The only thing I gave on the counter is the paper towel holder. Everything else goes in the appliance garage or in deep drawers
@MotherOfDragons Can you get a wall mounted phone for your kitchen? We also still have a landline ( I know…) with handheld phones around the house. The base station is in the kitchen, on a shelf over the desk are in the kitchen. The shelves contain a massive stack of throwaway mailer coupons that get looked at once in a blue moon. More often they get thinned out to throw away the very old, expired coupons.
@jym626 I could, but I’m at that inertia stage where I think I’d rather dump the land line rather than get a phone that sticks to the wall (and that’s ugly, too).
Mine has a cord that goes to the base station hiding on the shelf.Would that work? My phone jack is on the level of the shelf so isn’t just one bare wall, though.
I have hesitated to get rid of the landline b/c there are so many things I cannot recall I’ve used to associate with that # (utilities, etc) and I dont want unnecessary calls going to my cell. That said, can the phone # be ported to a cell? ANy way to keep the # but dump the landline? I’ve read that VOIP services like Magic Jack have something in their small print that les them “own” your # if you switch to them, so you end up hostage if you want the #.
@MotherOfDragons, too funny.
I’ve got a 3 tier cake stand that can hold plates and I formerly used it to store the veggies and fruits that don’t need the refrig. It sits in my “corner of death,” and the veggies were often forgotten “Oh, I did have onions.”
I got the phone where the base unit hangs in the kitchen, takes messages, and a small remote unit (the handset is cordless, though it sits in its own small base,) is in the bedroom. Unlike some phone set ups, I can screen calls from upstairs, check caller id history and retrieve messages from there, too.
We lived in a dive on the beach in CA, I get the bug thing. Luckily, just dealing with the gnats here.
I was looking to port the LL to the cell, but think you still have to pay the monthly LL charge, to keep that number-? You can also use call forwarding to a cell.
@lookingforward - if we forwarded the landline # to the cell (don’t even recall how to do that) shouldn’t we still be paying the monthly LL fee? If so, I’d prefer the calls go to the LL home phone since I don’t want pesky robocalls or the companies looking for donations calling my cell. Guess I could block them?
Jym, I was looking to shave charges from my large Verizon bill. But you’re right, virtually all I get on the LL is telemarketers and pollers. From what I see on the “who call me” complaint web sites, even blocking is unreliable, as some callers have multiple originating numbers. They say the Do Not call list is a joke.
Dang.
I’ll go start a “should I ditch the land line” thread so it won’t divert this one 
Done:
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1905515-ditch-the-land-line.html?new=1
This thread does not bother me at all, because I have long since given up on the model home concept.
What we have out on the counters:
Keurig coffee maker
Mr. Coffee
Coffee bean grinder
Ice shaver for snow cones
Cuisinart toaster still in its box, unopened. But some day I will rise to my full culinary height, and make toast!
Knife block
Pencil sharpener
In/out boxes
Totally adorable colored wine glasses, though we neither drink nor serve wine. But they should work for juice. Once I get them out of the box.
4.5 gallons of maple syrup, still in their containers. Because I am definitely going to make pancakes some day! After I master making toast
Several cookie sheets. I actually baked cookies recently. I had been planning to do so since February 2015.
Jar of rocks (only temporarily on the counter)
A decorative barometer ball. Not yet assembled
Stapler
Hole punch for papers to go in notebooks
Various cleaning supplies (cannot fit in cabinets)
Carton of Snapple peach tea. Some day soon I will be able to fit a bottle in the refrigerator.
Industrial quality flashlight
Coffee cups to go in dishwasher later today
Dishwasher detergent packets in box
Post-it notes
Two cookie sheets
Two air-tight containers for pasta
Paper towel dispenser
Glass jar of small paintbrushes (for children’s water colors); children rarely visit us
Stainless steel container of pens, some of which work
Stainless steel containers of pencils and markers
. . . Wait, where are you going? I am only about half-way done.
My landline is in the dining room. Since we never answer it, it could be anywhere. I failed to mention that I have a scale on my counter too. I keep my knives on a magnetic bar on the wall. I don’t have a pegboard any more, but I did in my first kitchen and loved it. To me this is the almost perfect kitchen: http://www.thekitchn.com/5-things-we-can-learn-from-julia-childs-kitchen-kitchen-design-lessons-218372
Uh oh-- QM, you are starting to sound like a hoarder @-)
holy **** @QuantMech that would freak me the hell out. Your organizational paradigm would make me coo coo for cocoa puffs.
Do the rocks go with the Maple syrup?
We have a kitchen scale out too but since it’s helped H lose 40 pounds and counting I will keep it out forever in a place of honor!
I am a neat nut and have lots of counter top space. In one corner I have Campari tomatoes waiting to be eaten.
At the other end of the the counter is the coffee maker, coffee grinder, tea kettle and a counter top oven angled in corner.
Next to the cook top on the island is a tray holding olive oil, PaN grilling spray, and salt and pepper shakers .
That’s it. everything else has its place in easy to reach drawers, a huge pantry and a base cabinet corner unit for misc small appliances.
Was it the jar of rock that tipped the scale for you jym626? Or the toaster still in the box? They totally make sense, as a temporary thing! Also, what is the “organizational paradigm” that you speak of, MotherofDragons?
I’m still in the Bag a Week club, but it needs a Bag a Day sub-group. 
I’ve got a Styrofoam tray of rocks on my counter currently. They were in a vase and they’ve been dry for weeks. They are supposed to go back to the basement, but I haven’t done it yet.
We are on the tail-end of a home remodel including a new, much bigger kitchen. I have never had room in my kitchen to store things out of view but now have more storage then I know what to do with. So, where previously my counters were a bit cluttered, now I have room to put crock pots and large appliances in cabinets. I have a new lift for my Kitchen Aid Mixer and a built in space for my toaster oven. When we are all done, the only thing that will be out on the counters will be the toaster. The painter will be done tomorrow and then the flooring will start. I should be good to go in 2 weeks-can’t wait!
For you, @QuantMech http://elitedaily.com/elite/psychology-behind-messy-rooms-messy-room-may-necessarily-bad-thing/708046/
My rock collection is on my dresser.
@QuantMech wrote
Your organizational paradigm is that you like to be able to see everything you own all at once.
My organizational paradigm is that I like to make it look like I own nothing except the stuff bolted to the walls and floor :D. I don’t like visual clutter at all. Even my paintbrushes are organized and my paints are color sorted.