Dabl at Home
Here are 7 Ways to Declutter Your Kitchen
Most people spend the majority of their time at home in their kitchen. This week, we have 7 suggestions for decluttering your kitchen, and creating a space that makes you happy.
For many families, the kitchen is the heart of the home. This is where we congregate to eat family dinners, cook our favorite meals, work on DIY projects, converse with our loved ones, and it is a central place for our kids to complete their homework. With all the time we spend in the kitchen, it’s only natural for clutter to pile up around us. Over time, those take out menus you planned to save for later or those meal prep gadgets you thought you would use more than once end up taking up your valuable space.
However, did you know that allowing clutter to build can actually hurt your health? One study published in the Environment and Behavior journal found that overly cluttered kitchens create a sense of chaos that causes people to eat twice as many calories as they would if they were in a decluttered kitchen. This is problematic, as eating healthy, balanced meals is important for preventing obesity and maintaining heart health. In addition, the International Journal of Cognitive Therapy identified a significant correlation between clutter leading to increased feelings of stress and anxiety. As you get rid of stuff, you will likely gain happiness!
So, how do you decide what to keep, and what to donate or throw away? As Marie Kondo would say, you should only keep objects that “spark joy.” In general, we suggest throwing away or donating objects that you haven’t touched in the last 6 months. If you aren’t sure what to get rid of, we have 7 suggestions to kickstart your kitchen decluttering.
Rogue Containers
They say that if you love something, you should set it free. But do you really love your mismatched containers and tupperware with missing lids? One of the easiest things to clear out of your kitchen is unnecessary tupperware. If you are holding onto containers that don’t have lids, they are simply taking up space since they won’t make effective food storage. If you have mismatched containers, or containers that are so old they have started to fall apart, let them go. You likely have more containers than you need, anyway!
Duplicate Items
For some items, it’s useful to have duplicates on standby. Extra spatulas or whisks might be useful for cooking, as would an extra pair of oven mitts in case one gets dirty. If you do want duplicates of certain items, consider if you need the amount of duplicates you have. Perhaps you only need 2 spatulas, but currently have 7. However, other items in our kitchens magically seem to multiply when we really only need one. For example, do you really need more than one can opener or several potato mashers?
Take Out Freebies and Outdated Menus
Take out menus and freebies might just be the biggest filler for our kitchen junk drawers. Despite updated menus being easily accessible online on our computers and smartphones, we seem to love hoarding old take out menus in case we reorder in the future. Since menus are constantly changing, saving these menus is rather pointless. In addition, you don’t need to save all of the free salt and pepper packets, miniature condiments, or plastic cutlery. More likely than not, these freebies will end up sitting in a drawer or cabinet for years without ever being used.
Fridge Clutter
There is just something so satisfying about a sleek, tidy fridge. If your refrigerator door is buried under magnets, old report cards from previous school years, flyers for events long forgotten, or wedding invitations and holiday cards from years ago, it may be time for a fridge overhaul. You will ultimately have to decide which papers and cards are sentimental enough to keep, but ultimately you will want to try to recycle the majority. If you have a lot of magnets, you may also want to consider donating a few of your least favorites.
Expired Food
No matter how organized you are, you probably have some expired food hiding somewhere in your pantry, or shoved to the back of the fridge or cabinets. Out of sight, out of mind, right? Do a deep dive into your pantry, cabinets, and refrigerator for expired foods that should have been thrown away a long time ago. Once you’ve thrown away the excess, you will have more space to organize the ingredients and foods you still plan to eat.
Mugs and Water Bottles
It’s easy to feel like you can never have too many mugs or reusable water bottles. Afterall, they have so many purposes! Mugs are perfect for coffee, tea, and hot chocolate, while reusable water bottles are a great way to keep us hydrated in all kinds of settings. However, you’ve probably noticed that you always end up using the same few mugs or reusable water bottles. If you’re aware of this trend, donate the extra mugs and water bottles to homes where they will actually get used instead of collecting dust in your cupboard.
Plus, say bye to mugs that are chipped, broken, or cracked. You will be so happy for the extra cabinet space, you won’t even miss them!
Reusable Shopping Bags
Reusable shopping bags are excellent tools for sustainable shopping. You won’t have to pay extra money for plastic bags when you bring them to grocery stores, and using them is an environmentally friendly choice. However, this doesn’t mean you need to keep every single reusable bag or tote you come across. Try to keep just the best of the best, or else you’ll have reusable bags exploding out of every cabinet and closet. While you are decluttering your kitchen, consider how many reusable bags you really need, and get rid of the extra bags, or any bags that are a bit worse for wear.
Once you get started, your kitchen will be decluttered in no time at all! We recommend starting with 1 of the above tasks per day, which means you will have a clean, tidy kitchen by this time next week. We will be back soon with more decluttering suggestions for your home!
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