How To Declutter The Kitchen 101: The Major Causes of Clutter
Learn how to declutter the kitchen quickly.
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We all know that de-cluttering the home can take some time and that if we want to do it quickly, we really need to break the task down so as to avoid overwhelm.
In this post, we focus on the kitchen, which seems to attract clutter like a magnet attracts metal.
Do you know how to declutter the kitchen properly?
If not, then you’re in for a treat. This post will show you how to declutter the kitchen by focusing on the major sources of kitchen clutter.
Have fun!
Why the kitchen?
Unlike a home office with it’s usual culprit of extra receipts and bits of paper that really have no business in your new and improved, totally organised, minimalist life, the kitchen is a bit tougher to declutter.
It’s the heart of the home, or so people say, so it’s vital that it’s warm, cozy and inviting. And filled with food. Lots and lots of food.
The kitchen is usually where we have the pantry (filled to the brim with stocks of food), cutlery, pots, pans and other cooking paraphernalia, your dining set and the massive kitchen appliances we now can’t seem to do without (yes, I’m looking at you, dear fridge).
Combine all this with the fact that many modern houses seem to have teeny weeny kitchens, then the stage is set for anxiety-inducing clutter.
This is why we believe that the kitchen deserves special consideration – it just tends to contain a lof of items that we think we need and which we keep – even if we’re not using them just now – just in case.
Heck, if you’re like us, you probably have an assortment of kitchen implements that perform a specific function that you can’t live without. You know, like that brand new garlic press that’s supposed to make cooking a lot easier (even though you hate to cook and the last time you were slaving away in the kitchen was this morning, when you made a double espresso from your coffee machine).
So, where the heck do you start?
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Decisions. Decisions.
If you’re just now learning about how to declutter the kitchen, then you might want to start with the most basic rule: figure out what you want to keep and what you should throw.
Lucky for you, we have some great tips that will help.
Books
Comb through any cookbooks or recipe books that you’re not using anymore. If you want, you can Marie Kondo them and ask yourself, “Do the recipes inside spark joy?” No? Sell them or donate them to people that really need them.
Yes? Then obviously, keep them.
If you don’t want to go with the hype, then you can do this the usual way. Have you used any of these books in the past year?
No? Sell or donate.
Yes? Keep.
There you go. Easy-peasy.
Receipts
The bane of our existence. Seriously, we have so many receipts (usually for grocery shopping) and they almost always end up being dumped on the kitchen table for further “processing” (AKA answer surveys in hopes of winning a prize). There they stay until one of us gets fed up and then dump the whole lot in the bin.
So don’t wait for that to happen to you.
If, for some reason, you need to keep a copy of the receipt then digitise them and bin the paper copies. If you have a printer, it most likely would also include a scanner or you can even use your phone to take a photo and make sure that it’s filed properly.
No printer or phone? Or just need to get a dedicated scanner? We love the Fujitsu ScanSnap S300 Colour Mobile Scanner, wholeheartedly endorsed by the King of Lifestyle Design himself, Tim Ferris.
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Food storage
Recycle glass jars and use them to store all your food ingredients and spices.
Make sure you label them correctly. We can 100% guarantee, based on extensive personal experience, that it is definitely not fun to discover that what you thought was paprika was actually cayenne – especially if you’ve already added the blasted ingredient into the dish.
Already binned all the glass jars?
You can get them cheap on Amazon. We love these magnetic spice containers on our fridge – massive space-saver and they serve as decorations too. For non-spices, we go for these glass canisters, which are really clear jars with clear fitted lids so we can see what they contain.
Appliances
Now, you’ll want to focus on unused appliances. Sure, you’re most likely using all the large appliances, but there are always small appliances that are just gathering dust.
Remove the ones you haven’t used since God knows when and only keep the ones that receive regular used. In our case, we kept the toaster, the rice cooker, the slow cooker, the kettle and the microwave.
We already tossed our sandwhich maker and spiraliser. Our beloved but hardly ever used Nescafe Dolce Gusto might be next.
Trinkets
If there’s a traveller in the house then you probably have a collection of magnets gracing your fridge.
