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DawnM
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what is on your kitchen counters all the time?   (not stuff that gets cleaned off like dishes).

 

Ours are pretty cluttered I guess.   

  • toaster oven we use daily
  • air fryer we used multiple times per week
  • electric kettle, used multiple times per day
  • kitchen aid, not used that much but looks pretty
  • large bowls for fruit and veggies
  • espresso machine that gets used at least once per day
  • Vitamix, used multiple times per day

And then whatever mess we have out.....dishes, pans, boxes of cereal

I guess I could put away the mixer and the air fryer?????   I am trying to think of things to not keep out and I can't.

Edited by DawnM
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Things that are always on our counter....Pet frog in a vase, Coffee maker used daily, Vitamix used more days than not, toaster, fruit bowl (usually surrounded by veggies that can't be with fruit). 

My Kitchen aid lives in the pantry, along with the Instapot. I bring them out and put them away.

 

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Toaster oven, basket that holds our loaf of bread, Boos block butcher block cutting board (it’s large, like 18 inches wide,  as deep as the counter), a spoon rest, a 1 foot square piece of our countertop used to put hot things on, and usually a dish drainer. And a butter dish and salt/pepper shakers.
 

We don’t drink coffee, don’t have air fryer or instant pot, so that probably helps to keep counters pretty empty.

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Handmade pottery fruit bowl made by my husband’s pottery professor. As needed, we add another pottery bowl or a hand-turned wooden bowl that was a wedding gift to hold excess fruits and vegetables.

two pottery vases made by my husband

two pottery containers made by my husband to hold cooking utensils

antique cookie jar my husband inherited from his grandma

I’m minimalist, so my criteria for keeping something out are it has to be beautiful, functional, and unique.

Our tea kettle stays on the stove and although I guess our toaster oven is technically touching the counter, it is at the bottom of a set of cabinets and we pull it out on sliders to use it. So I don’t really consider it to be taking up counter space.

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Cluttered here without a doubt, but I don't think I could reduce the clutter very well. There's no storage space over the cooking area, so some things like salt and pepper are positioned to be accessible.

Coffee maker, microwave, toaster, and toaster oven used daily 

Dish drainer, used constantly

Mixer and kitchen scale used sporadically, easiest to store on the counter

Salt, pepper, coffee, tea, maybe spices depending on what I've been cooking 

Dutch oven, kept on stove top

Tea kettle (full of water), used to cover hot units on stove top: about to become obsolete whenever we finally get our induction cooktop

Bread, baked goods, tomatoes, bananas, whatever doesn't fit elsewhere and has been left out

 

 

 

 

 

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Toaster oven/Air fryer combo.

Sonos speaker and Google mini 

Compost bucket

Egg skelter

Cooking utensil holder.

And that's it. We actually have a ton of counter space but we use our kitchen heavily and I hate to have stuff stay on it that doesn't need to. Dh still hates the Breville Smart Oven being left out, but I've convinced him that it's used several times a day and would be too much of a pain to be put away. 

Edited by MeaganS
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Toaster oven that’s never used. It might not be around much longer. 

Vitamix- used daily 

microwave- used daily 

electric tea kettle- used daily 

Instant pot- used almost daily 

I think that’s it. There is other stuff like mail that might sit there for a couple of days before getting cleared out. Same with clean dishes. But those aren’t the sort of things you wanted to know about. 

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1 hour ago, DawnM said:

what is on your kitchen counters all the time?   (not stuff that gets cleaned off like dishes).

 

Ours are pretty cluttered I guess.   

  • toaster oven we use daily
  • air fryer we used multiple times per week
  • electric kettle, used multiple times per day
  • kitchen aid, not used that much but looks pretty
  • large bowls for fruit and veggies
  • espresso machine that gets used at least once per day
  • Vitamix, used multiple times per day

And then whatever mess we have out.....dishes, pans, boxes of cereal

I guess I could put away the mixer and the air fryer?????   I am trying to think of things to not keep out and I can't.

You saw @Hoggirl’s thread, too, didn’t you? 😉 

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Kitchen aid  (no where else to put it)

blendtec (and my mother's old osterizer in  cabinet. dh wants to keep it too.)

knifeblock (dh said he would get rid of the chicagos in a block in a drawer . . . now we have both)

toaster (and an under cupboard toaster oven . . . . )

cookie jar - no cookies . . .(or anything else.)

and two containers with spatulas, pancake turners, whisks, etc.

The kitchen is on my dejunk list, as I want to get rid of even more stuff.

