Are your Kitchen Counters and Appliances Really Clean?

Tonight, after washing and putting away the dinner dishes, I wiped down my counters, back-splash and appliances like I always do.  I thought everthing looked clean.

Here's a picture of it, and no, it doesn't always look this neat. I staightened up for the picture.  Sorry for the bad focus.

  Then my husband made a comment that the phone in the living room looked kind of grungey ( is that the correct spelling? maybe it's grungy!!!!)  So I broke out my secret weapon- the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser.  I love this product- just dampen, wipe and it magically cleans dirt and grime. Even my husband was impressed.  So, then I decided to go over my counters with it, and boy was I disgusted when the magic eraser came up all dirty and grimey.  I had just wiped everything down, and I consider myself a 

 clean-a-holic.  Now, I was madly wiping down every surface- back-splash, fridge, kitchen telephone, microwave and window blinds.  That damned Magic Eraser just kept showing me more grime.   YUCK!!!!!!!!

Here's some pictures so you can see what I saw.

Looks innocent enough.

Can you say GROSS!!!!!!!!

Well, since I'm taking pictures anyways, Here's the rest of my kitchen.

Here's all the white- and I cleaned it all up nice just for these pictures.  I can't wait to get a new counter and back-splash, but no money for that right now.

I love to decorate in vintage and antiques, but don't have a lot of counter space, so I have to use shelves and a free- standing Island / Counter for storage etc.

This is my collection of green glass wear, antique coffee grinders, and copper kitchen wear, etc.  Terrible lighting from our ceiling fan/ light fixture ( sorry).

My spice rack/ display shelf over the stove.

Here's a closer shot of my Fry's Chocolate Giclee' Print,

This is my beautiful Counter/Island with which I could not live without.  We eat most meals here, and there's lots of storage.  It's from Cambridge Furnishings, and they customized it so it sits against the wall, since we have no room in the middle for an island, It's my absolute favourite thing in my kitchen, and I love the color.  It keeps the kitchen from being too white-  the cabinets and display shelves are Cottage White by Behr.  Oh, and the wallpaper was already in the house when we bought it, and that will come down one day- it is okay color-wise, but I really DO NOT like wallpaper in an entire room.  At least its vinyl and looks a little like tile, and is easy to clean.  But the flowers on the wallpaper really have to go.  One day!!!!!  Oh, and my clock is from Walmart- it looks just like one I wanted from Restoration Hardware, only a little smaller, and was only $10.00.  They just came out with a line of vintage looking stuff, and well- the price was right.

Well, good thing I took these pictures, because the neatness lasted approximately 2.5 seconds after I was finished.  That's when the hubby came in to get a bowl of chocolate ice cream, dripping all over my clean counter, and leaving his dirty dishes in the sink.  At least I can look at the pictures.  I will show better pictures one day, after I  get a new counter, re-paint the cabinets which are chipping and take off the wallpaper.  Lots of stuff for future posts in this house.

Bye til later.  Au Revoir!!!!