How To Keep Kitchen Clutter Under Control

For sure many of you will agree that the kitchen is one of the most important and used parts of the house, especially if you are a mother who cooks a lot. It is where meals and snacks are prepared, so you want to make sure that everything is clean and organized. 

More than that, you will be shocked by how many things you can do in the kitchen if it is cluttered. In this article, you will learn how to clear and de-clutter all the drawers, cabinets, and racks so that they can give you more space and less stress when working in your favorite space. We ensure that the process is rewarding and at the same time, hassle-free!

untidy kitchen
Untidy Kitchen

How can I reduce my kitchen clutter?

Before you start, consider the order of your kitchen space first. 

  • Prime real estate: drawers, counters, crocks, and easy-to-reach cabinets and appliances
  • Suburbs: closets or pantries close to or in the kitchen
  • Outlands: upper shelves and pantry shelves that require a stepladder to access

The purpose of knowing the order of your kitchen space is to get a grasp of which space to clean first.

1. Clean the prime real estate area

To see an immediate result, start with the prime real estate space. Pick one kitchen counter or drawer and start to dig in. You can even start to clutter your collection of jars, containers, plates, cookware, mugs, or lids. It will surely lead you to another.

Hints: 

  • Make sure to remove all the non-essentials.
  • Remove all the duplicates. You basically need one spatula, scissors, etc. If one of them breaks, then you can just simply replace it with the same thing from your storage area.
  • Get rid of the “just in case” mindset. Throw whatever is not needed every day or at the moment.
  • Do not store several appliances on your kitchen counter, it will just look messy. It is better to place something that is used every single day like your coffee maker and microwave. Keep the unnecessary appliances away and store them in your cabinets or cupboards.

2. Clean the suburbs

After cleaning and organizing the prime real estate area, it is now time to shift to the suburbs. When cleaning this area, base it on how much you use it and the ease of moving things back to the counter when needed. Meaning, if you move the heavy appliances (like the oven toaster)to the suburbs, make sure to place them on an accessible shelf at the waist level for easy lifting. Otherwise, you will forever be discouraged to use it again. And as you progress with your organizing, you will also find items in the suburbs that belong to the outlands or prime real estate or somewhere in the house. 

To effectively do this, start by throwing or removing these:

  • old, spoiled, used oils
  • Old canned or bottled food. Check out their expiration dates or see if you still want to consume them.
  • Expired or rotten ground spices.
  • Spoiled or expired baking ingredients (flour, baking soda, yeast, etc.)
  • Musty cookies, crackers, cereals, or any breakfast food stored for several weeks already.
  • Dried, rotten fruits and vegetables
  • Seasonings from your out of the country trip five years ago.
  • Ugly, broken, unused souvenirs
  • Potholders that are overused—too thin, smelly, dirty, or torn
  • Remove at least half of your collection of jars, containers, lids, plates, and other food storage 
organized bench
Nice Bench

3. Store unnecessary things in the Outlands

By unnecessary, we mean those things that are not needed or used every day like your jars, extra plates, platters, cutlery, and more. Now, if you don’t want to throw everything in the trash bin, at least consider moving these things to the Outlands to keep them more organized. 

  • Rarely used utensils from the drawers or crocks
  • Extra plates, mats, platters, and cutlery that are only used during large parties
  • Rarely used cookbooks
  • Seasonal baking tools such as cookie cutters, cookie sheets, baking tools, baking pans, decorating supplies
  • Rarely used appliances such as wine opener, ice shaver, rotisserie, ice cream maker, baked potato cooker, etc.
  • Craft supplies for your kids
  • Rarely used mugs, glassware, dishes, bottles, and jars
  • Turkey roaster and rack
  • Barbecue utensils 
  • Extra dishtowels, dishcloths, potholders, etc.
  • Other kitchen supplies and tools

4. Keep decorations very minimal

As we have said, do not make your appliances as decorations on the counter. The best way to declutter your kitchen and make it look clean is to keep it minimal. Putting a pot of indoor plants beside the window or your coffee maker that you use every single day is already enough. If the countertops start to become full of different stuff, immediately start clearing the space and organize it to their different designated area.

What should I keep on my kitchen counters?

