & pans. It is SO much easier to wash the pots & pans when you've already cleaned up the rest. The goal for each day is to end it with a clean sink, with all the dishes washed before I climb into bed. It doesn't always happen, but it makes for a MUCH better start to the day when I've put in the effort the night before.

As for sweeping - I have 3 boys under 6, so our floor gets nasty EVERY day. My oldest now has to clean up his own messes with a broom & dustpan, and if the 3 yr old intentionally throws his food on the floor, he has to clean it with a handheld vacuum.

I spot clean splatters or sticky spots throughout the day, and then maybe 1-2 times a week do a thorough floor washing. The refrigerator is usually just spot-cleaned as needed. Maybe once a month I'll pull the drawers out and spray vinegar & water on the fridge & wipe it down, and then maybe a few days later I'll wash 1-2 of the shelves. Little by little.

Stove cleaning? Ummm, that's my worst place in my house. I can't seem to ever remember to clean them before I get distracted. Maybe I need a Post-It to remind me :)

Wish I had tips for the clutter--I struggle with that too!

I wash the last load of dishes at night after dinner is done, so yeah, in the morning after breakfast and packing husband's lunch (and son's lunch/snack when school starts), after my husband leaves I'll send the boys to go play and I'll empty the previous night's dishes, then reload with the morning's dishes while I'm there. At lunch it's pretty minimal (the dishes) since it's usually a salad, sandwich, or leftovers, so after we eat, they go straight to the dishwasher. By then, I usually have to go ahead and start the washer because I use a LOT more dishes for dinner, and between the 4 of us the breakfast, lunch, and snack dishes leave it pretty full. If I don't turn the washer on, then inevitably not all the evening dishes will fit and it's annoying to have them in the sink. I clean/shine my sink every morning after breakfast (a flylady habit that I thought was stupid, but I really like once I started doing it).

I do not have 2 sets of cutlery a day, and have never really heard of this. I have my "nice" set that goes with my china, and is used on special occasions when I pull the china out, but just for normal everyday dishes, we have the normal everyday cutlery.

I sweep every evening under the table because I have little children, and otherwise "as needed". I mop the house once a week in the afternoon while the kids are in bed or having quiet time, and will spot clean with a sponge or rag as needed.

Ideas for counter space? Hmm. Not sure about that because we have a lot of space, lol. On the left side of the sink I have the toaster out (because we use it nearly everyday), a little rack of 6 coffee cups that are rarely used, the paper towels, and a basket we use to drop our receipts in (that gets cleaned out once/week). The space between the the right of our sink and the oven: a tile that has the honey and a teaspoon (Jeremy makes a million cups of tea a day, so that spoon stays there until the evening dishes get washed), the electric tea kettle, and a little thing that you put wooden spoons or ladles on when cooking. To the right of the oven is a hot plate, a cookie jar and some canisters (holding cereal, brown rice, arborio, flour, sugar). The island is only a work station and nothing is allowed on it unless I'm cooking. The other counter by the fridge has a fruit bowl, a vegetable bowl, a banana rack, and a CD player. The bar has a few framed photos, 2 cards, and the change jar. Everything else can just stay underneath in the cabinets and just get pulled out when needed.

Cleaning out the fridge/freezers thoroughly? Once a month. I have a weekly menu and a leftovers "clear it out" day, as well as serving leftovers for lunch, so we don't have tons of old food on the shelves like I've seen elsewhere. But I pull out everything once a month when I'm doing my "flylady" routine and it's the week to do the kitchen.

I don't really have a stove/vent cleaning routine. As needed, I suppose. I don't really have favorite brands of mops or whatever. Because you mentioned you want to change your habits and declutter, I suggest you read through flylady.net (my advice: don't subscribe to the emails, just look it over and create a new routine and plan from looking at her stuff). That has helped me so much because before finding that site, I had NO routine or plan for mundane things like cleaning. Now it's second nature, isn't hard at all, and I don't have to think much of it: it's spot cleaned before bed so that it's happy and organized in the morning (keeping the morning chaos down), every week the household chores are hit, one week a month we really concentrate on one zone (one of the zones being the kitchen) for the things that aren't necessary every day or week, but in my "previous life" would be easily forgotten until piled up so much it was too hard to deal with happily.

