{Day 10: A Clean Kitchen}

It has been a busy couple of days and I'm sleepy. But first I have a wee bit of tidying up to do around the house. The hardest part of having a mess, I think, is knowing where to start. It can be fairly overwhelming when you have piles of stuff everywhere you turn.

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No matter where I have lived, though, I always like to start my cleaning ritual in the kitchen. It's the heart of the home and cleaning feels like a way to reconnect with the place I live. I like that, even if I don't always love loading the dishwasher or cleaning counters.

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I have found that looking at pictures of beautiful places can be very inspiring to getting my home straightened up. I don't know how it works psychologically, but the day I receive Better Homes & Gardens in the mail tends to be the day I love my house best. (You would think that it would make the mess feel more messy, but it doesn't, for some unknowable reason.)
 

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As incentive to getting things tidied up in time to watch a few episodes of Homeland on the DVR tonight, here are some of my favorite kitchens from Pinterest.

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One of the projects planned for "31 Days to Lovely Little Spaces" will be incorporating new hardware in the kitchen. I love the look of these drawer pulls! They're on my list, along with some knobs that are on their way to us through the mail.

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I also really love the look of the white dishes in this kitchen. In anticipation of "31 Days to Lovely Little Spaces" I bought eight white plates and four white bowls during a china sale at World Market. I'm really happy with them, even if they are not on display.

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Another fantastic incentive to cleaning up the kitchen is having something delicious to eat. I can't wait to try these apple cider cupcakes with apple butter filling and caramel frosting. Yum!

Where do you start when you have a messy house? Please leave a comment! I really love hearing what other people have to say.  :)