How to Declutter Your Kitchen: A Step-by-Step Guide
The kitchen is the center of the home, and therefore it’s the fastest room to get messy, dirty, and cluttered up! Supermom Shuffle has written the “How to Declutter Your Kitchen: A Step-by-Step Guide” to help when you have too much stuff.
The kitchen is the center of our home. It’s where we spend a lot of our time and it’s the drop zone (read: dumping ground) when everyone comes inside the house. And it can get overwhelmingly cluttered in a hurry. It’s a daily struggle to keep the kitchen orderly and neat and without clutter everywhere, especially all over the kitchen counters! From stacks of dishes to overflowing drawers, a disorganized kitchen can make cooking and meal times stressful. This comprehensive guide will provide you with practical steps and tips to declutter your kitchen on a daily basis, transforming it into a functional, enjoyable space where cooking becomes a delight, not a dread. I want my house to be a haven, and for that to be the case, I need a clean kitchen at all times.
Benefits of a Decluttered Kitchen
For me, the kitchen is the room I hit first as I come into the house. If it’s clean and tidy, then my first steps into the house are a breath of fresh air. If it’s a horrendous mess with crap everywhere, then it just starts the timer on my stress bomb and it’s miserable. I’m stressed, I’m crabby and I’m aggravated at my surroundings. And I don’t want that. Less stress is better! There are entire studies about how less clutter and less mess actually help your mental health tremendously.
See the kitchen in the picture below? (Obviously, that’s a DREAM kitchen. BUT, what want to point out is the feeling the clean and tidy evokes!) It is clean and tidy and inviting! I want to be in that room. And I want preparing dinner and playing with my family to be a joy. So I consider keeping my kitchen neat and tidy to be self-care for myself. I know it helps me stay calm and enjoy my evenings more, so I put in the work to keep the area tidy to meet my own needs. I also find it’s a great way to keep me motivated to keep the rest of the house tidy too. If the kitchen is neat, it makes me want to do a quick clean-up in the living room and so on and so on.
Preparing for the Decluttering Process
First things first, we have to figure out what the overall goal is for our decluttering and organizing! That’s the first step! What gets the valuable real estate in the kitchen and what’s not going to make the cut? It’s time to look at all the stuff and see what might be unnecessary items.
Setting Decluttering Goals
Decluttering is more than just a cleaning task; it’s a journey towards a more organized lifestyle. Start by visualizing your ideal kitchen setup. Do you envisage a minimalist countertop or well-organized shelves? Defining these goals gives you a clear target and helps motivate you through the process. How much clutter is too much? Just how full can the drawers and cabinets be? How much cabinet space do you even have? Can you get to clutter-free kitchen counters?
Tolerance
A big part of setting your decluttering goals is finding your tolerance for clutter. For me, I don’t mind if the kitchen cupboards are full, IF they are organized and I can get the items I need easily. I DO mind terribly if there is clutter and crap and knick-knacks all over the kitchen counter. It makes me nuts and it’s just not visually pleasing. I don’t like a kitchen sink full of dirty dishes. It stresses me out. A big part of setting decluttering goals means finding what your zone of clutter tolerance even is and how to work with it.
Decorative Items
I don’t do a lot of decorative items in the kitchen, especially holiday-related items. I might put out a little something here or there, but I try to keep the clear counters and vertical space nice and tidy. My countertop space is at a premium, so I have to try to use the little space I have as best I can!
Scheduling Time for Decluttering
Decluttering effectively requires dedicated time and focus. Plan your schedule to tackle different areas of the kitchen in manageable chunks. For most people, an entire kitchen all-day overhaul just isn’t in the cards, especially with little kids running around. And I think a small window of time, like 15-20 minutes, is a better way to get started. For me, setting a timer for 15 minutes doesn’t seem overwhelming. It’s not a long amount of time, and it might be just enough time to clean out one drawer or one side of a cabinet. And that’s totally fine! It’s not a race to see who can declutter the most the fastest. It’s about finding what works for you and your family and learning to maintain it as you go.
The Decluttering Process
Alright, now we have our plan and our time slot. It’s time to get going on decluttering the kitchen! Remember, as Mary Poppins says “Well begun is half done!”