My current kitchen is space challenged. The only appliance on the countertop is the coffee maker and a dish drain since we don't have a dishwasher the dishes need a place to be while they partially air dry.

Some mornings I wash the morning dishes and sweep the floor and perhaps mop, if I have the time.

I wipe down the inside of the fridge at least once a month but if I see it looking questionable in there I will wipe it down. I'm the only one in the house that does wipe it down.

I do love the organization of my small forcing me to simplify kitchen. I do have a cabinet devoted to small appliances like the hand mixer, toaster, can opener, coffee grinder and blender. Under the sink is for my rubbermaid and tupperware plastic goods. Another cabinet under the counter has pots and pans and collander. The cabinets over the countertop house my seasonings, syrup, peanut butter, soy sauce, and the like, daily dishes and cups, cook books, and wine glasses. It is well organized space. I do have two racks that hold things like my paper towels, flour, sugar, rice, cereal, tea bags, garbage bags, aluminum foil, pot holders, tools for the grill, dog's treats, cat food, laundry detergent, swifer wipes, etc.

I hope this makes sense and helps. I really had to purge and get simplifed because of this kitchen.

Since one of my daughter's chores is unloading the dishwasher and I refuse to do her job , dishes sometimes pile up at our house.
So pile up then load is mine. um I routinely rearrange my kitchen , currently my kitchen gadges are in the pantry and my canned goods are in the cabient by the stove. silver ware by the stove , pot holders by the stove. wooden spoons spatulas etc, in a container by the stove. Everything is stored close to where it's used. other side of the kitchen , above the dishwasher is where the bowls , plates ,etc are . by the dishwasher is where the baking stuff is, next to that is where the lunch boxes etc are. um the platic stuff for leftovers is next to the stove in a lower cabinet. Coffee cups are by the coffee maker.

If you sign up the right way you won't get bombarded by emails...flylady.net is a very very very good organizational site.

I think that if you need to run the dishwasher after every meal then do it. If not then run it when it needs to be run. There is no reason to run it half full just because it's on a schedule.

We use paper plates and plastic flatware. It saves money in the long run due to the water bill and electric bill being less. It is also much easier since there are very few dishes to do. Only pots and pans and that's if we don't do something that is microwaveable.

I hate cleaning the kitchen so hubby does it. It's his chore.

As for mopping, I mop when the floor is dirty. If it is sticky or has something dropped on it then I wipe up that spot but don't do the whole floor. I have a Shark steam mop so mopping is very quick and not messy.

I would find a place for everything so it could go below the counters. The things like a toaster that gets used every day needs to be on the counter top though. IF you have a large counter top mixer that you don't use but a few times per year there is no reason for it to be on the counter..that's all I'm saying, if it's not used frequently it can be stored.
We bought some white cubicles at Lowes and I have them along the wall behind the table. I put all my cookers, crock pots, large cake pans, strainers, mixers, rotisserie, all sorts of stuff is in those cubbies. It made my kitchen a lot less cluttered.

Here are some links to similar cubbies like we have along one whole wall of my kitchen. They are stacked 3 deep on the wall then under the window they are only 2 deep. That makes a nice decorative built in look.

http://www.target.com/QuickInfoView?partNumber=13217123&a...

These are almost exactly like what we have. We have both the cube ones and the rectangle one. I have the cake pans and cookie sheets in the horizontal ones with the divider lengthwise. Ours are solid white though. Stock pots and the big mixer can go in the ones that are just a big cube too.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Modular-Shelf-Cube-Black/11030595