A good place to start decluttering your home is your kitchen. You have to spend a certain amount of time in this room every day. If it’s full of clutter, you’ll find it will take longer to get everything done; it can even take a long time to find the things you have to deal with. So if you organize your kitchen, you won’t have to spend as much of your precious time there. (If you like to spend a lot of time in your kitchen, I’m guessing it probably isn’t cluttered.)
The first step is to take an inventory. As you rank everything in your kitchen, make a conscious effort to evaluate each item. Place each one in one of four categories:
- Keep: This is for those things that you use every day, or at least on a regular basis.
- Move to another place: For things you rarely use (like Christmas plates, place them with your other Christmas items) or things that just don’t belong in the kitchen (tools like screwdrivers and hammers, or supplies that are only used in other rooms).
- donate (to a friend or to a thrift store) or sell at a garage sale. For those items that are still in good condition but just don’t fit your lifestyle. For example, bake dishes in various festive forms, but never bake. A set of fondue, but you hate fondue.
- throw away those items that are of no use to anyone, eg dull knives (and you don’t even have a knife sharpener), multiple plastic containers with no lids, spices that are many years old. Containers that used to hold butter or cottage cheese can be great for storing leftovers. But how many are you going to realistically use? And, remember, you will constantly get new ones.
Once you’ve cleared the clutter and have what really belongs in your kitchen, you’ll probably find enough space for everything. AND now is the time to allocate a space for everything.
Put the most used items in the most accessible places. In cabinets, group similar items together: all the glasses, all the bowls. (You might find a few more items for the gift category.) Order the canned goods, and it’ll be easy to add something to your shopping list when you use the latest.
Keep counters clear so you have room to work. Skip only the items you use every day, like the coffee maker.
Once your kitchen is organized, it will be much easier and faster for you to do your work there. And you may find it so enjoyable that he wants to spend more time in the kitchen. Gourmet cooking anyone?