Cooking is fun, especially when you're having guests over or you're looking to set up a fun baking session with your kids. For some people cooking is like meditation, it's relaxing. What no one enjoys doing, though, is cleaning the dishes and counter once the deed has been done. Ultimately, we all desire a spotless kitchen, at all times - even after a huge meal prep. With a bit of structure and effort, you will be able to achieve a spotless kitchen, in no time.

Here are the 5 rules you need to follow:

Choose wisely: you don't need everything

When cooking a meal, we tend to get carried away and pretend to be MasterChef contestants. We prepare the pots our mothers gave us the day we moved out, the self-proclaimed 'non-stick' pans we bought from the market, all our containers and, of course, our knife kit. Yes, cooking is fun, but it doesn't need to entail so many utensils. Remember, the more you use, the more you'll need to clean later on. You might wish to consider cooking two things in the same pan instead of dirtying two. Rinse off the knife you used to chop your vegetables if you need to cut something else, that way you avoid having to take out another one.

Prioritise: clear up now, rest later

While you're cooking and once you're done, make it a point to place everything back in its place. Put the salt away, place the dirty utensils in the sink, and make sure that what's left on the kitchen counter is needed, everything else; should go straight to its place or in the bin. Don't postpone these little tasks for later, as a messy kitchen will discourage you. Trust us, putting things back to where they belong, once you're done with them, is one of the quickest ways to have a spotless kitchen.

Multitask: clean while cooking

Don't you just hate it when after a good meal, you have a lot of things to clean? Here's our tip to you: while you're waiting for the water to boil or for the oven to heat up, get cleaning the dirty dishes. If, for example, you have a twenty-minute timer on for your jacket potatoes, use that time to clean some pots and utensils you might have used. Multitasking will allow you to waste less time and achieve a cleaner kitchen faster.

Wipe: cloths are there to help

Keeping a cloth next to you while you're cooking will help you wipe away any oil residue or food drops and crumbs that tend to accumulate while cooking. Keep a damp cloth within close reach, so as soon as you spill something, you can handle it straight away. The cleaning process of a kitchen tends to take longer if you wait until after you're done eating to clean it, especially as food residue tends to dry up and become harder to clean off. Once you're done with the cooking and you've put most things away, we recommend you give a wipe to the cooker, as it tends to be one of the dirtiest spots of the kitchen.

Finish your tasks: put everything where it belongs

Unload the dishwasher, dry the dishes, and put everything away. Don't just leave everything on your dish rack, but rather place everything back to where it belongs. You don't need unnecessary mess in your kitchen. Waking up to a decluttered kitchen in the morning will also remove unnecessary stress from your life and start off your morning on a good note.

Grandma's recipe: bicarbonate and spray vinegar

Once your kitchen is clear, sprinkle some bicarbonate around the surface and inside the sink. Fill up a spray bottle with white vinegar, and start spraying over the bicarbonate. Wait a couple of minutes, and wipe off the mixture with a damp cloth. If you wish to get rid off unpleasant smells coming from the sink, put two spoons of bicarbonate inside your sink, followed by half a cup of white vinegar, and leave the mixture to set. The nasty odors will be gone in no time.

Kitchens tend to get very dirty, if you believe yours is due a deep cleanse, contact one of the cleaning services listed on Yellow.