If you feel like your kitchen has gotten cluttered and cleaning just isn’t enough, here are some quick tips to declutter your kitchen and make it yours again…
Besides the bedroom, the kitchen is where the majority of your time at home is spent. Day in and day out, it gets used… and abused, which is what I think when I see the wreckage after one of my kids’ baking experiments.
Because it’s a hub of the family, it gets a lot of use. But over time, it can go from efficient work area to a cluttered zone where it’s hard to find counterspace, drawers are jumbled messes, and cabinets are stuffed to the gills.
Clutter happens everywhere, but in the kitchen it can be especially irksome because you have to prepare three meals a day there, not to mention snacks. This area needs to be usable and clutter makes that hard. So, how to make it better? Here are some tips…
Quick Tips to Declutter Your Kitchen
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Start with the garbage
Always start with what you can throw away. Look around your kitchen for wrappers, empty boxes, and glass jars that are being saved for some reason…? We always have tons of theses as the kids keep things with a project in mind, then forget about them.
Declutter your space of anything that can be recycled or trashed now. Don’t think too much about it, just make space where you can. I will condense boxes of Larabars, tea, and anything that will get rid of space-stealing containers.
Wash and put away all the dishes
Next, wash and put away all the dishes. This might require some handwashing and drying. I like to use this fold-up drying rack to save space and let things dry as I work.
Once all your dishes are put away, ask yourself: Do they fit? Are there too many? If your kitchen cabinets are stuffed with 50 plates of various sizes for your family of 4 and you’re not constantly entertaining, maybe it’s time to donate some to keep a manageable amount.
Conquer the kitchen junk drawer
We all have one and they are both a blessing and a curse. The kitchen junk drawer can easily get out of hand and the best thing you can do is tame it. Get some organizational containers (I love these) and go through the drawer. Toss actual junk that’s landed up in there, organizing the rest into separated bins. Not only will this make it easier to find stuff, but the drawer now is a destination for certain things rather than a collector of junk that has no home.
For more on how to organize and declutter your kitchen junk drawer, check out this post on the subject.
Ditch pots and pans you don’t use
When you put away your pots and pans, are there some lurking in the back of the cabinet that never get used? Maybe a teflon pan when you’ve moved on to stainless steel. Maybe a pot that has a broken handle, but you’ve had it forever.
It’s time to throw out or donate pots and pans that just aren’t used. Duplicates and ones that just don’t work for your family these days. Make room for the things you actually need by letting go of the things you don’t.
Donate kitchen appliances that are gathering dust
We’ve all purchased kitchen appliances with hopes of one day using them. The ice cream makers and bread makers and crock pots. But maybe they are only collecting dust because you’re not much of a baker, you like buying ice cream better, and you made a lifetime of bread during your Covid lockdown.
If appliances are just collecting dust and you can’t see yourself using them anytime soon, consider donating them or selling them on OfferUp, especially if they’re like new. There’s no shame in changing your mind as we often make aspirational purchases that don’t align with our everyday lives now.
Check expiration dates in the kitchen
Pantries are so easy to overfill and subsequently lose things in. Shelves full of canned goods, cereal boxes, and bread, they can get filled up with some foods getting pushed to the back and forgotten.
Go through your fridge and pantry checking expiration dates. Discard things that are expired or will be before you use them. Or donate things you don’t intend to use (why did I buy that jar of marinated mushrooms?) to a food pantry. Put things that need to be used soon near the front and add them to your meal plan so they aren’t wasted.
Organize what’s left by task or type
Now that you’ve done some of the hard work, look around your kitchen and see what’s left to be done. Do you need to conquer the lower cabinets? Silverware? The freezer? Organize your tasks by type or task and figure out how you’ll get them done. Decluttering a kitchen in one day is an undertaking, so setting a plan for other parts will help you spread out the work.
Create a kitchen system that works for you
At this point, you have decluttered a good portion of your kitchen and have a plan of attack for the rest. Now is a good time to come up with a kitchen system that works for you. Do you want to set the dishwasher every night so it’s unloaded first thing in the morning? Does your pantry need an inventory list so foods aren’t lost in the shelves? Should there be a weekly decluttering of the counters on your schedule so they stay clear?
Think about kitchen systems that would work for you, not add work to your life. Get your family involved so they can help keep your kitchen decluttered and neat in a way that makes you sigh with contentment each time you head in there to prepare another meal.
I hope these quick tips help you get a handle on your kitchen clutter. As an often used room in the house, making it peaceful and decluttered will greatly impact your life each and every day.
Looking for more on decluttering and cleaning? Check out these posts:
How to Declutter Your Children’s Closets
10 Spring Cleaning Tips for Large Families
How to Clean Out Your Junk Drawer Once and For All
[Disclaimer: I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a commission, at no additional cost to you. All opinions are my own and I never recommend anything I haven’t used myself and loved.]
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