8 Things You Shouldn’t Be Storing on Your Kitchen Countertop

All too often, kitchen countertops become a favorite place to stash things you do not know where to put, which quickly clutters them up! Plus, there are many kitchen utensils that you are better off not storing on your countertop. Your kitchen counter, for example, may be the obvious place to store toasters, blenders, and other appliances - they are kitchen gadgets, after all. But if you only use them once in a while, it really does not make sense for them to take up space on your countertop. More than half of survey respondents said appliances are the biggest cause of clutter on your countertop. As a rule of thumb, you can remember: If you do not use the appliance every day (or every time you cook), it should not be taking up space on your countertop.

And number two on this list? Stacks of papers. This is easy to understand. It's much easier to just toss your everyday papers on the counter than it is to read through and sort them. Whether it's magazines, newspapers, junk mail, or not-quite-mail like bills, papers can accumulate quickly, and the more they accumulate, the more of a hassle it is to organize them. And a messy appearance is not the only reason you should keep papers out of your cooking area. If papers, especially magazines, get wet while they are on your countertop, "the ink can easily transfer to the surface of your countertop," warns Stephanie Cooper of Energy Cleaning. "After that, it's a nightmare to clean.

As with household appliances, there's no need for the fancy dishes you only use on holidays to sit on your countertop day in and day out. "From a cleaner's perspective, it's a nightmare to wipe down every single piece properly every week," Cooper says. "From a health perspective, it's not advisable to keep dusty items near where you prepare or eat your food." Instead of storing fancy dishes on the counter where they'll literally collect dust, keep them in a glass display case or, if you are feeling particularly decorative, even hang them on the wall. The same goes for decorative jewelry and other non-functional items. Especially if they are small, there are probably plenty of places you can store them without them taking up kitchen space.

We can not blame you if you want to keep those often decorative canisters of sugar, flour, and other ingredients in plain sight on your countertop. But you can not deny that they can sometimes be bulky and take up a lot of space. It's really a matter of personal preference, but it's still pretty easy and convenient to store them in a cabinet right above your counter. Thekitchn.com points out that they are also called "pantries." So you can keep them in your pantry too, especially if you do not use them very often.

It may surprise you, but your counter is probably not the best place for your spice collection. In particular, make sure you do not store spices near the oven or stovetop, where the built-up heat can weaken their flavors over time. Dr. Stephanie Bostic, a dietitian and food safety expert, explains that "light and heat from sunlight or stovetops can break down flavors faster than if you store them in a cool, dark place."

Fancy knife blocks look good, so keep them in a visible place. There's nothing wrong with that either, of course. But be aware that this is not the safest place to store your knives, especially if you have small children in the house.
And safety aside, you may not want a large knife block taking up a lot of space on your countertop, especially if you do not use most of these knives on a regular basis. Not only are many knife blocks heavy and bulky, but they are also difficult to clean.

This is another food item that you have probably stored on your counter, unintentionally compromising its quality. Just like spices, olive oil can spoil faster when stored in direct light and heat. The same goes for other types of oils; they keep better in a cool, dark place. A cupboard or pantry is a good place for most oils.

Put simply, food and chemical-packed cleaning products don’t mix! You don’t want to risk spilling any of these inedible substances onto your food or the areas where you prep it. Even more kitchen-friendly products, like dish soap and disinfectant, should be stored in a closet or a cabinet, such as one underneath the sink, especially once they’re open. This way, they’ll have a much lower chance of spilling into your kitchen prep space, which, in addition to potentially being dangerous, also just makes a big mess.