Moreover, choose a few items on the list below that you can keep on your kitchen counters:

  • coffee station with your favorite coffee mugs and creamer
  • spices and oils
  • trays and cutting boards
  • tiny home office
  • repurposed books for your morning reading
  • kitchen staples such as sugar, pasta, rice, or beans
  • art displays from your kids’ handy work
  • fresh fruits
  • fresh herbs

5. Create a designated area for regularly used items

Items that are used every day such as plates, utensils, and glasses, are better placed in a drawer or cabinet. In that way, you can easily see, put, or throw stuff away if needed. Also, that would make it easier for you not to disarrange other things while looking for those items you use every day.

6. Habitually put things where they belong immediately

This is a very good way to control kitchen clutter. After making an organized area in the kitchen, use large labels that your kids will surely see and know where to properly put back their used items. To do this, you can print out labels and stick them in the drawers or cabinet. Make it a habit to not just hide or put things away but place them in the designated areas where they belong. 

7. Evaluate your spaces regularly

A good habit to develop is to clean your kitchen once a week. With organizing, you can do it once or twice a month. While doing these, evaluate your containers, utensils, plates, cups, and glasses, too. Just like our clothes, there are kitchen items that are not needed as we grow. For example, your kids will eventually outgrow all those baby spoons and sippy cups, right? So we need to purge those baby items as soon as they are not needed anymore. Also, it might be good to declutter all your collections in the kitchen. It may sound very hard, but the truth of the matter is you won’t be able to use it all. Those travel mugs and Starbucks cups collection might be unnecessary already. 

8. Get someone who can help you

To make your decluttering process more fun and exciting, invite someone to come over and play as a “bad cop” to help you decide which one is worth keeping or thrown away.

Where can I hide my appliances in the kitchen?

If you have several appliances in the kitchen that adds to the clutter and mess, here are some tips on how to hide them to keep your kitchen clean and organized.

1. Install swing-out shelves in the cupboards

Maximize your storage areas in the kitchen by setting up swing-out shelves in the cupboards to make additional space for your appliances and other items. These shelves will make it easier for you to access your things.

2. Make use of pullout shelves

Hide all the mess in the tables and countertops by organizing it on the shelves. You can also use them as a storage area for your Tupperware, containers, jars, and pans. Make sure to put your most-used kitchenware in front or easy-to-reach shelves for easy access.

3. Add a double-door pantry

If you reconstructing your kitchen, we suggest that you add a double-door pantry for extra space. You can use that as storage for your toaster over, microwaves, or coffee machines. You can also use the double-door pantry as storage for your kitchen utensils and other accessories.

4. Use panels

To hide your fridge, use panels that match your kitchen styles. You need to cover up with cabinet panels all your large appliances to make it more smooth, pleasing, and matching. make sure you get cabinet panels that match the rest of the kitchen design and interiors.

How to declutter a small kitchen?

Having a lot of kitchen stuff with a small kitchen may be hard to declutter since we need a lot of storage area to achieve a clean and organized kitchen space. With that, we will give you some tips on how to declutter a small kitchen.

1. Set a timer and gather storage boxes

Decluttering a small kitchen should go beyond 30 minutes or one hour. We do not want you to feel overwhelmed as see decluttering as a stressful thing to do. Also, gather your storage boxes to store unnecessary items to donate, sell, or junk. You will also need more garbage bags to sort things for disposal.

2. One area at a time

An ideal strategy in cleaning the kitchen is to focus on one area at a time. Go through each drawer or cabinet one at a time and decide which ones to keep or go. We discourage you to randomly open the cabinets and grab stuff, it will just create more chaos and clutter.

3. Remove things that do not belong

There are probably countless things that do not belong in the drawers or counters. Remove all the stack of mails, coloring books, toys, clothes, etc., in your kitchen. The chairs and countertops are famous for being a dumping spot for everyone in the household. Put everything that does not belong to the kitchen into a box to easily relocate after organizing your kitchen. That would be easier to do if you ask for help with your spouse or kids. 

Final Words

Most families always spend their quality time in the kitchen. That is why it is important to make your bonding fun and safe with an organized kitchen. Make your decluttering process stress-free and hassle-free by having patience with yourself and others as you make the habit of decluttering your home. One thing is for sure, it will make you feel good after doing all these things.

Happy decluttering