Once upon a time, I organized our kitchen. I threw out things
we never used and sorted the useful items into the prime drawers. I gathered
all the spices, donated the duplicates, and lined up the jars with the labels
facing outwards. I matched up all the plastic containers and tossed anything
without a matching lid. I cleared the counters of erroneous items that had come
to reside there by default. I even took down every piece of children’s art on
the fridge. The entire kitchen looked ready for show. Because it was. The house
was for sale. Why is it we never really clean out clutter or make our spaces
truly tidy until we’re either expecting the Queen or putting the house up for
sale? Don’t we deserve to live in such pristine places, too?
This week the topic for my evening class was “Clearing Clutter
and Cleaning” and in honor of that I began emptying drawers and scouring my
kitchen for wasted stuff and wasted space. This is not a job done in one
morning. This is a job that takes determination, a large trash can, and several
extra boxes for donations and indecision. Let me share my 10-step Kitchen plan
with you!
1. Subject everything to the Four question Test. I found this test years ago in a great
Do I
really need this? This can be a hard question, but if you’ve only ever
used the item once or you’ve never used it at all, then you probably don’t need
it. And if you only ever use it on Thanksgiving or Christmas or when your
mother-in-law visits, then it certainly doesn’t need a place of prominence in
your kitchen.
What
would happen if I threw it away? I would recommend giving it away, not
throwing it away, but it’s still a question to consider. Would I miss it? Could
I get another one easily? Is there someone who could make better use of it than
me? Would it rock my world if this item disappeared tomorrow?
Do I
need so many? This is the question that gets me. I don’t need six
rubber spatulas. Sure, at times when my daughter is baking two or three
sugar-laden projects at once, she needs them because otherwise she’d be forced
to wash a few, but I don’t need six. I
only need three. Consider how many of any tool, dish, utensil, glass or pot you
need. It’s quite definitely time to cull our coffee cup herd.
Will
I care for this person any less if I give this away? This is a powerful
question. We hold on to many objects simply because someone important in our
lives gave them to us. They thought we needed it, but do we actually
need/want/use it? And if we give it away does that mean we love this person any
less? I vote no. Be gone. (This is probably a critical question to ask yourself
when you sort out your closet or knick-knack collection, also.)
2. Save the prime real
estate for the most used items. We have a little drawer between the fridge
and the sink across from the stove which is undoubtedly the equivalent of
Boardwalk on the monopoly board. It’s prime real estate in our kitchen. And
what do we keep in there? A few beer cozies, the wrench shaped bottle opener
that Nick got at a trade show twenty years ago, six tiny corn spikes the kids
used to hold their corn on the cob when they were preschoolers, and the instruction
manual for my standing mixer that I wished I’d had when I was trying to sort
out what model it was last Christmas for replacement parts. There are also some
wineglass markers and more than a few old corks floating around the drawer,
plus some random flotsam that was unrecognizable to me. I shook my head when I
spied the crab crackers which we failed to locate the last time we had steamed
crabs so we used the back of our knives.
I dumped this drawer immediately and only returned the bottle
opener because it was the one item that sees regular use in our house. Now this
primely located drawer holds ladles and spatulas within reach of the stove
where they are normally used.
Think about what is in the drawers and cabinets that are
easiest to access. Place the tools you use most in these places.
3. Remove or relocate
infrequently used items. If you only use an item like a muffin pan, melon
baller, or a double boiler on occasion, it doesn’t need to be handy in your
kitchen. Relocate it to an out of reach cabinet, a closet, or the basement.
This frees up space so your cabinets and drawers are not jammed.
4. Make use of drawer
dividers. When we designed our kitchen, I added lots of spacious drawers.
The problem with spacious drawers is that everything in them becomes a jumble.
You don’t have to go out and buy drawer dividers (but if you do, I recommend the
wire mesh kind so they don’t fill up with dust and those little bits of gunk
that have no clear origin and give your visiting relatives the impression that
you never clean your drawer dividers because you probably don’t.), you can use
empty boxes with the lids cut off or Tupperware containers.
5. Prioritize your
pantry. If your pantry looks like mine, there are boxes and bottles stacked
and tumbled clear to the very back. I keep buying coconut milk, because I can’t
seem to remember if we have any or not, but when I dug through the pantry this
week I found an expired can in the very back. For shame. Clean out the pantry
and organize the contents. Just like the drawers and cabinets, put the foods
you eat frequently near the front.
5a. Turn all the labels so they face outward. I did this when
the house was for sale on the advice of a house-prepping guide, and wow- what a
difference. It instantly makes your pantry look organized, but it has the added
bonus of helping you keep track of what you have in there.
6. Group the items you
use together – together. I created a baking center in one area
of my
kitchen and put everything I use to bake – spices, extracts, baking
powder/soda, molasses, and other ingredients in the same cabinet with the tools
I use to bake – sifter, chopper, nut grinder, food processor, hand mixer, etc. The
measuring cups and spoons and the tools like whisks, rubber spatulas, eggs separator,
and citrus press are in the drawer below. Now when I bake, I stand in one place
and can reach nearly everything I need.
7. Look for
underutilized storage space. The space between your counter and your
8. Clear the counters.
If your counters are clutter-free, it’s much more inviting to cook. Move
anything you don’t use daily off the counters. We moved our coffee maker off
the counter, because it’s only used on the weekends and that opened up all
kinds of space. Sugar and flour canisters can be put in cabinets to free up
space. The only thing sitting on my counter (besides the chicken bucket), is
the standing mixer (because it’s too heavy), the paper towel holder (because we
haven’t found a creative place for it yet), and a pretty pottery jug full of
wooden utensils. Now, when I’m ready to cook – I’ve got room to work.
9. Clear the front of
your fridge. I know this one is hard. I have a habit of letting mine fill
up periodically, but when I clean off the fridge it makes the entire kitchen
seem cleaner and less cluttered.
10. Last tip – comes from my brother-in-law, the chef – “Clean as you go, sign of a pro.” We
were cooking together years ago and he recited this mantra a few times with a
chuckle. It stuck in my head, although I saw no evidence of him putting it in
practice. In fact, whenever he cooked, we ate delightfully, but nearly every
dish I owned was utilized and then left dirty on the counter. I suppose if you
can cook like James, that’s okay, but I can’t, so I clean as I go so that
someday I’ll be a pro. It does make the difference if you take just an extra
minute to wipe out a pot or rinse off your knives. If you clean up the drop of
tomato sauce that splattered on your backsplash a few moments after it happens,
it’s easy. If you wait until next week when you’re cleaning for company – it’s
a bear and might even have stained your wall. If you take the time to put away
the wine opener or corn meal or the buttermilk immediately after you’ve used
it, the clutter is kept to a minimum. If you clean as you go, no one becomes
overwhelmed by the task of cleaning it up later. Say it with me– “Clean as you
go, sign of a pro!”
Good tips, Cara!
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