Then I have a counter with cat dishes and a container of his kibble.  (the kibble could go in the pantry where his canned food is.)

 

Maybe the Scandinavian death cleaning . . . . . dh would find he holds onto stuff way more than me.  (but far less than his sisters.)

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I’m completely missing the magazine kitchen gene. I’m all about maximizing the efficiency of the workspace to save time and effort. I keep the island clear so I always have workspace ready, but my other counters have appliances on them. I’m not going to waste time putting up and pulling out my stand mixer. It’s heavy, I like looking at it, and I like fewer steps for meal prep. 
 

Right now if I spun in a circle in my kitchen I’d see a microwave, toaster, coffee grinder, water boiler, tea tray (with an assortment of teas that should be neatened), stand mixer, cutting boards, a knife block, and a spot for my blender when it isn’t broken. The thing I don’t have is a dish rack because I can’t be trusted with one. The rest, I like having readily available. Things like my crockpot, cuisinart, or rice cooker get put away. The things that are out either get daily use or are too big/heavy to be hauling around every time I use them. 
 

I think it’s really important to have a clear workspace always available. In my kitchen that’s the island and the table.  I don’t NEED vast expanses of empty counters just for aesthetics. It looks a bit like an appliance store, but it’s efficient. I like kitchen tools and don’t mind seeing them. 

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4-slice toaster, a basket of breads, a crock of utensils, a set of trivets with a mini fire extinguisher on top, coffee maker, microwave, and a marble slab meant for dough, but we mostly put hot stuff on it. Ds’s tea kettle is on the stove.

You’re not allowed to ask me what’s on top of my microwave or the narrow raised bar we added to the peninsula. Or about the top of my fridge.  Or the top of my cabinets.

We have about 10 linear feet of counter space, mostly made of that peninsula (no outlets on it), with the rest broken up by the sink and stove.

New kitchen will have a sort of side bar/wet bar where I plan to keep the coffee maker and finally get a stand mixer!!!!!!!!!! Otherwise, I hope to keep counters pretty clear. I don’t anticipate minding taking things in and out of cabinets or other nearby storage spots. I’ve already spent years keeping things I don’t use every single day on a different floor, or even in my shed. Anything is an improvement over that.

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Tons of stuff, a lot of it to do with coffee.  When we redesign the kitchen, we are going to have a separate coffee corner to separate those out from cooking.  Right now we have electric kettle, espresso machine, coffee grinder plus toaster.  There's also a heavy cast iron skillet that doesn't have another location.

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From memory because I am already at work.

Pressure Cooker

Air Fryer

A toaster

Butter dish

A round utensil holder on either side of my range.  A scale, a mortar and pestle

A coffee maker

An electric tea kettle

A fruit bowl

A electronic picture frame

Small decorative chalkboard

That doesn't count the decorative items I have in the large corner space behind my sink and in my windows.

It is too much.  Part of it is ds's and part of it is there because he also has so much stuff in my cabinets.  

I much prefer a cleaner look.....

6B8D2A1E-1EA2-443A-8650-1F841A01DD15.jpeg

Edited by Scarlett
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I just bought a cherry cart with two shelves and butcher block top for an empty spot in our kitchen because the Michigan kitchen is small, and I got spoiled over Christmas at the Alabama house because there is so much counter space. I put the instapot, blender, and kitchen aid (for which there wss no room in the cupboards) on the shelves of the cart, and then had dh hang a new, larger spice rack on the wall so I could empty my spice cupboard and then use that for the toaster and a few small things that were out. The resulting increase in clear counter space has made me feel happy.

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Too much.

Electric kettle, used multiple times a day.

Blender, used daily

Coffee maker, daily

Espresso machine, daily

Basket with coffee/espresso accessories, daily

Metal bread tin, used to stash boxes of tea

Small, lidded metal coffee tin, stores DH's meds

Toaster, occasionally 

Knife block

Basket with olive and avocado oils, tamari, rice wine vinegar, etc

Air fryer, most days

Microwave, daily

Plus a basket for keys and other small stuff, the cat bowls which apparently must live in the center of the island, and a stack of mail that instantly reappears every time I sort through it.

Perhaps I am not the minimalist I think I am. 