A lot of people keep magnets, presumably because they’re the perfect souvenirs. They’re not too expensive. They usually have the name of the place you went to so you never forget. And they’re small and not heavy so you can slide one in your luggage without worrying about exceeding your baggage allowance.
Unfortunately, all these also mean that we tend to over-buy magnets. We buy more than one so we can give family and friends some souvenirs and then we leave the rest in a junk drawer, which is usually and for some weird reason, in the kitchen.
So, if you have one of those, get rid. You already have one on your fridge and the ones stagnating in your junk drawer will stay there unless you give them away.
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Extra stuff
Count how many dish towels and cloth napkins you have.
Examine the state of them.
Did you know that old towels and napkins tend to accumulate bacteria so if you’ve had them for five years, consider replacing them with new ones.
One or two will suffice.
Remember, we’re actually culling your items not adding more.
How to declutter the kitchen: The Process
The main focus when you start the kitchen declutter process is to start with one drawer or one area at a time and then go from there. Trying to do everything all at once is overwhelming and tends to end up discouraging you rather than helping you succeed.
Step One
Focus on one thing at a time.
Remove all the items from a drawer, put them on the table and then check to see what exactly you’re using and what you need to throw away.
Remember to stick with only one drawer at a time. It will be easier and this also gives some sense of progress too. It might take a little bit to get everything done the way you want, but you’ll finish it.
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Step Two
Remove anything that doesn’t belong in the kitchen.
There are countless times when you bring stuff that should be in the bathroom or living room into the kitchen. This usually happens when you go grocery shopping and you obviously go to the kitchen first to put the perishables away. Once you’ve put those away, you’re usually left with the things that should go to other rooms – usually the bathroom or the bedroom – but which seem to just languish there in the middle of the kitchen. (Please don’t tell us it’s just us)
Removing those will help eliminate clutter.
Step Three
Be ruthless.
Remove anything that you don’t need or want.
See the above list of common culprits? Yeah, make sure you streamline those and you’ll be well on your way to a clutter-free kitchen.
Step Four
Find dead spaces and resurrect them.
Huh?
Yeah, we mean those spaces that need to be there but don’t usually serve any purpose whatsoever.
Like the spaces above and under the sink.
Even if you have a window above the sink, you’ll still most likely have cabinets on either side. Install a metal rod in between and use strong hooks to hang pots and pans.
In our house, we don’t have a window, just a tiled wall. So we used an Ikea Pegboard and hung all sorts of cooking implements there.
This is a really good option, especially if you have a small kitchen.
Final Thoughts
Like many things in this site, learning how to declutter the kitchen properly and thoroughly is not something that happens overnight.
You need information and then action.
And then you need time.
Sometimes, you’ll come across something that has no practical value whatsoever but which has great sentimental value. And you’ll wonder, “Should I keep this or throw this away?”
Unfortunately, we won’t be able to make that decision for you. You’ll need to make that for yourself.
So, decluttering the kitchen – like any type of decluttering, really – is not just getting rid of stuff. It’s so much more than that.
It’s looking at your life and finding out what is still truly important for you. Right now.
Now, it’s your turn. Do you really know how to declutter the kitchen? And have you already done so? What’s your best tip? What made it easy? Or hard?
Pop your answers in the comments section below. We’d love to hear from you!
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Great and excellent article, I can say that you gave an incredible training to me on how to correctly arrange the kitchen professionally,learning how to declutter the kitchen properly and thoroughly is not something that happens overnight which is the bitter truth, how, and where to place essential items and nonessential. I learned a lot from your write-up and am really blessed indeed, thank you for sharing.
Thank you for your comment, Abayomi. 🙂
Wow, this was such an eye opener as to how cluttered my kitchen is! I like how you put in to start with one drawer at a time. That is great advice, because I’ll try to do to much at once and then I feel overwhelmed. It will have to be the same when cleaning and organizing through my cabinets…ugh those are the worst! So many containers and pans I don’t even use and quite honestly don’t really have any legitimate excuse as to why I hold onto them, except just laziness. I loved the suggestions you gave about using empty space to create tools to hang up pots and pans; unfortunately some of the items you listed are not available (such as the Ikea pegboard); do you have any alternative items you can suggest?
