I know I spend a good deal of time at the kitchen sink. If you have a family and cook, chances are you do, too. Whether I’m cleaning dishes from dinner or cleaning up the kitchen counter, this is a space in our house that gets a lot of attention. That’s why a few years ago, I took a tip from my good friend Amber and decided it was worth splurging a little on some of my everyday items that I use around the house. I also try to make sure there are certain areas that are always tidy and organized, since they’re high traffic spots – like the kitchen sink. I plan on making this a monthly series so I can share a few more everyday luxuries that I believe are worth investing in. Here are the links to the full list of everyday luxury items: Everyday Luxury Part 1 and Everyday Luxury Part 2 (and I am sharing the collage at the bottom of this post). Today, I am going to share a few ways I make my time at the sink more enjoyable.
1. Organize & Beautify this Space
I try to keep our counters as clear and uncluttered as possible (which is a full-time job in itself!) Especially the area around your sink can become a dumping ground of half empty cups, dirty dishes and coffee mugs that need warmed. One thing I’ve learned to do is always run our dishwasher at night and always empty the clean dishes first-thing in the morning. This means that we usually don’t have as many dishes to put away, which makes the chore go faster, and I can always place dirty dishes directly into the dishwasher as the day goes and not let them clutter up the sink area.
Right behind my faucet we have a large kitchen island and I like to keep a tray with a few favorite cookbooks, a vase of fresh flowers and a candle so that my space around the sink is beautiful. There’s nothing nicer than a delicious smelling candle burning while you’re stuck doing dishes or emptying the dishwasher.
Utilize the space under your kitchen sink! Buy a few clear storage containers from The Container Store or Target and a sturdy hanging paper towel rack and keep your sponges, dish gloves, counter spray, trash bags, dishwasher pods and paper towels down below.
2. Luxury Products
For our everyday dish soap I like to opt for a more luxurious smelling option from Williams Sonoma. I grew up with the scent of their grapefruit dish and hand soap in our kitchen and I’ve fallen in love with their rosemary/eucalyptus blend for my own kitchen. I opt for the kitchen essentials trio which includes dish soap, hand soap and counter spray. There are other brands I love for luxurious hand soap like Tocca or you can even find some nice smelling options at your local Homegoods. The point isn’t how much you spend, it’s that when you use products that smell good and aesthetically pleasing to have on your counter, it creates more harmony when you’re spending time on these daily chores.
3. Lovely Dish Towels
The other product I like to splurge on for our kitchen sink area is our dish towels. For absorbency, I like Williams Sonoma’s Super Absorbent Waffle towels and for a hand towel I like their signature Classic Stripe towels. I also like to head to Anthropologie every now and then for a really beautiful seasonal towel to create a little holiday whimsy. It’s a small thing, but having a consistent look and feel to our towels creates an aesthetic balance that I like and having a fun, whimsical holiday towel every now and then puts me in a good mood. It’s the little things, people!
Additional Everyday Luxuries
If you want to check out my full list of everyday luxury items I like for my home, check out these two links: Everyday Luxuries Part 1 and Everyday Luxuries Part 2 which link to the items you see in the LTK collage below.
