A new year is upon us and if you’re like me, your thoughts are turning to organizing my home and making healthier choices. Maybe it’s because we spend most of December accumulating more things and eating Christmas cookies? Whatever the reasons, if you’re feeling the urge to purge some of your clutter in January, by all means take advantage of it while your mood lasts.
Use this step-by-step guide for ways to declutter your kitchen to help!
Ways to Declutter Your Kitchen in a Day
Countertops – If you were cleaning the kitchen, you’d want to tackle your countertops toward the end, but since you’re decluttering, start here. Clear countertops will give you much-needed space to temporarily place things as you’re going through cabinets, etc.
First throw away any trash that has accumulated on your counters.
Next remove anything on the countertops that you want to keep but that doesn’t belong in the kitchen. If you only have a few things, go ahead and put them in their proper places. If you have a lot of things piled up, grab a box to place all the items in so that you can rehome them later. This will keep you from getting distracted from the task at hand.
Now you’re ready to decide which appliances, canisters, cookie jars, etc. really belong on your counters. Are there some things you need to keep (like an electric stand mixer or coffee maker) that you don’t use every single day? Consider storing them out of sight for a less cluttered look. If there are gadgets on your counters that you haven’t used in a while, consider getting rid of them. Do you really need an electric can opener? Can you use a hand-held one just as well? Do you need both a Keurig and a French press? You get the idea.
Refrigerator – Now that your counters are clear, you’re ready to tackle the fridge.
Start by tossing any leftovers you have that are no longer fresh. Add the dirty containers to the dishwasher or sink as you go.
Then check condiments like mayonnaise, relish, or specialty cooking supplies that you used once for a new recipe and haven’t revisited (preaching to myself here.) Toss anything that is out of date and decide which other items are worth keeping. Are you really going to use that bottle of red Thai curry paste again? If there’s room in your fridge you can keep it, but if you’re struggling to find room for groceries each week, you might want to toss it or give it to a foodie friend.
What else is lurking in your fridge? Expired antibiotics you didn’t finish? (shame, shame.) Freezer-burned meat that’s been in the back of the freezer for 3 years? Check the top of your refrigerator too. Hubs is a foot taller than me and likes to leave random things up there that I never know about until I check.
Now would be a great time to also clean your refrigerator, but if you are running low on energy or motivation, save it for another day and continue with these ways to declutter your kitchen. It’s so much easier to organize and clean when there are fewer items to begin with!
Fuel up!
Congratulate yourself for your hard work so far and take a break to recharge your batteries before tackling the rest of the ways to declutter your kitchen. The last thing you want to do is prepare food in there while you’re trying to organize so reach for a ZonePerfect bar instead.
ZonePerfect bars combine 17 to 19 vitamins and minerals with 170 to 210 calories and 10 to 15 grams of protein per serving. The ideal balance of carbohydrates, protein, and fat will keep you satisfied plus they taste great! There are 14 flavors available including Strawberry Yogurt, Chocolate Mint, and Salted Caramel Brownie. Something for everyone!
Now that you’ve enjoyed some delicious nutrition, you’re ready to jump back into the next ways to declutter your kitchen.
Cabinets
I like to start with food storage containers. No matter how careful I am, there are always containers missing lids and lids with no containers whenever I set out to declutter my kitchen. Toss both! Also check your pots and pans for signs of wear and tear. If you have pieces with non-stick coating eroding, you’ll need to throw them away for safety’s sake.
Since your countertops are clear, you can pull out all your canned goods and check expiration dates. Same goes for other non-perishables. When Hubs had to go gluten-free, I had to remove a lot of things like pasta, skillet meals, and breadcrumbs that I knew I’d rarely cook with. During my last purge, I found baking powder so hard even a knife wouldn’t break it up. Yikes!
Starting a diet this year? Now’s a good time to remove temptation food too. If these items are still fresh according to the expiration date, donate them to a local food pantry and enjoy the extra space in your cabinets. Why not replace the junk food with delicious nutrition bars like ZonePerfect? You’ll be reaching for protein, vitamins, and minerals with just as much ease.
Food is My Love Language Printable for the Kitchen
Don’t forget about your spice rack! The same ways to declutter your kitchen apply here too.
Drawers
Everybody has a junk drawer. Is yours in the kitchen? Use the same method you did for your countertops to pick out what doesn’t belong in the room, what’s going the stay, and what’s going in the garbage. The more you remove from the drawer, the easier it will be to organize later.
Check your linen drawer. If your washcloths and towels are stained or threadbare, send them to the garage to use for oil changes and invest in some nice new ones for the kitchen. Other things that may be lurking in cabinets or drawers that you need to discard:
- Cookie cutters (do you really need 50?)
- Items you’ve only used once or twice in recent memory (cookie press, salad spinner, corn on the cob handles, etc.)
- Used birthday cake candles
- Dull old knives that don’t belong to the set in your block.
So what’s lurking in your kitchen that needs to take a hike in 2017? Once you’ve used these ways to declutter your kitchen, it’s all ready to clean and organize. Tackle that the same day or wait until tomorrow. Either way, pat yourself on the back because you’ve just untangled the room in the house that seems to jumble up the quickest. Brava!
Now that your kitchen is clean and organized, make sure you keep the gnats at bay with this quick solution and the flies too with this homemade fly trap.
This post is sponsored by ZonePerfect. All opinions are my own.