Decluttering Guides
Kitchen
The kitchen is often the hub of the home and is one of the most used rooms in the house. It can also become a landing zone for all sorts of things that really don’t belong in a kitchen!
Why Is It Important
The aim of a kitchen declutter and organise, is to make sure your kitchen is a working, functioning space that works for you. What you have in it will be very much about what your lifestyle looks like. If you are a keen chef or baker, you’ll need different things in your cupboards than those who aren’t. Likewise if you dine in your kitchen area or entertain lots, your clutter will be different. It’s all about finding what works for you.
With a kitchen overhaul, you can save yourself time, money and find new inspirations based on what you already have.
The Aim:
To access the things you use the most.
• Remove the things you have no need for or have too many of.
• Find workable solutions for those items you need, but don’t use daily or even weekly.
Making A Start
Gather everything from all over the house – the empty teacups and glasses by the side of the bed, the ‘special’ glasses in the cabinet from the lounge and empty the dishwasher too – It’s the only way to really see what you what you have.
Create A 'Maybe' Box
If there is anything you are unsure if you need to keep, or feel you want to keep, even though you have 7 others like it – put it in the ‘maybe box’. Revisit this in a month to see if you have needed it or missed it and then you can happily pass it on.
Lets Break It Down
1. Cooking – utensils, pots, pans, storage
2. Cutlery & Crockery – glassware, mugs
3. Food – spices, out of date, fridge and freezer
4. Gadgets – machines, fads
5. Under the sink – cleaning products, tea towels, aprons
6. The hub of the house – paperwork, pictures, magnets
1. Cooking – Utensils, Pots, Pans, Storage
Cooking utensils: Get rid of duplicates, damaged utensils and the ones you never use. How many wooden spoons can one actually use!
Knives: Get rid of any that are broken or damaged. Keep your favourites that you reach for most often. A small collection of good quality knives are better than a big collection of knives you never use.
Everyday crockery: Think about how many dishes and plates you realistically need on a daily basis. This is a great opportunity to use a “maybe box” to experiment with living with fewer dishes.
Serving dishes: Think about which serving dishes you use regular and love. Get rid of extras and serving dishes you don’t use. Be realistic – are you just keeping them for the once a year they are used? If you have space for this great, but if they are taking up workable daily space you may need to see if there are alternatives you could you use on those rare occasions.
Baking trays, Casserole dishes: Keep your favourites that you always reach for first. Get rid of any you never or rarely use. If they have seen better days, it’s time to buy some new ones. Honestly, assess which casserole dishes you use regularly, then get rid of any you rarely or never use.
Mixing bowls: Think about which mixing bowls you use regularly, then get rid of any that you rarely or never use.
Measuring spoons and cups: Keep your favourite set and get rid of duplicates.
Pots & pans: Get rid of any duplicate sizes of pots and pans you never use. Keep your favourite pots and pans you use most often.
Tupperware & Food storage containers: Get rid of any without a lid or any extra lids without a bottom, ones that are warped or thoroughly used. If you are lucky enough to have the space, store with the lids on.
Assess how many food storage containers you realistically need and use. It’s easy to accumulate way too many food storage containers that sit unused and clutter up your kitchen. Decide what is enough for you and get rid of the rest.
2. Cutlery & Crockery – Glassware, Mugs
Sets: Sets are great but we very rarely use all part of them – YOU DO NOT HAVE TO KEEP THEM TOGETHER! Take out the pieces you actually use and the rest can be passed on. This is also where we often have sets that are kept for ‘best’. Unless you entertain on a regular basis, if your favourite is your ‘best’ then use it every day and enjoy.
Mugs: Keep your favourites and get rid of the ones you always move aside to reach for your favourites. Also get rid of any that are chipped, stained, you don’t like or just never use – even if they were a gift or purchased on holiday for example.
Glassware: Like mugs, decide what is a realistic amount for your family and get rid of the extras. Do you really need a different type of glass for each alcoholic drink? Unless you are a conasour do you need whisky tumblers, cocktail glasses, flutes, wine glasses, pint glasses, half pint glasses, high ball tumblers … the list goes on and on.
3. Food – Spices, Out Of Date, Fridge & Freezer
Out of Date Food: Pull literally EVERYTHING out of the cupboards – Check the best before dates on all items – everyone has a different idea of what they are happy to use past the BB date, so go with your gut but we can safely say if it’s over a year out of date it really needs to go.