Donations and Trash
Donations
I find it extremely helpful to have a box handy in the kitchen that’s available to pack donations. There will likely be a bunch of items in the kitchen that you no longer need but that could be used by someone else. I keep a running donation box in our laundry room all the time that I can just toss things in and take it to the donation center when it’s full.
Trash
I cannot emphasize enough how helpful it is to have a trash can or a trash bag nearby. When you get going and are in the mode of throwing away junk, having a bag handy will help keep your decluttering progress moving forward.
Sorting and Categorizing
First, decide what section you are working for this session. The first thing we want to do is remove all the items from the drawer/shelf/cabinet, whatever you are decluttering that day. Remember to keep a trash can handy!
I keep four piles going at all times:
Keep – These are obviously all the items you’ll be keeping.
Donate – This will be all the items that I don’t need anymore but that are in good condition and could be donated. Also, duplicate items can be donated too!
Trash – Anything that’s broken and unusable, or just plain junk, goes in the trash bag. Toss in the junk mail while you’re at it, that’s an easy and quick win to get the piles smaller!
Unsure – You don’t have to decide on everything immediately. You can always put all the stuff you are for sure keeping back in the space, and then decide how much more space you have available, if any.
When I’m finished with the section, I’ll go back through the “Unsure” category and see if I need to keep the items or not. Usually, when I see a pristinely organized drawer or cabinet I’ll almost always go from “Unsure” to donate or trash!
Common Kitchen Items
Utensils
Be ruthless with cooking utensils and silverware. We seem to accumulate so many different kinds of silverware and I have no idea how. I donated at least half of our flatware because we had accumulated so much. As far as kitchen utensils go, you only need so many spatulas and wooden spoons. Keep your favorites and donate the rest to someone in need.
Small Appliances
I’m the queen of collecting nifty kitchen gadgets. My rule of thumb is, if I haven’t used it in the last year, or ever for that matter, it’s time for it to go. And if it doesn’t have a home where it can permanently live, it can’t stay either. My coffee maker has a spot it stays in and it stays out all the time. But the air fryer and the instant pot don’t. So the rule is they have to have a place they live if I’m keeping them! I don’t want stuff that I constantly have to move around to get out of my way. Lots of the appliances like air fryers, mixers, and griddles have a big footprint and take up a lot of real estate on your kitchen countertops, and for me, that’s precious space.
Side note, one day when I have my absolute dream kitchen, it will have one of those appliance garage nooks where all the unsightly little appliances go to be out of the way, but also easily reachable.
Dishes
I have a ton of dishes. I’ve accumulated them over the years, plus I seem to have inherited quite a few too. I have made sure to pack up or store anything that has sentimental value, especially when we have young kids. And as for the rest, I’ve got everyday plates that are lovely, but not a huge deal of they all get dropped and broken! If I get plates or bowls that are chipped, I’ll go ahead and toss them. I don’t want that kind of clutter that needs to be tossed.
Cups, Mugs, Wine Glasses, and Water Bottles
Don’t even get me started on my coffee mugs! There are so many! How many coffee cups do I think I can use at one time? And water bottles! I probably had 25 reusable water bottles in the kitchen cabinets. And we are all using our same one every day. So I too a BUNCH of that to donate.
While we are on the subject, wine glasses and cups! How many can you use at a time?! Keep that in mind when you are decluttering. I’ll find myself saying – well, if we had people over (we never do) then we’d need these cups (We definitely won’t).
Pantry Items
I try to keep a good order in my pantry all the time. It is such a waste of money when you have ingredients that go bad! It irritates me to my core when I let stuff go bad and waste the food and money. I try to keep a nicely rotated pantry for this very reason! Try for no food waste. If you notice you have a bunch of items that will expire soon and you aren’t going to get to them in time, take them to your local food bank. They can use them immediately.
Pots and Pans
How many pots and pans could you possibly cook with at the same time? Get that number and then declutter till you only have that number. There’s no reason to keep more pots and pans than that. And hopefully, they nest into each other and will store nicely.
Not long ago I got one of those giant pots for pasta that has the built-in colander. I thought it would be fantastic. I hated the pot in general, and more than that, it took up SO much room and was absolutely not worth the trade-off of space. So, I quickly re-homed that somewhere else!
