Your #Farmacy aka the kitchen is sometimes seen as the heart of the home, where friends & families get together to enjoy breakfast, lunch, dinner or a relaxing coffee – & nothing quite brings people together like an organized welcoming space!
So since it plays such an important role, it’s equally important that your kitchen functions in a way that creates a wonderful atmosphere & ease for the home chefs to manoeuvre around. The time when I had the most cluttered kitchen is when I got married & moved into my home. Shopping for household items plus wedding gifts & new home gifts really compounded how many items I accumulated.
Below I’ll share how I decluttered my kitchen & work at keeping it this way.
But firstly, a quick recap on how to declutter.
How to declutter
Decluttering as you’ve heard me mention before is all about deciding what to keep, throw away or donate. It sounds like such a simple process, however, many get overwhelmed when having to make such decisions.
My best advice is to create 3 piles (you can use recyclable plastic bags or boxes) & label them – keep, discard & donate. Doing this will streamline the decluttering process & help you understand what kinds of things you use & what you don’t use (an important part of living organized when it comes to shopping habits too).
Keep – items that you use often or will have an immediate use for
Discard – items that are broken or in poor condition
Donate – items you do not use, in good to new condition
Still stuck?
If you find you’re still stuck when it comes to placing items in the keep or donate piles because you’re worried you may need them at some stage look at it this way:
If you haven’t used a particular item in 6 months, have no immediate plans to & can afford a new one if a use becomes apparent in the future, then it may be best to decide to donate it.
All other items that you do use, especially the daily items, should be easily accessible.
Countertops
We start with the countertops because it’s the most visible area in any kitchen.
Evaluate what are your common clutter concerns, such as dishes in & around the sink, appliances taking up space, paper piles or unreturned items.
Consider what kind of countertops you want to wake up to each day, such as completely bare or clutter-free with purposely placed appliances & bowls.
Select one area on your countertop that frustrates you the most & then by using the decluttering system make it clutter-free, before moving onto other areas (if time permits).
Once you’ve finished decluttering, give the countertop a thorough clean.
Reorganize your countertop into a space that is both functional & purposeful for all members of your household.What appliances, if any, will remain on the countertops?
Do you want to display your bowls?
If you have a dishwasher, can you find a consistent time of the day to turn it on once it’s full? (I do this at the end of the day)
If you don’t have a dishwasher, can you wash dishes as you finish with them & ask other grown ups to do that too?
Cupboards
Kitchen cupboards can be easily filled with too many appliances, cookware & serving ware if we’re not careful (I’ve been there!) & this will most likely take up the most of your re-organizing in the kitchen (excl. the pantry).
Open each cupboard & sort each item using the decluttering system
Once you’ve finished decluttering, give the cupboards a thorough clean.
Re-organize your cupboards into both functional & purposeful spaces for all members of your household. You can sort by type, e.g. most regularly used are easier to reach.
Refrigerator
The refrigerator can get disorderly very quickly especially if many hands get inside it. Depending on how big your fridge/freezer is & how much food you have inside, you may need to set a convenient time particularly to avoid any ingredients defrosting.
Declutter the fridge & freezer (one at a time) as per the decluttering system
Be sure to check the expiry dates of each item, whether it’s opened or not.Ingredients you no longer want, are still in date & unopened can be donated to a food shelter or friend/family member
Once you’ve finished decluttering, give the refrigerator a thorough clean.
Re-organize the refrigerator in a way that is visually pleasing & with both functionality & purposefulness in mind for all members of your household.
You can store similar ingredients together like dairy, sauces, drinks, fruit & vegetables
You can store ingredients with similar size packaging together
Maintenance
Maintaining a clutter-free & organized kitchen is such an amazing feat!
Personally the kitchen took me a lot longer than any other room to get to where it is today because I had SO much cookware, serving ware & pantry items.
Once I got it ready, maintenance became such a breeze because:
Every space was decluttered
Every item had a home
I decided to dedicate every Saturday to my kitchen to regularly to go through placing items neatly back where they belong
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