Kitchen Refresh: 12 Simple DIY Recipes & A Printable Checklist
In this guide, you’ll learn how to completely reset the heart of the home using 12 simple homemade recipes, easy cleaning remedies, and a free printable checklist.
The kitchen is where we nourish daily routines and gather for seasonal traditions. It’s the spot where morning coffee brews, fresh bread cools on the counter, and family naturally gravitates everyday. But because it works harder than any other room in the house, the evidence of daily life adds up quickly. Does sticky countertops, fingerprint-covered appliances, stubborn stovetop grease, and lingering cooking odors that won’t seem to clear, sound a familiar?
It’s easy to look around and feel overwhelmed, putting off a deep clean because you assume it will eat up an entire weekend, require a shopping trip for specialty sprays, or won’t matter because what you really want is a remold.
Here’s The Thing:
Aa complete kitchen refresh never requires a remodel, costly supplies, or hours of exhausting scrubbing. With simple pantry staples and proven homemade cleaning recipes, you can tackle the mess with confidence.
Once you learn how to deep clean a kitchen step by step, you’ll be amazed how quickly your counters clear, your appliances shine, and the air resets into the welcoming space you love spending time in.
To help you along the way, I’m sharing a dozen homemade recipes and easy cleaning remedies. Plus, a free printable checklist to take the overwhelm out of the process.
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Refreshing the Heart of the Home
I created this kitchen cleaning checklist for you and me. That’s right! Why? Because there is nothing quite like the satisfaction of checking things off a list. Seeing tangible proof that you got something done—even if it’s just one single box on a busy weekday!
When you look at a messy kitchen, decision fatigue sets in fast. This checklist removes the guesswork by breaking down your kitchen cleaning routine into zones. Whether you have ten minutes to mix up a batch of scouring powder for the sink or a free weekend afternoon to clear out the fridge, you can move at your own pace.
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How to Use the Checklist:
- Tackle One Zone at a Time: Don’t feel pressured to do everything at once. Focus on daily surface wipedowns one day, and schedule appliances for another.
- Make It Reusable: Slide the printed sheet into an clear sleeve of your home binder or laminate it and pop it onto a clipboard. Either way, you can check off tasks with a dry-erase marker season after season.
- Keep Recipes Handy: Pair the checklist with your favorite reusable spray bottles and DIY cleaners so everything you need is within arm’s reach.
Ready to reset your space? Grab your copy of the printable kitchen cleaning checklist inside the Simple Living Library alongside printable label sheets, room spray scent charts, and seasonal guides. (Already a member? Enter the password from your latest newsletter to jump right in and download!)
Then let’s get started!
Related To: 3 Reasons To Use Wool Dryer Balls
The Ultimate Kitchen Refresh: 12 Simple DIY Recipes With A Printable Checklist
To make this kitchen refresh simple and completely manageable, I’ve separated it into four clear, actionable zones. So, instead of trying to tackle the whole room at once, we’ll start by shining up everyday prep surfaces, move on to knocking out stubborn cooking odors, deep-clean your hardest-working appliances, and that flows with the printable checklist to keep you organized.
Start here with the 12 best homemade kitchen cleaners and remedies to bring that clean, welcoming sparkle back to your space. Click any image in the gallery to jump to the recipe or scroll to see all.
Homemade Kitchen Cleaners For Counters, Sinks & Prep Areas
From morning coffee drips and lunch prep to baking and family dinners, our countertops, sinks, and wooden tools work hard around the clock. Keeping these high-traffic surfaces clean shouldn’t feel like a never-ending chore.
With a few staple pantry ingredients, you can make daily wipedowns effortless while keeping your prep areas pristine and ready for the next meal.
DIY Kitchen Surface Cleaner Spray
Keep a bottle of this DIY surface cleaning spray right by the sink to make clearing off the island and dining table quick and effortless!
This surface cleaning recipe is simple to make, but powerful enough for everyday spills. Formulated to lift sticky residue, crumbs, and grease, it leaves stone, tile, and laminate countertops streak-free.
Homemade Scouring Powder
Cut through tough kitchen grime naturally! This DIY skin scrub recipe powers through stubborn stains. Morning coffee, tea, or pasta sauce—it leaves porcelain, ceramic, or stainless steel sinks fresh, clean, and shiny.
It’s easy, budget-friendly, and takes only seconds to mix up!
DIY Stainless Steel Cleaner Spray
Keep high-touch stainless steel surfaces and small appliances gleaming without streaky residues. Formulated for quick daily wipedowns, this lightweight spray easily lifts fingerprints, water spots, and cooking splatters from the fridge, dishwasher handle, toaster, and sink faucet.
