Kitchen Decluttering ~ Part 2

I was so proud of my beginning efforts toward decluttering my kitchen that I was actually eager to do more. Here is a “before” picture of another area of the kitchen:

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• The basket on the top shelf contained, among other things, several phone books. I can’t even recall the last time I used a phone book.
• The next shelf has part of our CD collection. We now have a nice stereo system in the library so many of our CDs have ended up in there. I haven’t figured out a good storage system for them yet but when I do I will put them all in there. I may still listen to music in the kitchen (that’s a CD player mounted under the shelves) but ultimately I’d like all the CDs in one place, but not in the kitchen.
• The bottom shelf had become a “junk drawer” of sorts. Pens, loose change, batteries, paper clips, a deck of cards, photos, etc. It was a real mess.
• That item to the left of the magazine holders is a temperature gauge. At one time we had the other part mounted outside and this gave us a reading of the outdoor temperature. It was kind of handy at one time but with a weather app on our iPhones, as well as our newer thermostat which gives an outdoor temperature as well, this wasn’t necessary. Besides, when David built the roof over our patio he removed the outdoor gauge so this wasn’t even working anymore. Why was it still here? You tell me because I haven’t a clue.
• The magazine holder on the left is where I keep my reusable bags until I take them back out to the car. That’s Shiloh’s leash sitting on top.
• The other magazine holder was stuffed full of catalogs. That item on top is one of those tools for breaking a car window. David bought these for each of our vehicles plus one for each of our kids and our niece. They came in sets of two so we have one extra. Of course this is the best place for it, right?
• The organizer with the three drawers contains warranties and instruction manuals in the top two drawers and mementos of various kinds in the bottom.
• The in-box on top was stacked with old calendars, greeting cards, catalogs and my binder for one of the boards on which I serve (I was wondering where that was!).
• The white board used to be on our old refrigerator and was handy in that location. However our current refrigerator is stainless steel so magnets don’t stick to it. One of our kids’ friends did the drawings which are on it but we’ve not used it for a grocery list in at least two years.

So that’s the sort of disorganization I’ve allowed to overtake things in the past couple of years. Enough! I spent about 45 minutes working on it. I didn’t go through the manuals or keepsakes because they are at least contained neatly. Some evening while watching television I’ll sort through one drawer at a time. But I removed everything, wiped down the shelves, threw out a bunch of stuff (why did I have so many pens which didn’t work?), put some items in other locations, and put back the rest neatly.

Doesn’t this look better:

I think (hope!) I’m on a decluttering roll. I’ve already decided what my next project will be. Stay tuned for more!