There are lots of areas in the house that can become hot-spots for clutter to accumulate… and the kitchen seems to be one of them.

From having a pantry that’s out of control, to too many cooking utensils you bought on a K-Mart bender, to the kids using your counters as a place to dump everything, from Pokemon cards and school work to random bits of broken toys, it can often feel like staying on top of the clutter is a never ending chore.

If the struggle is real for you, here are some awesome hacks to try to get your kitchen back under control.

1. Declutter your counters

Get rid of the clutter and keep it away for good… if you need an incentive to keep on it, think of this: messy counter tops can compel you to eat more, according to researchers who found women with messy kitchens (filled with newspapers, dishes, bills and so on) ate twice as many bikkies and snacks as women with clean counter tops who had access to the same snacks. They found the difference was linked to how stressed the women felt.

2. Get rid of everything you don’t need

This is probably a no-brainer, but you need to hear it. If you have all sorts of crazy gadgets you never use (hello, pie maker!), you need to let it go. This includes random plastic lids, dented old pots and pans that have seen better days, excess cooking utensils, and all of those other things taking up valuable cupboard, drawer and counter top space. Purge it. Be ruthless.