 

Edited by MEmama
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I have quite a bit of counter space. I just keep on there things that are used regularly-

- food processor, blender, 2 toasters (1 for gf people), Instant Pot

I have 2 open cabinets on either side of the stove they are about 6 inch deep by 16 in wide- they go from the bottom of the top cabinet to the base cabinet it is a shelf with 4 drawers underneath (they are identical)- 

left side-

on the shelf-tea kettle, honey, jar for larger utensils-- in the drawers different varieties of tea in 3; pepper in the first

right side-

on the shelf- salt/pepper, olive oil, evoo, soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, vanilla, maybe something else- in the drawers- salt, cumin, chile powder, cinnamon

Edited by Soror
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coffee maker and hot water kettle on one countertop 

toaster and blender near each other 

spoon rest and knife block near each other close to the stove 

and kitchen aid mixer 

next to the sink - a pedastal that holds the soaps and vase of flowers 

and these days, my dd's cat.. 

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Ours are really cluttered. Big thing of cooking oil. Coffee and coffee pot. Air fryer. Knife blocks x 2 and bread boards. Drainer. Bread box and bread maker. Toaster. Kettle and coffee and tea making stuff. Vitamins. Sofa maker. Fruit bowl. Biscuit barrel. Folders for recipes and admin stuff.  Detergent, hand soap and kitchen spray. A basket of cloths. Eggs.

I need to do a bit of a clean up but most of those things are used daily possibly with the exception of the air fryer which is still multiple times a week.  My cupboards are low and awkward so I hate getting stuff in and out too many times.

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Funny you ask, I've spent all day reorganizing our kitchen. So, this is the stuff that has a permanent spot on our counter from now on.

-Coffee maker, used multiple times a day.

- Espresso machine, used most days

- toaster, used daily

-knife block

KitchenAid mixer, used at least twice a week. I would store this but my dad used it the most and it is too heavy for him to take out and put away regularly.

 

 The things that got the boot today:

-rice maker, used multiple times a week 

-ninja blender, used daily

-instant pot, used multiple times a week. 

-Microwave, got moved to the pantry cabinet.

 

fruit bowls are in the dining room.

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11 hours ago, Scarlett said:

From memory because I am already at work.

Pressure Cooker

Air Fryer

A toaster

Butter dish

A round utensil holder on either side of my range.  A scale, a mortar and pestle

A coffee maker

An electric tea kettle

A fruit bowl

A electronic picture frame

Small decorative chalkboard

That doesn't count the decorative items I have in the large corner space behind my sink and in my windows.

It is too much.  Part of it is ds's and part of it is there because he also has so much stuff in my cabinets.  

I much prefer a cleaner look.....

6B8D2A1E-1EA2-443A-8650-1F841A01DD15.jpeg

Is this the Prussian Blue???? I LOVE IT.

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This is a struggle for me because I cook a lot. I also love the look of bare countertops. lol Those two things just can't coexist.

I recently reorganized my kitchen and got rid of a bunch of stuff. I was able to create a spot in a low cabinet to keep my Instantpot and the blender. They are stored directly under where I would use them. 

I did the same with my walk in pantry. Made space for the microwave--wwooohooo! Big improvement. 

What is currently on the counter is the 1)coffee maker, 2)toaster, 3)butter bell. These are sort of hidden by the refrigerator. My decorator told me to place my 3)stand mixer in a certain corner--pulled out a few inches. She was very specific about that. lol That's one I'm happy to leave out because it's so heavy.

She also told me to put something decorative in the opposite corner, so I have a 4) cute basket there.

My 5)Lodge dutch oven lives on the cooktop because I use it so much, and it's heavy. 6) soap dispenser

The thing I haven't figured out yet is the stupid modem and router. We just don't have a better place to locate them, so they always on the counter and junk collects around them. 

Things that are out on my counter right now but don't live there: bread machine, tub of sourdough, sous vide cooker. 

Edited by popmom
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Do you mean just the stuff that should be there, or all the stuff that is actually there? These are 2 very different things for my house. 

What should be there:

- toaster, cutting board, knife block, cooking utensil holder, stove-top espresso maker, electric kettle, air fryer, fruit bowl, plant

What's actually there:

- all the above stuff plus: loaves of bread, buns, jars of nutella and peanut butter, boxes of tea, mail, snack food, cell phones, tools, shopping list, papers, etc. Too much stuff!!

 

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I have been in kitchens (and you know, seen the ones on sitcoms)where there is stuff all over the counters. Like, just stuff crammed everywhere. But they know how to do that and make it look good. I can’t do that at all. I hope this makes sense. 
 

And I can’t stop drooling over @Scarlett’s kitchen. 