Robert
Hi Robert, we also get overwhelmed quite easily so we need to pace ourselves. Otherwise, the project gets abandoned mid-way and that’s even worse, isn’t it?
If the items we recommended aren’t available, you still have several options. You can DIY them or you can check out Amazon or eBay if either is available. Depending on where you live, you can even go to your local hardware store and ask them if they stock pegboards. They’re usually used for work benches and stations so they should have something.
I didn’t know towels and napkins tend to harbor bacteria. I don’t have many cloth napkins but I have a lot of old towels. I think I’ll be replacing soon. 🙂 The tip for focusing on one drawer or thing at a time is awesome. I think, especially in the kitchen, there are so many things and places to focus on. Good tip. This would allow for doing one drawer per day or weekend at a time. That’s doable.
You’re welcome, Paula. And we’re glad to know you found our post helpful. Doable is our aim because otherwise, it’s terribly easy to be so overwhelmed that we abandon the whole project. It can be intimidating, can’t it?
Indeed Cleaning and organizing your kitchen could also be the impetus you need to cook more at home, the kitchen can become a breeding ground for germs and bacteria If decluttering is not taking place , increasing the likelihood that you and your family will get sick. Following this decluttering step for our kitchen with definitely keep us away from the doctors office.
Exactly! Thanks for sharing. 🙂
Oh you are so right in starting with the kitchen to declutter. I very bravely started about a year ago to get the recipe books off the shelves that I haven’t used for donkey years, put it into a box and that’s where is has been sitting since then.
You have certainly inspired me to get back on track and look at all the stuff that sits in my kitchen that I either don’t need or shouldn’t be in the kitchen, including my husband’s tools!
Oh, don’t get me started on the tools! Soon, he’ll be getting a van and I won’t need to contend with his tools lying about anymore. What a relief!
Thanks for sharing your experience. 🙂
Very interesting… I have a decent size kitchen and know where everything is, however, there are things that I could de-clutter, for example, coconut oil glass bottles.
I tend to keep them for storing sunflower, hemp and pumpkin seeds in. They prove to be useful, but they do pile up as I use one coconut oil bottle every 2 weeks!
It is important to me to keep my kitchen tidy with every appliance having its place on my counter tops. The cupboards are a different story and I could definitely de-clutter my kitchen drawers. I could replace my cleaning cloths more often as you mentioned they harbour bacteria….
Thank you for making me think!
You’re welcome, Stella. It’s one of those places in the house that just seems to attract clutter. It’s really strange, isn’t it?
Wow, this is really a good post. You know that kind of husband that never get into the kitchen and then the wife goes for a week or so and now I can’t even look into the kitchen. Well, I think I’d make good use of these tips when next she travels because I got some spanking (literally) when she got back. I have to agree that the kitchen is truly the heart and soul of the home and should be kept neat. I’ll make good use of these lessons. Thanks for educating me.
You’re welcome. Let us know how else we can help.
I’m glad I came across your article. Thank you for this creative tips, it is exactly what I needed. I tried many times decluttering my kitchen but it feels so difficult to organize everything. Kitchen appliances are taking so much space and I don’t know which one to keep and which one to stay. I will surely consider glass canisters and the magnitec spice containers.
You’re welcome. I hope this time around, you have an easier time of it. 🙂
Thank god for your post. My kitchen is always a mess and I did not even buy anything new. I suspect that it is my husband that keeps moving things around. The receipts are everywhere! They are my never ending problem. I now use my phone scanner app and just get rid of all the receipts. My husband likes to put everything on the fridge and magnet it to the door so I have to keep on taking them down and throw them out.
The magnetic spice container is a good idea and the Ikea pageboard thanks for sharing them. Thanks for the tips, I will start one area at the time. Cheers!
You’re welcome. That’s an excellent suggestion about the receipts. I’m going to have to start implementing that too.
Thanks for sharing. 🙂