Source: Upsplash
Recently, Charlotte wrote a piece called 5 Steps to a Tidy Kitchen (https://thehomethatmademe.com/2017/06/5-steps-to-a-tidy-kitchen.html) which was full of brilliant tips to keep your kitchen tidy from day to day. It got me thinking, however, about how to get your kitchen to that stage where it is manageable using her advice.
The kitchen is a hard-working room so it’s only natural that it might be more susceptible to clutter than other parts of your home. If you find yourself having to declutter regularly, perhaps it’s time to rethink your strategy. And that’s where this article will help!
This guide is made up of two parts: how to declutter, and how to rearrange so that you don’t end up with clutter in the first place. It may be a big job, depending on the size of your space, but if it saves you a few minutes of rummaging each time you’re cooking up a feast, then that adds up to a whole lot more time eating and less time prepping. If that isn’t motivating, then we don’t know what is!
Set aside enough time and make a plan
No matter how much the clutter is bothering you, don’t even think about starting unless you have time to finish. There’s nothing worse than having to leave a kitchen full of items and bin bags because you thought you could squeeze the job into an hour.
You will need:
- Binbags
- Storage boxes
- Cleaning materials – kitchen spray/cloths etc
Suss out where you can take the things that you no longer need, but are still usable. This could be a charity shop or a homeless shelter or perhaps offer things to younger family members off to uni or to start a home. Planning this in advance will also make it easier to part with those things that you are keeping just because you paid good money for them, but really never use. You can pass that value on to someone who will make the most of it. Prime example is that small casserole dish that can no longer contain enough food to feed your lot, but you’ve never quite had the heart to throw out.
The Declutter Strategy
Source: Stocksnap
Start with a clean and tidy kitchen. That means all dishes away and nothing on the worksurfaces that doesn’t normally live there. Go through your cupboards one by one, and don’t be tempted to do more than one at a time, it will result in mayhem!
Take everything off the shelves, give it a clean up and replace only the items that you use. Out of date food is definitely out, halloween sweets from last year can go, and if you’ve only used the waffle maker once then it’s time to say goodbye.
If you find something that belongs in a cupboard you haven’t yet gutted, just put it where it should be and don’t be tempted to change direction halfway. You will get to that cupboard in good time, and the salt cellar you’ve just spotted out of place will still be there in twenty minutes when you’ve moved onto that space. Systematic is best, and will help you keep your sanity!
How to Choose Your Kitchen Gadgets
Some things are easy to keep or get rid of. However, it’s almost certain that you will find yourself holding a milk steamer or novelty biscuit cutters thinking ‘well, I always meant to use this again and it would be so handy ….’.
If you can’t shake the feeling that you’re going to use it, then pop it into your storage box. At the end of your big declutter session, seal this box up and put it out of sight, clearly labelled. Set yourself a time limit – perhaps 6-8 months. If you haven’t had to open it in that time, and even if you have, take everything left in that box to the charity shop without even opening it. You have demonstrated to yourself that it is not an essential and doesn’t have a place in your beautifully streamlined kitchen!
Source: Stocksnap
The Reorganisation Strategy
Here are some of our favourite tips and tricks to bring into your kitchen and up your organisation game. Once you’ve decluttered and done the hard part, the next stage is to try and prevent the clutter from coming back.
- Hang utensils from rails on the wall or the exposed side of a cabinet to free up counter space. The more you can clear counter space, the larger the space will feel and it will be much easier to clean in a single sweep.
- Attach document storage to wall space, too. There’s just something about kitchens that magically attract paper. However, once you have moved the paper from the counter space, do try to keep on top of it and file things as soon as possible. We want to banish clutter, not rehome it.
- DIY the inside of cupboard doors. Depending on where the shelves lie in the cupboard and the space available, you could have a corkboard, pot lid storage, magnetic board and pots with magnetic lids for storing spices or small foodstuffs … the possibilities really are quite limitless.
- Make the most of those exposed cabinet sides. They could have shelves, rods and hooks, magnet boards to display recipes and photos … the choice is yours!
Are you feeling inspired to start a decluttering mission in your kitchen? Got some top tips I haven’t covered? Please let us know in the comments!
Bio: Sara is an organisation-lover working for a Glasgow-based self-storage company called Storage Vault. With over 15 years’ industry experience, Storage Vault provides expert self storage solutions to domestic and business storage customers.