KITCHEN CABINET BLUES
Does your kitchen look glamorous and tidy, but only when the cabinet doors are closed? When you sneak out a bowl, or grab a snack from the cabinet, does the disorganized disaster cause your stress level to rise? Are your cabinets crammed to the point that the clutter is creeping out onto the countertops?
Even if you have a minor case of the Kitchen Cabinet Blues, we have a DIY solution for you! Check out these simple steps below:
Evaluate: The first step in this kitchen cabinet task is to figure out what food is hiding in the cabinets, what quantity of each type of item is present, and to get rid of anything terribly past the expiration date. Take everything out of your cabinets and sort like with like: snacks with snacks, canned goods with canned goods, get all the cups together, gather the mixing bowls, etc.
Declutter: Next, analyze all of your piles. What canned goods are past their expiration date? Go ahead and donate those to the trash. Find a baking dish that you haven’t used in the past year and don’t plan to use in the next year? Donate that item so someone can put it to use!
Priority: Now you can see what you have and what you want to keep. With your cabinets empty, you can now think of how you use your kitchen. Consider what cabinets you use most frequently, and also how often you use each of the items. Put your plates, cups, bowls and items you use everyday somewhere adjacent to your dishwasher and in an easily accessible cabinet. Save the back of cabinets and those hard to reach corners for the items you use every once and awhile. This could be a specialized appliance (which now is a good time to ask yourself if you really need that!!) or something like a cupcake tin if you don’t make cupcakes every couple weeks. Grab some sticky notes and a pen and start reserving different shelves and drawers for your organized items. Re-organize those sticky notes until you are super satisfied with the locations!
Storage: Start to put all those items in their final homes. (Might be a good idea to wipe the crumbs out of your cabinets first!) As you put things away, pay attention to your small items. This could be granola bars, measuring spoons, or spice mixes. Measure the space you have available on the shelf, and find a clear plastic container that will manage these items, that fits in the space you have available! Don’t be afraid to implement a turntable storage solution or a container with dividers if it meets your needs. Clear containers are often best for this to make sure you can always see what you have! TIP: pay attention to the dimensions, you want to make sure you have enough space to access the items in the containers, and that your cabinet doors or drawers will close with the added containers.
Wrap It Up: Gather those containers, and get all your items stored in their new homes. Wipe down those clear countertops, and breathe a breath of relief every time you open one of your organized cabinets!
Don’t feel discouraged if your cabinets need a quick reset every so often. Depending on how hectic your season of life is, or how long it takes you to learn the new habit of putting items back in their homes, it might take some time to get used to your new kitchen cabinets. Just remember that you are helping your future self by sticking to your new system, and if something about it doesn’t work, make a change!
Cheers!
