I have become a little obsessive in keeping my kitchen clean. We have an open floor plan, meaning if someone stops by for a visit my kitchen can be seen as soon as they are welcomed inside.

Or if I sit down to work I can see the dirty kitchen reflecting in my monitor.

Nothing is more distracting than a pile of dirty dishes and a cluttered counter top.

Also, we worked hard to buy this house and I want to take care of it.

But cleaning your kitchen doesn't have to eat up a chunk of your day. In fact, I've gotten it down to a 20 minute routine.

dirty kitchen speed cleaning your kitchen in 20 minutes

In total transparency, this is what we are dealing with.

kitchen sink piled with dishes speed cleaning your kitchen

1. Start with the sink.

I begin by unloading and loading my dishwasher. A for me dishes are the best place to start.

Clean your sinke speed cleaning your kitchen in 20 minutes

Once the dishes are in the sink I spray the sink down with a mixture of water and Dr. Bronner's Castile soap

decluttering your kitchen counter tops to speed clean your kitchen

2. Next I move on to the counter tops.

I put away anything that belongs in the kitchen but not the counter and then I remove anything that doesn't belong in the kitchen.

Next I spray the counter tops and wipe them down. Since I will be moving on to floors next I just brush the crumbs and what not to the floor.

sweeping up the mess speed cleaning the kitch in 20 minutes

3. Next I move onto the floors.

I do a quick sweep and then break out the steam mop.

I squirt a little of this Method Squirt and Mop on the floor. It is made for wood but it still works wonderfully on laminate flooring like ours. I usually only use this if the floors are sticky and gross.

Using a steam cleaner to clean floors during 20 minute deep clean

I have found that steam mopping saves me a lot of time and usually I don't have to use any solutions (minus when the floors are sticky and gross. Thank you three-year-old who loves pancakes).