Declutter your kitchen to create space in the room we often spend the most time. The kitchen is where we gather, nourish, work and relax. It’s also a clutter hot spot that canaffecthow you feel in your home. Some of these 10“things” are areas or categories to address when you declutter your kitchen. You willlet go of more than10 things by addressing each area and thing thoughtfully.
Consider what “enough” means to you as you move through each category as you declutter your kitchen. It will be different for everyone depending on family size, interest in cooking and other lifestyle factors.
Move through these things and areas of your kitchen at a pace that works well for you. One a day may work for some or move through all of them in a day if you have the time and energy. When you consider “tossing” these items, donate or recycle when possible. If you have trouble getting started, these rules will help you declutter and this may help with procrastination.
1. Declutter your junk drawers.
Declutter your kitchen by starting with your junk drawer. The junk drawer is usually where you put things that don’t have a place of their own but then you forget what’s in there and the stuff really does become junk. This is what I recommend for decluttering junk drawers.
2. Clean off the kitchen table.
If your kitchen table is also a dumping ground for mail, homework and other things that get in the way of you actually eating at your table, consider declaring the table a clutter-free zone. Once you declutter your kitchen, you’ll want to spend more time at the kitchen table enjoying a nice meal, cup of tea or coffee.
3. Declutter your countertops.
Declutter your kitchen by creating countertop space to create. There’s nothing wrong with small appliances like a blender, toaster or air fryer but let go of the ones you don’t use and hide the ones you don’t use daily. Clear countertops make cleaning easier and preparing food more fun.
4. Dump the duplicates.
From measuring cups and spoons to peelers, corkscrews, whisks, wooden spoons and spatulas, you may have more than you need. Look at things like pots, pans, mixing bowls and daily dishes, cups and utensils. In some cases you may want more than one but challenge what you need by hiding all of the duplicates and extras for a while. See what’s it like to have one cheese grater or just enough plates to feed your family. If you only need extras for special occasions, keep them somewhere out of sight to improve the flow of your day-to-day kitchen activities.
5. Clean off the front of your refrigerator.
This one task will go a long way when you declutter your kitchen. Remove everything from the front of your fridge, even the cute children’s artwork and photos (for now). Put it all in a box or envelope for 30 days and see how it feels. You may not even notice you aren’t noticing it until it’s gone. Do you miss it? Do you want to display it all again, or do you want to display less or nothing?
6. Storage Containers (and the lids).
Declutter your kitchen in this area by starting with any orphaned items. You can easily let go of the lids that don’t have a matching container. Then assess your storage needs. Do you need as many containers as you have? Less doesn’t mean nothing but paring down can help you create space.
7. Let go of the hard to clean stuff.
If you have things in the kitchen that you never use because they are a pain to clean, let go. You’ll release the item and the stress that goes along with knowing you have to spend extra time cleaning it. As you declutter your kitchen, consider not only the space you are creating but the time too.
8. Decide how many coffee cups you need.
Coffee cups are a special kind of clutter. They are easy to gift or purchase and hard to refuse and let go of. The funny part is no matter how many cups you have, you probably have a favorite and would barely notice if the rest were gone.
9. Declutter your spices.
Spices seem to build up overnight. Take inventory and only keep the spices you use. Let the rest go or keep the ones you rarely use in a different area or towards the back of your spice collection so you don’t have to sort through them every time you cook. This is my spice cabinet before and after video.
10. Use the fancy dishes.
If you have a fancy set of dishes a family member passed down or other dishes you don’t use, consider donating them or using them. As they say, life is short, use the fancy dishes. They do say that, right?
You may have noticed that clutter attracts clutter and calm attracts calm. Focus on the cluttered areas that attract more clutter so you can walk into your kitchen and feel calm. When the clutter feels overwhelming, shift your focus to how you want to feel in the space.Declutter your kitchen on a regular basis and you’ll begin to notice more calm and less clutter so you can feel more at ease in a space where you spend lots of time.
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