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If you're like most families, the kitchen serves as central command of your home. It doesn't matter if you're a gourmet cook or queen of the microwave, everyone seems to gather in the kitchen.

It's not uncommon for the kitchen to serve as a place for eating, playing games, paying bills, doing homework, or even watching television. The kitchen has almost become a second family room in many homes.

An organized kitchen truly can help bring calm to an otherwise chaotic environment.

To bring peace and tranquility to your kitchen, follow these seven steps to conquering kitchen clutter:

1. SEPARATE INTO STATIONS

Set up your kitchen in stations. If you drink coffee in the morning, place your coffee filters, coffee, and creamer items in the cupboard above your coffee pot. Put your baking items together in one cupboard so that flour, sugar, salt, and baking soda are in one place. Place your spices in the cupboard beside the stove so you can reach them easily while you're cooking on the stove-top. Pans should go in a cupboard by the stove as well, or even in the drawer at the bottom of the stove if you have the space. If you're constantly getting up during dinner to retrieve napkins and salt/pepper, then place an attractive napkin holder on your table that can serve double-duty for function and decoration. Placing like items together saves the stress of trying to find things when you need them.

2. CLEAR THE COUNTER TOPS

By far, the biggest clutter-collector in the kitchen is counter tops. Like a magnet, items just seem to be drawn to landing there. Evaluate your counter tops. What items are truly necessary? Clear out all items you don't need. Put those items away in cabinets, or donate them to a local charity. Keep the counter tops as simple as possible. The less clutter laying on counter tops, the more simple and pleasing the kitchen will appear. Less clutter also means fewer items to clean around.

Evaluate what is being left on your counters, and establish a place for those things. If your husband seems to always drop his keys and hat on the counter on his way in from work, place a small basket inside one of the cabinets for him to use as his drop-off place. He'll never have to worry about someone misplacing his keys, and the kitchen will be cleaner.

Keep a spray bottle with kitchen cleaner and paper towels in an accessible place for quick counter top spills.

3. TAKE ON THE TRASH

Sometimes families have clutter in their kitchens simply because they don't have proper trash receptacles.

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