How to Declutter Kitchen Counters, Cupboards and Sinks

How to Declutter Kitchen Counters, Cupboards and Sinks

With so many types of tableware, small appliances and ingredients, a kitchen can sometimes become the most cluttered part of your home. Unfortunately, this harms the room’s appearance and makes it hard to find things you really need. These quick tips can help you declutter more easily and efficiently:

1. Purpose

Keep the main purpose of your kitchen in mind. It’s a place to store food and prepare meals. Be careful not to let too many unrelated things accumulate in this room, such as keys, music CDs, homework, clothing, boxes or mail.

It might make sense to keep keys in your kitchen if it’s where your front door is located, but you ought to designate a specific bowl or drawer for them. Other items like bills and seldom-used cookbooks belong elsewhere. If you don’t have a good place for them, think about buying a bookcase or filing cabinet.

Photo of white wooden kitchen cabinet

2. Equipment

Counters often hold too many gadgets and appliances, leaving little workspace. Take the time to banish any equipment that’s broken, redundant, primarily decorative or not really useful. Avoid keeping specialised appliances that only prepare one kind of food. Possible ways to declutter:

  • Sell or donate useful items
  • Ask friends if they want it
  • Throw away useless belongings
  • Recycle glass and metal

It’s also easy to accumulate too many pots, potholders, mugs, glasses, plates, cutting boards and so on. Consider storing seasonal or holiday-themed items elsewhere. Give away any items you never use. Remember that you can buy disposable plates and utensils for occasional parties.

3. Cabinets

If your kitchen cabinets remain crowded with genuinely useful items, consider installing more shelving between or above the existing shelves. This is normally feasible unless you have a lot of tall mugs. You could also save space by using stackable bowls and cups; glasses and ceramic mugs occupy more space. A storage bin or recipe box might be helpful.

photo of kitchen interior

Consider buying microwave-safe glass storage containers that you can use to cook, store and eat food. When possible, avoid using different containers for each task in the meal preparation process. This approach will result in less washing and fewer items cluttering your cabinets, drawers and sink.

4. The Sink

Strive to have a clean, empty sink at the end of each day. Don’t let food residues and grimy dishes pile up. The task will become burdensome and you’ll be more likely to put it off. Consider washing a few plates and utensils at a time.

water flows from the tap to sink

5. Leftovers

Don’t forget that food can also become clutter. Every month, set aside some time to look at all of the items in your refrigerator and cupboards. Discard any ingredients that have expired or grown mould. The same goes for leftovers you don’t ever plan to consume.

As you declutter the kitchen, try to make often-used items easier to access. Things that you only use occasionally can be placed near the back of a cabinet or drawer. Don’t get overwhelmed; focus on one step at a time and think about writing a to-do list.

plates with leftover food

7 thoughts on “How to Declutter Kitchen Counters, Cupboards and Sinks

  1. Custom Storage Solutions says:

    These are all good ideas. Organizing your kitchen pantry is another way to keep clutter off of the counters; you can put some of those items in the pantry behind closed doors. A few bins along the top shelves or on the floor open up space you might not even know you have.

    • Helyne says:

      How I miss my pantry!! I have tons of cabinets, but they get cluttered easily with everything I use, including canned goods etc. I utilize each drawer & cabinet, but we combined 3 houses into 1 when we retired. And I just can’t seen to get it all under control…ugh

  2. Haus Hooga says:

    Good Read! This article is very informational and has very good suggestions if you are looking to buy Kitchen Crockery Sets from Home Decor Stores Online in the USA.

  3. Sharon says:

    I enjoyed this posting. I live in a small apartment (approx. 995 sq ft) and it is a challenge to keep my kitchen bar, cabinets and counters clutter-free. I will give something away to my daughter’s home if it seems like it’s cluttering up my space.

    Thanks

  4. Pat Asquini says:

    I enjoyed this posting greatly and now can head in the right direction to declutter my kitchen. Thank you. Thank you

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