There’s a moment, early in the morning, when your kitchen tells you the truth about something. It tells you how it wants to look and feel.
…That’s the single, solitary moment in the morning before the day starts. Y’all know what I mean, before the noise and movement begin! This is when your kitchen looks MOST like it was designed to be.
But then, the day starts.
This 12-hour kitchen observation is where you can see how and when even the most phenomenal luxury kitchens fall apart.
Think you’ll see anything familiar between this kitchen and your own?…
Only one way to find out…
7:00 AM, When Things Still Work
Good morning! This is when your kitchen counters are mostly clear…then, to start the day, you set a coffee cup out. The espresso machine is sitting in the corner, exactly where it always does. A few capsules rest nearby. They’re not technically messy, but they are permanently…present. (There’s a quiet intention to deal with it later. Refill. Reorganize. Tuck it away. But not now!!)
9:30 AM, When the Kitchen’s Purpose Multiplies
The first shift in your kitchen’s clutter(and usability) is subtle. Once the mail arrives, it’s set on the island. A package is dropped near the edge, left unopened for your spouse. A leash and a bowl—the pet supplies that don’t quite belong anywhere else—hover nearby. You pull out your laptop and open it, just to check something quickly.
Looking around, you see what’s happened…without anyonedeciding it, the kitchen’s purpose just multiplied. It’s a place to cook, yes…but now it’s also the place where you’re managing life.
What do you imagine that will that mean in a couple of hours?
11:00 AM, The Island Takes Over
The island was designed to anchor the room and to gather people. And it does!!
Just check out our kitchen island inspiration flipbook to see how many different ways that pans out…
But the island is also now gathering everything else. Your keys and sunglasses land there when you come in from walking the dog…and your handbag now has a permanent perch on the corner. The mail is still there…and you know it will be tomorrow…nothing looks excessive, but absolutely NONE of this stuff is urgent.
READ: The larger the island, the easier it is to delay decisions. And the more space you have, the more you allow. And the more you allow, the more STAYS.
1:30 PM, What Stays Out, Stands Out
By early afternoon, the kitchen is in FULL use! The blender is out the counter (permanently, actually, since it doesn’t fit anywhere…) And oh yeah, the espresso machine is still there, too. (Where else would it be?) But now, both are surrounded by quiet evidence of use…a little smudge here, an empty capsule there…
And here’s the elephant in the room no one talks about:
The more you use your kitchen, the harder it is to keep it looking like you don’t.
This is living well! But visually? It means clutter, mess, and (before you know it) use that DOESN’T flow or make sense. The clutter DOES get the better of you by this time…
4:00 PM, The Edges Blur
The kids are home! Someone sits right down at the counter and spreads papers out—homework, notes, a new drawing…
The mail from earlier is still there, by the way.
Next, a phone gets plugged in. Then another. Cords stretch across surfaces that were never meant to hold them. (Hello, “modern” kitchen design most recently remodeled in 2005…)
THIS is how clutter really works: from perpetual, small permissions, where nothing is ever urgent, and where nothing has a better home.
6:00 PM, An Anxious Attempt to Reset
Before dinner, there’s a surprise moment where inspiration strikes: surely, the kitchen can be tidied up, it’s not that bad, there’s not that much!
Items are shifted, and the island clears slightly. But each small item moved reveals just how much more there is to sort through. Your steam slowly runs out as you find more and more items that simply don’t have a home anywhere else.
And then on the walls, on the shelves? Well, the décor is beautiful…but collectively? It starts to compete with the surfaces now filled with those odds-and-ends. It all comes together in one big visual mess.
Now that it’s time to make dinner, there’s nothing else for it. Post and pans come out.
7:30 PM, When It Breaks Down for Good
Dinner prep exposed everything you were afraid of. You need more room, so you move things. First, from one surface to another. But then BACK again. The kitchen hasn’t technically gotten smaller, but it ABSOLUTELY feels like it has.
Then, a friend comes by to drop something off. She stops by the kitchen, hardly passing the threshold because the space gives every sign that you’re overwhelmed. Her eyes climb upward, where the open shelving that was once curated now looks busily stacked over the surfaces filled below it.
9:00 PM, It’s Not Messy…But It’s Definitely Not Clean
Your friend skuttled out, and dinner has long been done. The kids are in bed, at least, even if not yet asleep. And the kitchen finally gets cleaned! Surfaces are wiped down, and the dishwasher is swishing away. The obvious signs of the day disappear…
But, nothing actually resets. The espresso machine and blender are still out, and the mail is still stacked on the island. Two different devices are now charging.
THIS is how a kitchen becomes cluttered, and stays cluttered. It’s not a “one size fits all” answer, and it certainly isn’t something you can solve with one reel-worthy “quick tip.” It’s all part of a bigger issue that requires deep design…a little reflection on your part…and no shortage of imagination!!
Before you close this tab, walk into your kitchen. Right now. Then, stand at your island.
What’s on it?
Now…of what’s there, what really belongs there, and what doesn’t?
In my 30+ years in business…the answer has almost always been, “nothing should be there. Nothing at all.”
Next, look at your counters. What are you usually working around instead of using?
Then, look up! Are your shelves supporting the space or adding to the noise? Probably a little of both…but where’s the balance?!
If you want your kitchen to stay beautiful and avoid clutter, that means your current design is definitely unsatisfactory. It’s working against you, including in ways you haven’t put into words. You’ve just settled. Yes. I really am sorry to say it, but I see it EVERY time I step into a client’s existing kitchen.
READ: Your kitchen design is NOT something that will solve itself, and it’s not something you have to solve on your own.
Your kitchen is something that needs to be rethought, and INTENTIONALLY. Why not start with a free, virtual call with me? Schedule your 15-minute call today!!
About the author:
Robin Burrill, RID, NCIDQ, ASID, IDS, CAPS, is an award-winning professional kitchen, bath, and interior designer. Robin and her husband, Robert Mathews, have owned Signature Home Services, Inc. for over three decades, establishing a superior in-house team with a widespread reputation for delivering meticulous design to their many repeat clients.
In 2022, the national publication, Kitchen and Bath Design News magazine, named Robin to their Top Innovator list in recognition of her achievements in the field of kitchen and bath design. In 2024, she was named one of the Fall 2024 Market Pros and “tastemakers” by ANDMORE at High Point Market. In 2024 and again in 2025, Fixr identified her as one of the Top Professional Interior Designers for their nationwide audience. At the start of 2025, she then acted as one of Dallas Market’s “Style Eyes” at Lightovation and Total Home & Gift Market.
Over her extensive career, Robin has been quoted in Architectural Digest and Forbes multiple times; her design work has been featured in top national trade publications; and she has been interviewed for Designers Today magazine’s “Profiles in Design” video series, among others. Widely respected for the depth of her knowledge, Robin is a sought after speaker and judge for many design industry events.
In 2023, Robin designed a bench for Charleston Forge, making her foray into product design. Robin currently serves as a volunteer on the board of the Dallas/Ft. Worth chapter of the Interior Design Society.
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