When going through all your ingredients really question do you actually use it? Do you even like the flavour? Are you buying things out of habit rather than because you need it? How many types of flour, pluses and rice do you actually use? Remember you’ll be doing this after seeing what you already have so you will have a good idea of what you have plenty of too.
Expired, stale or rotten food from your pantry, fridge and freezer: Expired food may not seem like an obvious source of clutter, but if your pantry, fridge and freezer are crowded with food that’s past its prime it definitely makes cooking more difficult. Get rid of the food that’s no longer at its best. It’ll be easier to see what you have.
If you still have too much food, make a plan to eat what’s in your pantry, fridge and freezer, to reduce what you have before buying more groceries.
Spices: Spices don’t last forever. Sort through your spice collection and get rid of any that are stale or expired. Then get rid of any you never use – or don’t even know what they are!
4. Gadgets – Machines, Fads
Gadgets: Oh my gosh, so so many of them and they can be the ultimate space hogs in the kitchen!
Fads come and go, so the first thing to establish is if you have ever or still use the melon baller, spiralizer … the list goes ones. Be honest with yourself!
If an appliance is meant to save you time and effort while cooking, but is difficult and time-consuming to clean, is it really saving you time or energy? Juicers are a prime example here. Often, we have multiple appliances that do the same thing – question if you need these duplicates taking up valuable space.
5. Under The Sink – Cleaning Products, Tea Towels, Aprons
Tea Towels and Dishcloths: First, get rid of any that are worn out. Then, based on how often you do laundry and how many dishcloths and tea towels you need, get rid of the extras. Keep your favourites and keep a number that makes sense for you and your family, but let the rest go.
Aprons: You can only wear one apron at a time – does it really get that dirty that you need a spare for when it goes in the wash?
Cleaning Products: Get rid of any cleaning products you don’t like or use. Plan to use up any partially used cleaning products before buying more. Toss any cleaning sponges, scrubbers or dishcloths that are old, gross or falling apart.
6. The Hub Of The House – Paperwork, Pictures, Magnets
The kitchen is often used for the important things that need to be remembered or used on a daily basis. This is all very well, but it makes for a cluttered space, so try and reduce this to a minimum.
Paperwork: Have a space for it to live – make sure it all gets put there – you may need to separate into ‘file’ and ‘action’. Don’t let the ‘file’ pile overrun. (see the paperwork decluttering guide to help you with that process).
Bags: You only need a few bags for life and these need to be kept where you are going to use them for shopping, this is often the car. Get in the habit of returning them.
Magnets: They will automatically make places look cluttered. Don’t buy them as gifts for people and really think if you need a magnet to remind you of a place that you once visited. If you keep them on your fridge there will always be the temptation to hold paperwork underneath.
Kids Art Work: Make sure kids artwork has a place so your little one can show off their latest creation – each time a new one comes in, try to make sure it is replaced from the previous one or you will end up with enough to fill a gallery in no time. Trying to convince your young ones to take them down en mass is far trickier than forming a habit of replacing the old with the new one.
Keeping On Top Of It
Repopulating and Reorganising the cupboards
Before putting items back, think about where the most logical place is for your items to live. Pot & pans by the cooker, tea & coffee by the kettle for example. Heavy items need to be lower down, things used rarely (like cake baking for example if you’re not a keen baker) can be stored further away.
A good rule of thumb is to make sure you only every have to move 1 item to get to the item you need.
When filling the cupboards back up, never restock to full capacity: Remember you will go shopping again at some point.
The ideal is for all flat work surfaces to be clear but this is not always practical or homely either. Toasters, kettles, coffee machines, magi-mix lots end up living on the side. Just try and keep it clear of clutter.
Tupperware & Storage Containers : Store with the lids on if you have space.
Storage Solutions: If you have limited space, there are plenty of cheap helpful storage solutions for inside the cupboards. Baskets for cupboards allow them to be pulled out easily, inner shelves to be able to store things on different levels – great for spices and smaller bottles and plate stackers can aid with everyday crockery.
How to keep on top of it
Buy for the size of your cupboards – bulk buys are great but can you accommodate them?
Sometimes we have to be prepared to make compromises – Bespoke cupboards and deep-dish draws are great, but we don’t all have these in our homes so we have to work with what we have and some compromises may need to be made. This could be buying shelf inserts to give you extra space, making things look great so they can be stored on counter tops or even no longer buying in bulk if you don’t have the space for the larger multi buy packs
We hope this helps you on your decluttering journey. If you have any questions about specific areas or items you need to tackle, don’t hesitate to get in contact.