How to Declutter Your Kitchen – Part II
See Part I of this series for an introduction to kitchen decluttering and some tips for decluttering your food. This post is about decluttering your dishes, kitchen tools, appliances, pots and pans — in other words, the nonfood items in your kitchen.
Most people have accumulated far more houseware items than they need or can use. The more unnecessary stuff you can eliminate from your home, the easier the rest is to care for and the less work it is to keep your home tidy and orderly. Be ruthless about getting rid of what you don’t need and you will be amazed at how peaceful your home will become.
A good rule of thumb is that every item in your kitchen (and the rest of your house too) needs to have a “home” — somewhere it belongs and the place to which you return it when you aren’t using it. If you can’t find a home for something, then you don’t have room for it — choose between decluttering the item or decluttering some other item to make room for it.
Do you have two or three can openers, toasters, or whatever? Keep the best one — just one — and give away the rest. Trust that if you need a replacement at some point in the future, you will be able to get one then. When you do have to occasionally replace items, make a point of buying or finding good quality. I ask myself, “Will this last for the next 40 years?” That’s an exaggeration, but it usually makes sense to spend a little more for something good (even if it’s used) than to just buy the cheapest version you can find.
Countertops: Try keeping only the items you use every single day on the counters, and find homes in your cupboards for everything else that you decide to keep. This will give you lots of counter space for food preparation and you’ll find it far more easy to keep your counters clean.
Food containers: How many containers of leftovers can you keep in your fridge before things start to spoil without getting eaten? This is the number of food containers you need. For me, I couldn’t possibly imagine needing more than ten containers. If you regularly cook and freeze several meals at once, perhaps you need more containers. But if you keep more containers than you need, you’re setting yourself up to have spoiled “mystery” leftovers in your fridge and who needs that? Decide how many of your containers you need (keep the nicest ones) and toss or give away the rest.
Do you have many “unitaskers”? These are tools or appliances that only do one thing, e.g., ice cream makers, yogurt makers, juicers, waffle irons. For each unitasker, ask yourself if you use it regularly enough to give it room in your clutterfree home. “Regularly enough” may be once a week or once every six months, depending on how much space you have, but remember that everything you own needs to earn its space in your home by being useful or bringing you joy.
Think about getting rid of any purely decorative items that are taking up room in your kitchen unless you truly love them. You can cut back to just your favorite decorative items and this will help streamline your kitchen and make it a place of calm and happiness.
What about the stuff that you can’t find space for or that you don’t use much but can’t bear to part with? Or maybe you haven’t been using an item much but you think you might start using it more often. Try putting these items in boxes, and put the date on the box. If you need something from the box, go get it and then find it a home in your kitchen. After six months, evaluate what is left in the boxes and see if you are ready to part with them then.
Are you looking for a worthy destination for your decluttered items? Many women’s shelters accept donations of good used housewares for women who are starting over after leaving abusive relationships. Imagine how much help all your extra stuff will be to someone who really needs it, and what a blessing it will be for you to clear these unneeded items from your home!
Read all the decluttering posts here.
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2 Responses to “How to Declutter Your Kitchen – Part II”
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I was thinking too when discussing non food items in the kitchen that pot holders, and towels could be removed and given away after determining how many you actually use.
For me, Aunt Mary’s pot holders was one of those family items I felt compelled to keep. You know, keeper of the family heirlooms. I counted how many potholders were needed and accepted that these were not nice looking to hang on the wall, and no great value as they were made of re-cycled fabric. If a towel or potholder can’t look nice hanging throw it. If they were a gift, the giver will forgive you for throwing them as they would be pleased to know you used them to the bare threads.
Mary Hofstetter aka Panda Picks Blog
It’s hard to get rid of inherited sentimental items, isn’t it? When my grandmother died years ago I held on to a LOT of her stuff (she was really a bit of a hoarder too, although she kept it all neat and clean). Over time, I was able to release most of what I didn’t need and my memories of her are just as real and vivid now as they were when her stuff was weighing me down
Thanks for your input, Mary!