1. Clean your kitchen before you start. Put away your dishes from the dishwasher and sink, wipe down your counters. This way you won’t have to move stuff around or look for space to put things when your hands are full. Start clean, finish clean – what an a-ha moment!
2. Start with the drawers. Utensil
drawers first and move down to pots and pans drawers if you have them. Pull out
everything, wipe down the inside and outside. If it’s clean the less likely I
am to put stuff back in that I don’t use.
3. Return items that you only regularly
use. If it’s broken, a duplicate or worn do
not put it back. Only the things that I am actively using stay in.
4. Throw away the garbage, put your
recycling in your bin, and put everything else that didn’t make the “I always
use this” pile into a box.
5. Continue with the rest of the
drawers. If there is an item you don’t use,
don’t keep it around ‘just in case’ or because your Mom used to keep it around.
Put it in the box and move on!
6. Now start on the cupboards.
By pulling everything out cupboard by cupboard, this way you can really see
what you have. Do you need all of this stuff? Ditch those plastic
containers without lids and extra empty jars you’re storing.
7. Finish ALL the cupboards – not under
the sink yet (that’s a mission in and of itself).
8. How full is your box or basket
looking? Think you’re done? Not yet, I’m moving on to the pantry!
9. I LOVE a
clean pantry … especially since I spent days creating a lovely, easy to use
Mason Jar pantry. However, when the
other half doesn’t jump on the bandwagon, it makes putting groceries away a
very looooooong task! Two things when
cleaning out your pantry:- Is my family going to eat this?
- When?
**As you work on your pantry decluttering, make sure you wipe out the drawers and shelves as you go, too! Get rid of the stuff that doesn’t belong there. Pull out organizing tools you don’t use.
10.
Look around and make sure you have gone through each drawer (don’t forget the
one under your oven!), each cupboard and the pantry and celebrate! Enjoy your new decluttered and minimized
space!
11. Close the box (or boxes in my case).
What did I let go of this time:
·
2 full bags of tealights
·
A set of fabric placemats (we have bamboo ones that
are super easy to wipe down, so I’m not sure why I got the fabric ones – OK, I
liked the colour!)
·
Half a dozen mugs that were shoved to the back of
the cupboard
·
2 flower vases
·
Cream and sugar set (bought those for Christmas
dinner and didn’t end up using them)
·
Gravy Boat (same as above)
·
More than 20 sets of chop sticks
·
7 forks, spoons and knives that came from who knows
where
·
A box full of miscellaneous Ziploc containers with
no matching lids
·
A box full of baking sheets, muffin tins, loaf
pans, etc. (I love to bake, but I don’t need multiples of everything)
·
A set of mixing bowls (again, don’t need multiples)
·
Slow cooker (always meant to use it, never did)
·
A set of funky napkin rings (does anyone use those
anymore?)
·
A pair of Salt and Pepper shakers
·
A serving platter that had a huge chip out of one
of the corners
·
Half a dozen assorted sippy cups and thermos’s
·
2 lunch boxes that were purchased for the girls but
they never used
·
2 books on wine
Seriously???
All that crap that we NEVER use!
Ahhhhhh – that feels (and looks) so much better!
For a mission that I was totally dreading, it wasn't so bad afterall!
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