How To Make Your Kitchen More Efficient, According To Marie Kondo

"By eliminating excess visual information that doesn't spark joy, you can make your space much more peaceful and comfortable," writes Kondo — and a good way to do that is to transfer your kitchen soaps into sleek, text-free bottles. This way you wont have to stare at ugly labels that come with the soap.

“Put nothing on the counters or around the sink and stove top,” writes Kondo. “You will be amazed at how easy your kitchen is to use if you design your storage with this aim in mind.” While this idea might seem extreme, having empty countertops will make your kitchen easier to work in and much cleaner looking. If you can't manage to have completely empty countertops, try to trim down to just the essentials.

“Take a fresh look at every dish you own and see if it sparks joy,” writes Kondo. “Make the dishes you love the ones you use every day.” This means parting with dishes that you don't actually like, and actually using the ones that spark joy.

"It is impossible to enjoy cooking in a dirty kitchen," says Kondo. "When planning storage, aim for ease of cleaning. Keep work surfaces clear and try to store all ingredients and utensils in cupboards or on shelves. Wipe down all surfaces every time you cook to remove traces of oil and water," Kondo explains.

"If you lack drawer space in your kitchen, store your cutlery upright in tubes in your dish cupboard," says Kondo. "If you store cutlery and small kitchen utensils in drawers, use dividers or shallow boxes to organize them."

"Kitchens tend to have a bunch of tiny things that take up space and don't really fit together," explained Kondo in an interview with Elle Decor. "The best thing I can advise, especially for drawers, is to use them to their maximum potential. Keep things categorized, so they aren't just in a messy pile in a drawer."

"Do you have small cooking appliances that you bought when they were a fad and have tired of or haven’t used for years? It is time to thank them for the role they have played in your life, and bid them farewell," says Kondo. And the ones you do use? Stash them in your cupboards so they're out of sight. "Seldom-used, but still important, items should be stored on a top shelf or at the back of a cupboard," says Kondo. "It won’t matter if they require a little effort to remove when needed."

"Don’t feel that you need to aim for simplicity in the kitchen. The kitchen is the one place in the home where even when we have weeded out and discarded those things we no longer need, there still seems to be a lot left," says Kondo. "What I hope you will aim for is a kitchen where you will feel happy just cooking, one that expresses your own unique brand of joy."