Three Simple Steps For Decluttering Kitchens

By Dr. Isabella Santorini

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Life simply works best when we have our physical environment really work. When we’re organized, we can think more clearly, we’re more efficient, and we can take on projects that have lain dormant for months or even years.

When my kitchen is clean, the whole house seems easier to keep picked up. But a simple back-up in doing dishes, and the whole kitchen can look like a disaster. But the more cleaned out our kitchens are, the easier it is to clean the entire room in 10 minutes or less, even when it looks like it has been hit by a tornado.

But good, lasting organization doesn’t happen overnight. It is crucial to start smart because decluttering takes a lot of effort at the beginning. I strongly recommend getting expert advice in order to see results quickly and avoid getting bogged down in too much “stuff”. You’ll save yourself hours and hours of work if you listen to the right people.

If you’re getting started on decluttering your kitchen, following these simple steps will at least get you started:

Decluttering Kitchens Step #1 – Get As Much off of the Counters as You Can. Too many things on the counters in a kitchen make for a mess. My rule is: If you don’t use something everyday, it needs to get off of the counter. Don’t worry, you’ll clean out your cabinets so that it’s not a monumental task to drag out an appliance.

I even put my dish drainer in one of my sinks. It works very well and it cuts down on getting water all over the counter when I’m doing dishes.

Decluttering Kitchens Step #2 – Get All of Your Cabinets Cleaned Out. If you’re going to clear off the counters, all of the extra appliances, etc. need a place to live. We have a laundry room just off the kitchen with lots of cabinet space. So I put things in the laundry room, like vases, plastic containers, and aprons in there.

I’ve also filled up several bins of kitchen items that we need only two or three times a year. If you don’t make deviled eggs every week, the glass deviled server doesn’t need to be cluttering up the kitchen.

Seriously, if you don’t use it on a weekly or monthly basis, it goes somewhere other than the kitchen cabinet.

Also, get rid of plastic containers that are odd-sized or don’t have a lid. If you must hang on to them, put them in the garage. You’ll probably find that you don’t miss them.

Decluttering Kitchens Step #3 – Go Through your Kitchen Looking for Things to Store Away. You’ll find something every time, I promise. I’ve been through my kitchen many times and when I think about it, there are many things that I could still part with, especially extra kid’s cups and the saucers that I’ve never used.

Put in the time now with expert help, and you’ll save yourself hundreds of hours in the future. Good luck and happy decluttering.