Taming Your Home :: How to Organize and Defy Clutter in a Week : Kitchen & Dining Room

 

Today, I worked super hard in the kitchen and dining room to eliminate clutter from my cabinets, pantry and counter space. If your family is anything like mine, this area of the home tends to be the busiest and the fastest to become a mess. We live in our kitchen.

Similar to the living room, the thought of where do I begin first crossed my mind when tackling the kitchen. I just picked the cabinet closest to me and dove in! As I begin, I made sure to remember I only need the items I use on a continual basis, but I also have to make sure not to get rid of items I use on a seasonal basis, too. When going through the kitchen, make sure to take your time and really think about each item’s use before getting rid of it.

In addition to cleaning out drawers and cabinets, I also tacked the pantry. This is a great time of year to take stock of your basic pantry items and refill any of them while on sale. If you have time and a little extra spending money, you can also find some great canisters for sugars, grains, spices and more. As you organize, if you come across food items you haven’t used like you thought you would and they are still in date, consider donating them to your local food pantry.

After our busy fall, I truly needed to reorganize the pantry. It helps me keep baking on track and I have a better sense of what baking items I have on hand or which ones need to be replaced.

By the time I made my way through the kitchen, I had a bag full of small appliances, old kitchen towels, food items and even a casserole dish to place into the donation pile. The kitchen had become functional again!

Our dining room is a fairly simple one. We don’t have much in it to clutter, but my baker’s rack needed some immediate attention as it is one of those clutter catching hot spots. After throwing away some old items, storing away my dried herbs from the garden, and a light dusting, it was good to go.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, so I'm going to rest for the day. Friday will entail a light weekly cleaning and delivering items for donation to their drop-off points. Thus, finishing the house is a week's time.

 

This Fall, why not challenge yourself to go through each section of your home with several bags or boxes meant for donations, trash and recyclables? Take your time and if you need guidance refer to my past posts or leave a comment below and I’ll do my best to offer sound advice.

Master Bedroom & Living Room

Bathroom

Master Closet

 

Tips for the kitchen and dining room:

·       Keep seasonal use only items in their own cabinet or drawer. This keeps them from crowding out your daily use items in drawers and gives them a home all on their own.

·       Don’t neglect small appliances. Sometimes we can get into the habit of purchasing these while they are on sale with every intention of using them. Realistically, many of these products go unused or after the first use, the owner realizes they are not easy to clean or simple to operate. Consider getting rid of any such items.

·       Be sure to look through your table linens and remove those with heavy stains, tears, pulls or worn.

·       I’m pretty sure everyone has a junk drawer in the kitchen. Go through it and dump the majority of it in the trash.