Plastic Containers
For the love of all that is holy, go through your Tupperware collection and if you have a lid or container that doesn’t have a mate, throw it out! Food storage containers are one of my biggest clutter items. It’s hard to keep the amount you need but not go overboard. And it’s hard to part with them when it’s time also. I’m working on it!
Dish Towels
Keep 3-5 dish towels. You and I both know you don’t need more than that! I have a hard time with this too. My rule is if it won’t fit in the drawer, it can’t stay. And that’s about 5 dish towels.
Cutting Boards
A good cutting board is hard to part with. If you have an insane amount though, maybe clear it up a bit! I do like to have several plastic cutting boards that I can have available for making dinner.
Organizational Tools and Techniques
Effective organization is more than just putting things away. It’s about creating a system that is intuitive and sustainable. Use drawer organizers for utensils, stackable shelves for cabinets, and clear containers for pantry items. Labels can be a game-changer for identifying contents at a glance, making your kitchen not only organized but also efficient.
Storage Solutions
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I’m a fan of not having too much clutter, but I’m ALSO a fan of good space management so you can best utilize the storage space you have. These days there are specialty shelves, a pot rack, storage containers, drawer dividers and all kinds of tools of all sizes and shapes that really can make you some extra space you weren’t using. You can even get customized dividers now! I’m all for making the most of your small space.
Here are some of my favorite solutions from my house:
Here’s my kitchen cabinet with all our cups. I use a shelf and baskets to keep track of all the lids and straws above the coffee mugs where I had a little extra room.
- Baskets – These are super similar to my baskets. My baskets came from Target, a LONG time ago and I couldn’t find the exact ones. But these are close and would be perfect!
- Shelf – I love this shelf because it’s dependable. So as long as you measure for minimum width, it’ll fit most cabinets!
- Wire shelves – I used a combo in this cabinet. Some are the expandable shelves like I listed above and some are just plain old wire shelves that are doing the job perfectly.
- Spice Shelf – The Spicy Shelf is straight off an infomercial, but they had them at Amazon. I ADORE this little shelf. It’s perfect for all the small spices and it doubles the space I have in my spice cabinet!
Other Favorite Kitchen Organization Picks:
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Maintaining a Decluttered Kitchen
Alright! We’ve done it! We’ve decluttered our kitchen! We’re all done now, forever and ever, right? We’ll never have to do this again, right? Wrong!! A truly decluttered kitchen will require ongoing maintenance on a regular basis, though that maintenance will be quick and easy. We want to keep our kitchen a functional space for our everyday enjoyment! And for me, having kitchen countertops clutter-free is super important.
Daily Habits for a Tidy Kitchen
For day-to-day kitchen clutter management, I just try to adhere to the rule that the countertops get cleaned off every single night before bed. And the stuff on the countertops must be put where it goes. I wipe down the kitchen appliances, clean off the kitchen table, do the dirty dishes, and make sure that the counter space is neat and tidy. It’s much easier to maintain a clean and tidy space, rather than playing catch up all the time. I like to make it part of my nighttime routine when I’m shutting down the house each night before bed.
Periodic Decluttering
Secondly, you’ll still need decluttering sessions periodically. Clutter will sneak back up and accumulate. But once you’ve done the initial major overhaul we talked about above, this is simply a maintenance decluttering session. I like to do a drawer and a cabinet each week, and by the end of every 2-3 months, I’ve completely gone through them again. So it works out that 4ish times a year the space is being decluttered. If an ongoing project isn’t your jam, feel free to knock it all out in a power decluttering/cleaning day each quarter, or as needed. It’s totally up to you, it’s your space to do with as you see fit!
Wrap-Up – How to Declutter Your Kitchen: A Step-by-Step Guide
Decluttering is good for you in so many ways. I truly find it to be a therapeutic process, and I find it to be a form of self-care. An organized kitchen is a joy to prepare food and meals in. Beyond the benefits for myself, I feel like it’s also helping me take better care of my family, and making a calm and inviting environment for them to spend their time in. Kitchen organization is an important step for taking care of your home. I hope you enjoy decluttering your kitchen and your clean and tidy space! I encourage you to put in the time it takes to maintain that marvelous clutter-free kitchen going forward, too! Make sure to send me before and after pics! I can’t wait to see it!! Happy Decluttering, and as always, Just Keep Shuffling!
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