Kitchen Decluttering ~ Part 1

A couple of days ago I watched this video about kitchen decluttering:

I already was aware of the fact that I have allowed clutter to overtake my kitchen but the video gave me the push I needed to set aside time to tackle it.

This is what my kitchen should look like.

That photo was taken a few years ago but it’s a pretty good representation of what I consider acceptable. Now for the reality.

I didn’t even do the dishes before taking the photos so you could see it at it’s worst.

Now comes the part I’ve let get totally out of hand the past few weeks.

Anyone else hate dealing with mail and paperwork?

I can’t believe I’ve allowed so much stuff to collect. This isn’t really the norm for me. I suppose it’s a sign of how busy I’ve been but it’s driving me nuts.

I started working my way around the counters, putting away things that obviously belonged elsewhere and also asking myself if each item really needed to be on the counter. I have a fairly large kitchen with lots of counter space which is great but it also makes me a bit complacent about allowing clutter build up. I’m not a minimalist and while I admire someone who can keep her kitchen like this:

That’s not my style. I like my “stuff” but I do want it to be intentional. Also, I cook a lot so my kitchen is a workspace and I need it to be functional. For instance, I know there are people who put their dish drainer under the sink when not in use but honestly, I nearly always have something drying in mine. But I had allowed a lot of extraneous stuff to find its way to my counters and simply take up residence for no good reason.

So here are the “after” photos:

I had actually already worked on this area a bit last week. I edited the number of bottles of oils and vinegars I had out to just what would fit in the wire basket. Today I removed the large glass jar that was sitting here. It’s what I use to make sourdough starter but it’s been sitting there empty for months. If/when I make some again then I’ll put it back but for now, I’m liking the clear space. I also removed the magnets from the bread box. They are pirate things which I’m going to have David take to his office.

Excuse the poor lighting. To the right of the sink I had an empty Perrier bottle which used to be in the window sill with a piece of ivy I was rooting. I don’t know why I had just left it there empty. There was also a spray bottle with my homemade lavender linen spray. I had this brilliant idea of adding some dried lavender to the bottle but all that did was clog the sprayer. I kept meaning to filter it out. Well, today I finally did. Now it’s back in our bedroom which is where I do the ironing. I also threw out a set of scented hand lotion and hand soap. The hand soap was almost gone and the lotion was starting to smell a little “off”. I had already cleaned and re-decorated the windowsill last week but I did remove one item and put a couple of things there which had been elsewhere in the kitchen.

I found another place for my immersion blender as well as a few items back in the corner which weren’t really visible in the first picture. Then I put out a clean placemat and consolidated things a bit.

This is what took up most of the time. I had let mail and paperwork really pile up. I went through all of it, sorting, filing and throwing away.

The white mail sorter had lost its original purpose and was full of pictures, business cards, receipts, and all manner of stuff. Now I have the things David needs to deal with in the front slot in a binder clip.

This tray had become a catch-all. There were wine corks in the cups which are now in the container where they belong in our library (I save them and then give them to people who need them for projects). There were football cards, David’s birthday card from me (his birthday was in JUNE!), fortune cookies, envelopes for Netflix DVDs, a Christmas ornament (?) and several other items. I put each where it belonged or threw it away. I then put a clean cloth in the bottom, washed the tea set and now have everything arranged for tea.

So what do you think? It’s probably still too cluttered for some people’s taste but it’s so much better. There are several other areas of the kitchen I need to address but I’ll do those in another post.