Edited by Indigo Blue
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@Indigo Blueyour kitchen is nice.  Do you remember my ‘before’ picture?  Our kitchens were built around the same time—mine was 1980–and our cabinets are very similar.  Yours looks great though and mine was horrible.  The difference is that I had a black crown molding on mine. And very dark countertops.  And horrible dated pulls. Those things could have been changed out—although under the backplate of the pulls were about 4 sets of holes from previous pulls—- but the real problem was a built in floor to ceiling cabinet that housed a 1980 very small oven and a huge microwave. And of course there was a 1980 cooktop too.    So changing those things out led to a need for 2 new base pieces…..the ones on either side of my range.  Dh Is going to put some border tile at the base of those cabinets because they are not as deep as the original….anyway, I am rambling.  New base pieces mean they did not  match thus the need for paint. 
 

Your husband refusing to paint the cabinets reminds me of that designer years ago….from the 90s I think……he was always saying, ‘just because it’s wood doesn’t mean it’s special’.  And then he would paint everything.  😂 

I decided to post my before picture.  Btw, this was the first day I looked at this house.  None of this is my stuff.  It makes me twitchy just to look at it.  

 

7C911BC4-E5B8-4E68-9551-1827DF0DDB40.jpeg

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We have plenty of counter space. 
Normally on the counter - electric kettle + small bag of rock sugar (for tea)
Two insulated Al can koozies (when they aren't being used which is several times a day)
Bottle of hand soap, bottle of dishwashing liquid, brush, drain pad for these.
small flat drainer.
knife block (2 - don't ask)
bread basket
large Rubbermaid cereal container (dh wants that on the counter)
Stand mixer (pushed back in a short section by refrigerator and corner storage section)
usually toaster
But I have a corner section of the counter that has a pull down cover (think like a roll top desk) that holds my blender, instantpot, air fryer, electric can opener, hand mixer, various oils that are too tall to go into cabinets where I would want them, and sometimes we put the toaster in there too) This little space is on the counter but hidden by pulling that cover down - it has side walls that match the cabinets.  I love it and wish it were bigger. 
Napkin basket
Ceramic bowl one of my kids made that we put the flip top lid part in to save for another non-family child. 
Snack basket (bars, fruit snacks, roasted lentils, etc)

But right now, we stocked up on chips and special coated popcorns (just in case we are stuck here for several weeks!), so those are on the counters too and sorta bothering me. 
 

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My counters are very cluttered.  We have:

 the toaster (used daily)

 the instant pot (weekly, at least)

 my mixer (not quite weekly)

small ninja food chopper (at least weekly)

coffee pot and electric kettle (daily, multiple times a day)

 lots of tea tins

 cookbooks

utensil crock and knife block

recipe box

sugar, rice, and salt canisters

protein powder canisters (2)

various cold medications that ought to be put away now that we’re better, but aren’t)

 drainer

 hand soap

 paper towels

 a jar of various extra fast food condiments that we’ve accumulated

trivet

bag of popcorn that ought to be put away

 And this doesn’t count all of the stuff that’s cluttering up the kitchen island, including Christmas decorations that really ought to come down this week. I am feeling a sudden urge to de clutter and work out better solutions for storage here. The problem is that there’s no under counter storage space left to put any of the things that are currently on the counter.

Edited by Emba
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1 hour ago, Scarlett said:

@Indigo Blueyour kitchen is nice.  Do you remember my ‘before’ picture?  Our kitchens were built around the same time—mine was 1980–and our cabinets are very similar.  Yours looks great though and mine was horrible.  The difference is that I had a black crown molding on mine. And very dark countertops.  And horrible dated pulls. Those things could have been changed out—although under the backplate of the pulls were about 4 sets of holes from previous pulls—- but the real problem was a built in floor to ceiling cabinet that housed a 1980 very small oven and a huge microwave. And of course there was a 1980 cooktop too.    So changing those things out led to a need for 2 new base pieces…..the ones on either side of my range.  Dh Is going to put some border tile at the base of those cabinets because they are not as deep as the original….anyway, I am rambling.  New base pieces mean they did not  match thus the need for paint. 
 

Your husband refusing to paint the cabinets reminds me of that designer years ago….from the 90s I think……he was always saying, ‘just because it’s wood doesn’t mean it’s special’.  And then he would paint everything.  😂 

I decided to post my before picture.  Btw, this was the first day I looked at this house.  None of this is my stuff.  It makes me twitchy just to look at it.  

 

7C911BC4-E5B8-4E68-9551-1827DF0DDB40.jpeg

The counter clutter here looks a lot more like my kitchen, which makes me twitchy. Sadly, it IS all our stuff. 

