Little Things Mean A Lot

I made a small change in my kitchen yesterday and it is making me ridiculously happy.

What did I do? I used a Command™ hook to hang a strainer above my sink. It only took me a few minutes, but every time I walk into the kitchen, I am practically giddy.

You see, I use this strainer almost every day. Sometimes I use it twice a day. I may use it to rinse blueberries at breakfast, or to rinse cherry tomatoes at lunchtime. Then I rinse it with hot water and put it in the dish drainer. That means that the strainer spends a lot of time in the dish drainer, making the already-small kitchen look cluttered and making it harder to put other things in the dish drainer. Sometimes it makes it back into the cabinet, but soon after, I’m taking it out again.

It finally occurred to me that if I had a place to hang it while it was drying, I could save space and have it readily accessible when I need it. I love Command™ hooks and use them all over my house, so I checked the Command™ web site to find out which hook was most appropriate for kitchen utensils.  The one they recommended was one I already have in my stash of Command™ hooks. I tried it out, verified that it would work, stuck it on the molding over my sink, and waited the requisite hour before adding the strainer. Voilà!

As household projects go, this was a very small one, and it took me only a few minutes to accomplish. The reason why it makes me so happy is because it will make a big change in the utility of my limited counter space. And seeing it hanging there makes me feel like a cook!

When you are tackling your clutter issues, rather than trying to do everything, think about what small changes will make the biggest difference for you. The goal should be to make your space more usable and keep your most frequently-used items at your fingertips.

And now I’m off to rinse some tomatoes!