I find it dries fast, leaving behind a clear, streak-free shine that makes busy kitchen surfaces look freshly polished in seconds.
Simple Wood Cutting Board Care
Kitchen cutting board care doesn’t have to be complicated or require expensive specialty products. This quick DIY care routine keeps your wooden spoons, salad bowls, and butcher blocks from drying out or cracking so they last for years!
Follow this straightforward routine to deep clean your boards and learn how to whip up a rich conditioning wood butter right at home using organic beeswax and plant-based oils.
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Easy Homemade Kitchen Deodorizer Recipes
Between simmering savory meals, full trash bins, and stuffed refrigerator doors, kitchen odors linger long after the dishes are cleared. Neutralizing heavy aromas at the source is the quickest way to bring a clean, welcoming feel back to the heart of the home.
Here are four simple home remedies to clear stale air and keep your kitchen smelling fresh every day:
Homemade Refrigerator Odor Eliminator
Cleaning out the refrigerator is easy to put off until a stubborn odor takes over. If you’ve been dreading the task, my three-step method makes deep-cleaning your shelves and drawers quick and painless.
And I’m sharing a simple cleaning trick to neutralize food odors using a homemade refrigerator odor eliminator, keeping your fridge crisp and fresh for weeks at a time.
Lemon Rosemary Candle: Kitchen Odor Remedy
Fresh, herbal, and bright, this handmade candle is a countertop staple for clearing heavy cooking aromas after dinner. Is it just me or does lighting a candle while wiping down counters create an instant sense of comfort?
Follow this step-by-step candle making tutorial to craft rosemary lemon candles that look beautiful on your kitchen island and smell like a morning stroll through a sunny herb garden.
Garbage Can Deodorizer Pods
If you cook as many meals at home as we do, you’ve likely experienced some unpleasant garbage odors. This homemade garbage bin refresh is a true set-it-and-forget-it solution. Simply drop a pod in the bottom of your trash bin under the liner to absorb odors before they take over the room.
Even better, it doubles as an instant disposal cleaner: run warm water, flip on the garbage disposal, and drop in a pod for one of the best DIY remedies for kitchen odors!
Easy DIY Room Sprays for a Quick Refresh
Nothing clears the air after cooking like a fine, fragrant mist. Learn how to mix up a quick room spray made specifically to reset your kitchen in seconds. Try my Cozy Kitchen blend: pairing vibrant citrus with baking spices and windowsill herbs—to leave your home feeling instantly warm, clean, and welcoming.
Grab the recipe chart and free printable bottle labels to keep a spray bottle ready on your counter!
Tips & Recipes To Deep Clean Appliances
From baked-on stovetop splatters to dull appliance fronts, our kitchen workhorses take it all. Am I right? Deep cleaning them doesn’t require intense scrubbing foams or harsh commercial fumes—just a few smart cleaning hacks to break down stubborn grease and restore shine, is all we need.
Stainless Steel Polish & Scratch Remedy
While the quick daily mist, I shared above, keeps fingerprints at bay, this conditioning polish is designed for deep restoration. Formulated to buff away minor surface scuffs, disguise fine scratches, and restore a rich, streak-free luster, it leaves a protective barrier on refrigerator doors, dishwasher panels, and range fronts that resists new smudges.
Heavy Duty Kitchen Cleaner & Degreaser
Cooktop grease and baked-on oil splatters require a formula with real lifting power. This homemade degreaser for stovetops cuts through stubborn, sticky grime on burners, range hoods, and backsplashes without scratching finishes. A quick spray-and-soak breaks down the grease so you can simply wipe it clean with a cloth.
Dishwasher Refresh & Homemade Detergent
When was the last time you cleaned the machine that washes your dishes? Over time, soap scum, food particles, and hard water minerals build up inside the spray arms and filter. Give your dishwasher a reset by placing a bowl of white vinegar on the top rack and running a hot, empty cycle. After, keep dishes and the interior clean with this gentle, residue-free homemade dishwasher detergent.
Steam Cleaning Hack for Microwaves & Ovens
Skip the hours of scraping crusty food splatters and burnt bottoms. This hands-off steam hack uses simple heat and citrus to loosen baked-on grime inside your microwave and oven. Once the steam does the heavy lifting, burnt-on residue wipes right off with minimal elbow grease.
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Remember, you don’t have to do it all in one afternoon; start with just one small win today, whether that’s mixing up a fresh bottle of surface cleaner, dropping a deodorizer pod into the trash bin, or wiping down your favorite wood cutting boards.
Grab your checklist, work through the zones at your own pace, and enjoy a freshly reset kitchen!
Which recipe are you excited to try first? Tell me in the comments below, or snap a photo of your kitchen refresh and tag #lifenreflection on Instagram!