When a guest came over and remarked on "all our stuff" I playfully responded that, "I seems like we enjoy displaying all our stuff."  We are masters of displaying our stuff in non-artistic fashion. 😄

Edited by wintermom
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37 minutes ago, Indigo Blue said:

@Scarlettyes, you did a great job on your kitchen! The color for your cabinets is beautiful! That’s funny about the guy painting over the wood and not giving it a second thought. That’s Dh hill to die on, lol. He won’t touch it. 

The best part about my kitchen is that it only cost about $3000.  That includes counter tops ($1700) New sink ($400) all new hardware and soft close hinges, and paint.  Paint by the way is really expensive these days.

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8 hours ago, Scarlett said:

The best part about my kitchen is that it only cost about $3000.  That includes counter tops ($1700) New sink ($400) all new hardware and soft close hinges, and paint.  Paint by the way is really expensive these days.

Wow.  Some how I missed the post you did about redoing your kitchen.  AMAZING.  I can't believe that was done for 3k.  It looks like it belongs in a magazine.  And now I want to paint my cabinets blue.  I had to go back and look a few times to realize you just painted it.  IT looks like a totally new kitchen.  

I LOVE it!

Edited by mommyoffive
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1 minute ago, mommyoffive said:

Wow.  Some how I missed the post you did about redoing your kitchen.  AMAZING.  I can't believe that was done for 3k.  It looks like it belongs in a magazine.  And now I want to paint my cabinets blue.  I had to go back and look a few times to realize you just painted it.  IT looks like a totally new kitchen.  

Agree!

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3 minutes ago, mommyoffive said:

Wow.  Some how I missed the post you did about redoing your kitchen.  AMAZING.  I can't believe that was done for 3k.  It looks like it belongs in a magazine.  And now I want to paint my cabinets blue.  I had to go back and look a few times to realize you just painted it.  IT looks like a totally new kitchen.  

 

1 minute ago, Indigo Blue said:

Agree!

Thanks so much.  My husband is a miracle worker.  I wish I could even explain how he disassembled the cabinet that held the old oven and microwave and shifted everything down...and made a cubby for the microwave out of what once was over the old stove top....he just added a bottom to it so the microwave could sit there.

Just a few things left to do...paint my window sill white and fix the tile where the new cabinets are...and I think he has to add a toe kick there too.

But yeah, I am pretty happy with my $3000/50 year old kitchen.

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On 1/11/2022 at 10:10 PM, MeaganS said:

Compost bucket

I'm glad I'm not the only one, lol! I have two of those, usually spilling over...

Microwave, toaster, whatever the kids didn't pick up (bread and usually a couple of canned items), utensil holder, S&P shakers for cooking, coffee maker, including a part that switches out for coffee vs. tea, electric kettle, canister set (holding stuff that is necessary and has no other home), cutting board/knife, and a double-decker fruit basket. It's all used.

I have a weird kitchen--the layout is not terrible but not great, and I have to have some duplicate items for gluten free cooking that makes it harder to store everything we use regularly. 

I might be able to empty part of one drawer for lesser-used pots and put a few things in it, but not much of what is out would fit. In our old house, we had all the coffee/tea items on a sideboard, but the sideboard was repurposed in this house (made smaller and repurposed as it was from IKEA and made from multiple Besta parts put together as one).

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Thanks to this thread, I’ve become inspired to declutter my kitchen and reorganize areas that have outgrown their original uses. I spent a good part of today cleaning up cluttery areas of the counter, swapping too-small baskets for more useful ones and making room in cabinets to store items that don’t need to permanently live out in the open. I cleaned and organized my spice drawer and organized under the sink. I had a few cute baskets meant for a desk organising project that hasn’t happened and repurposed those in various cabinets. I have a lot more to do tomorrow but I’m inspired by my progress today and am happy with the results so far. 

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12 hours ago, Scarlett said:

And thank you!  Choosing a paint color for my kitchen was agonizing. I polled all my IRL friends and I think the board too.  Lol

You definitely polled the board--that's how I remembered. I was choosing a blue for my island at the time, so it stuck in my memory. 🙂

I went with Gentlemen's Gray.

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3 hours ago, kbutton said:

I'm glad I'm not the only one, lol! I have two of those, usually spilling over...

This is first house we've had with a compost pile and we also have a fairly large garden, so dh is adamant we should compost our scraps (despite the city giving trailer-fuls of compost away for free). For a while we just kept them in a regular bowl but that was gross. I'm very happy with the compostable bag-lined bucket with lid we now use. Plus it limits the fruit flies which are a big issue in the summer here. This is the one we have. 

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