If you only have 30 minutes before guests drop by or just need to clean up the kitchen so you can focus better for the rest of your work day, there are many ways you can improve this area of ​​the home in just a short amount of time.

We spoke to professional cleaning and organizing experts who share a series of small tasks you should take to improve your kitchen in half an hour and set yourself up for a more organized space in the long run.

Define your vision

First, you’ll want to spend a few minutes defining your vision and goals for the kitchen, explains Kristin Ziegler, founder of Minim.

She encourages people to grab a piece of paper or open a note-taking app on their phone to get their thoughts moving.

“Start by defining your vision (why cleaning is important to you) and zones (serving, preparing, cooking, baking, food storage and cleaning),” says Ziegler.

Establishing a clear sense of what you want to achieve will help you gain momentum and clarity as you begin your space.

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Create a list of items to remove

Next, you’ll want to make a list of all the items you see in the kitchen that shouldn’t be there. Ziegler explains how this list can include items to sell, donate, relocate, recycle or throw away.

You can start putting these items in a pile or bin to take them elsewhere in the house. Anything you see right away that you know you’d like to donate can go in a bag, and expired items you come across can go in the trash, Ziegler adds.

Go one drawer at a time

The kitchen can seem like a huge space to tackle quickly, but moving drawer by drawer makes the process more manageable.

Jessica Litman, founder of The Organized Mama, recommends going through one drawer at a time and removing anything that doesn’t belong there. She suggests putting these items in a pile on the counter (you can sort by what you want to keep or donate, then put these items in specific bins or bags) before moving to the next drawer and repeating the process.

“This will help you declutter quickly because you’re not taking everything out at once, which takes a long time to put back together,” she says.

Create perhaps a bucket

When you only have 30 minutes to tackle the kitchen, you can’t be expected to make the final decision about whether or not to keep every item in sight. That’s where the “maybe” bucket comes into play, Litman notes.

“Set a reminder date on your phone to check that bucket in about a month,” she says. “If you need that item during that month, you know where to find it and then you can be sure to store it in your kitchen.”

The items you never reach for are the ones you can feel comfortable selling, donating, or throwing away.

Put away stray items

Your kitchen will look and feel cleaner in no time if you make an effort to deal with stray items that belong in the kitchen but have no place sitting outside. Katie Lambert, founder of Clean Queen Cleaning Services, shares some tips on where to start.

First place the dishes in the dishwasher or drying rack as needed. Next, you’ll want to keep your counters clean and put away anything that takes up space but can be put away instead. Then you’ll want to give your space a quick wipe down and make it a regular habit every day.

“Wiping down your counters, stove, hood, and hood will help grease build-up, which can be very difficult to clean once it builds up,” explains Lambert.