When I scroll through Instagram or Pinterest and see all of these perfectly arranged kitchen countertops with hardly anything on them, I think to myself that these people either have a TON of cabinets to store their everyday things in, or that they staged their countertops just to take these pictures. In reality, our kitchen countertops are a work space, a catch-all area, and a place to store things we need to access everyday. So I figured I’d post some pictures of my “real life” kitchen countertops to give you some inspiration on styling them so that they are functional as well as aesthetically pleasing.

I’m a married mother of two with a full-time job, so my kitchen countertops don’t look like the ones on Instagram or Pinterest, but with some creative organizing I feel like they still look like I put some effort into styling them.

When you have more things to do each day besides make your kitchen look like it should be in a magazine spread, but you still want it to be inviting and clutter-free, there are a few steps you can follow to create a kitchen space that you’ll be happy with.

1. Store any small appliances that you don’t use everyday in a cabinet or pantry. I have a very small kitchen, so my storage is limited, but I have found room to put away anything I don’t use daily, like my toaster, my quesadilla maker, etc. The only small appliances I use pretty often are my coffee maker and my stand mixer, so those are the only ones I actually have out.

2. If you have staple ingredients you use daily, store them in something you actually like to look at, like cute canisters and containers. Canisters can be expensive, so I got these large glass ones at Walmart for $10 each and used scrapbook sticker letters for the words. They aren’t as pretty as others, but they are functional. I like that they are huge, so I don’t have to refill them all the time. I like that they are clear, so I can always see when I’m running low on something. And I like that they were cheap! The wooden pepper mill and salt box came from Target, and cost around $5 each. I cook with salt and pepper everyday so it’s nice to have them handy, but also in pretty containers.

3. If you have cooking utensils that you use often, or that you just don’t have room for in a drawer, store them in a cute utensil crock. I keep my utensil crock and my knife block right next to my stove, so that I can easily grab whatever I need while I’m cooking. The utensils that are plastic, old, ugly colors, etc. are kept in drawers.

4. Use trays, baskets, risers, etc. to keep smaller items together, so your countertops don’t look so cluttered. Grouping smaller items together on trays also makes it easier to clean your countertops.

5. Only keep items around your sink that you actually use. I have soap and paper towels next to my sink, and that’s it. When you’re washing your hands or washing dishes, you know some dirty water is going to get splashed around, and it makes it much easier to clean up when you aren’t having to navigate around a bunch of knick-knacks or a million different kinds of soap and lotion bottles. You can still make it “pretty” with choosing soap dispensers or paper towel holders.

6. Mix in some decorative items to make you actually want to be in the kitchen. I don’t have a lot of sunlight coming into my kitchen, so I have fake plants, but they still make me happy. In the spring and summer I’ll replace them with real flowers and greenery from outside in vases.

7. When you’re arranging everything, be sure to leave plenty of counter space to actually work on. After all, that’s what our countertops are for – to use!

I hope these tips have given you some inspiration for your own kitchen. It IS actually possible to have a put-together looking kitchen that is still functional, even if it doesn’t look like the perfect ones you see on social media. (Side note, I would LOVE to have white or cream colored cabinets, but my husband wanted natural wood cabinets, so we compromised and settled on this espresso color. I feel like it makes the kitchen look too dark and smaller than it actually is, but maybe in my next kitchen I can talk him into a lighter color!)

Thanks y’all!

-Nikki