I am a professional housekeeper, and I like some of the ideas my clients have taught me. One really good one is IMMEDIATELY empty the dishwasher as soon as possible, due to the rest of the family (Every family...)being blind and not wanting to think about if the dishwasher is clean or not.
Keeping an OXO reservoir dish liquid brush in the sink can be great. You can't dilute the detergent, tho. It has to be thick, or it leaks.
I personally use a setup with my current kitchen (soon to be remodeled)as follows: I have a wire basket attached below the windowsill, above the left side of the sink, with space beneath it for a quick wipe with a sponge. Said sponge (learned from a germphobic Nurse/PhD client) is synthetic foam with a net over it. I buy a batch at the dollar store and chuck when they are no longer cute. I spray a quick hit of chlorine cleaner on it daily or more often with use. (For renewing a natural fiber washcloth and the cellulose sponges, wet thoroughly, lay in a dish, and nuke for 2 minutes in your microwave. NO odors or germs will be left.)
The wire basket contains: diluted liquid hand soap pump, small canister of Boraxo hand cleaner, stainless steel scrubber, Mr.Clean magic sponge, foam/net sponge, scrubby toothbrush. Hanging from the edge of the basket are my smallish dish brush and my palm sized veggie/potato scrubber brush.
In one sink is my old faithful dish liquid spray bottle. Once a utensil is done being used, it goes into the sink and is sprayed with the diluted dish soap. I return to it at my leisure during the ensuing cooking/cleanup phase, and it's pre-soaked, ready to wash.
I keep a similar, differently colored, sprayer of Chlorine plus dish liquid, you only need a couple of spoons full of the bleach, and a spoonful of detergent plus the water. This I use to disinfect my counters and sink, hit the sponge with it.
I keep a drawer full of bar mops and dish towels, and go thru a lot of them in a week.
My "New" kitchen will feature a HUGE single ceramic farmer-style sink, although it will take up less counterspace than the current wimpy double bowls. (IKEA single DOMSJO) Instead of the faucet+escutcheon+sprayer+filterspout lined up along the back of the sink, I am having one simple pull-down, arched spout faucet. (Delta Alora) I will have the stainless drainer that fits the sink, along one side, for a variety of uses. I'll probably get some rail system with a container or two, near the sink for most of my tools.
I take great pleasure in swooping through a cooking/cleanup task with fluidity. I find the Mr.Clean magic sponge is terrific to thoroughly clean the faucet and sink, after which I spray a little bleach solution, and it sparkles. There are any number of configurations for one's sink area, what I find important is clean-ability and simplicity. I also like Not spending much for dish liquid, since I never use it full strength.
