“Put the kitchen to bed” is a phrase we commonly say in our house. We recognize though that it might sound strange to anyone who heard it. I know a couple of people who reference putting their house to bed or putting their kitchen to bed, but I have not heard or seen a good description of what it is. Read on to learn about what it means to put your kitchen to bed, and why and how to do it!
What does it mean to put your kitchen to bed?
Putting the kitchen to bed means making sure that it is organized each night. The goal is to have the kitchen reset for your morning routine.
Why should you put your kitchen to bed?
A kitchen that has been put to bed is a reset kitchen. A blank space. It means that whatever happened the day before, whether good or bad, has been dealt with and is not a problem for today. This means that each morning, when you walk into your kitchen, you are greeted with peace and a head start on your productivity for the morning.
Family Forging Tip: After the last meal of the day, have the whole family help in the clean-up process. Loading the dishwasher, throwing out trash, wiping the table, packing leftovers, and anything that you need to do to have less to do when you put the kitchen to bed will be helpful. It is good for the members of your family to participate in more ways than just eating when it comes to mealtime! This is a great thing to discuss during family meetings!
When should you put your kitchen to bed?
Put your kitchen to bed when you are done using it for the day. For my family growing up, this meant as soon as dinner was done, the kitchen was cleaned and tidied and no one was getting anything else from it.
For us, we put the kitchen to bed after the children are asleep, usually around 8 at night but sometimes it’s later. We try to do it every night because there is a noticeable difference in our morning routines when we do. Some nights there is less to do than others, but we try to make sure that our kitchen has been put to bed each night.
How do you put your kitchen to bed?
For each household, there will be differences, but the standard should include emptying trash, cleaning the counters and floors, emptying the sink and/or dishwasher, and prepping for any kitchen stuff that takes place first thing in the morning.
Read on for examples and specifics from our home!
First, we clear our counters and pick things up off the floor. We relocate them to their designated spots or put them in the sink for washing. At this point, I also make sure the coffee pot is cleaned and the filter emptied. Our children’s kitchen set is in the kitchen for now so we tidy up and loose play toys as well.
I also use this time to prep food that I may need for the morning. So if I’m going to make sourdough the next day, I feed my starter. If I need something defrosted for the morning, I pull that out of the freezer. The reason for this is that if I use any dishes or utensils, they can be put in the sink for the next step.
Next, we empty the sink of dishes. We either clean, dry, and put them away, or put them in the dishwasher. If the dishwasher has been run, then we empty that too. If not, we start the dishwasher at this time.
After dishes have been dealt with, we wipe down the countertops and the stovetop with warm, soapy water. Then we sweep the floors. I recommend wiping countertops down first. This way, if crumbs are brushed onto the floor, they can be swept up with everything else instead of pulling a broom out twice!
Once the counters and floor are clean, we take out the trash and double-check that the sink is empty. Then we turn out the lights and count our kitchen as having been put to bed.
A word of encouragement and a challenge!
It never takes as long as I anticipate to do the clean-up. You can get it done in a very reasonable amount of time!
It does not take a long time to put the kitchen to bed, but when I look at it each night I can come up with every excuse as to why I should just do it in the morning. No one gets angry or has an automatic bad day when I don’t. But I know there is a measurable difference in the momentum of my day when I come down to a clean kitchen.
My challenge to you is to put your kitchen to bed each night for the next week. See what difference it makes in your routine in the morning. If after a week you don’t feel like it’s worth it, then you don’t have to keep doing it. However, you’ll never know if there is a benefit to it if you don’t try!
Let us know in the comments what your evening routines are like. Do you put your kitchen to bed each night?
