5 Pain-Free Tips for Decluttering Your Messy-Ass Kitchen
It happens to the best of us: you think that you desperately need that mango slicer or tart pan, and eventually, you’ve got a pantry full of gadgets and gizmos that have only been used once, if ever. When that happens, it can be hard to justify buying a new piece of cookware that you really like, simply because your cabinets are full of, well, junk.
Before you relegate yourself to never buying another kitchen tool again, you might want to consider how you can get rid of the stuff that you don’t need. There may even be some tools that you think are necessities, but actually just take up more space than they’re worth. If your kitchen needs a little more room to breathe—or room for more tools that you actually plan to use—start with these five (mostly) painless decluttering strategies.
Make an inventory
Sure, it’s tedious, and no one wants to itemize their collection of wooden spoons, but putting your kitchen’s stock on paper can be a really stark indicator of where you need to pare back. You don’t have to inventory the kitchen all at once, just start with a drawer or cabinet and work your way through over the course of a couple of weeks. Once you’ve got an idea of exactly what you’ve got (including that old banged-up bundt pan that hasn’t seen the light of day since it was passed down by your grandma) you can start to edit selectively.
Consider which tools are the best multitaskers
Most of the time, a kitchen tool isn’t just good for one job. If you’ve got both a Dutch oven and a braiser, you can probably lose the braiser without ever missing it. Take a look through that knife block you purchased, and toss any that your main three knives—a chef’s knife, paring knife, and serrated knife—can accomplish. Any of those single-use gadgets, like a pineapple corer or mango slicer, can also probably go if you’re good enough with a knife.