50 Things to Declutter from Your Kitchen Without Thinking Twice
For most of us, the kitchen is the biggest traffic zone in the house. Here are some easy things you can declutter to make your kitchen work better for you.
Declutter anything that doesn’t belong in your kitchen
This is the easiest thing to start with when you walk into your kitchen.
Anything with a Home Elsewhere in your House. It doesn’t belong here, but somehow it ended up here. If these items deserve to stay in your home, people need to tidy them up. If they aren’t important enough to put away, then maybe you can put them in the garbage or the donation box.
Recycling. This is often a quick win. Take any recycling straight out to your collection bin if you have curbside pickup or the garage if you haul it away yourself. If there are a lot of empty containers that you have been meaning to clean out for recycling, you have my full permission to simply throw them in the trash. If you don’t have the bandwidth to clean them out, just give yourself a pass this time so that you get on top of things and intend to clean them out one at a time in the future.
Looking for more inspo? Check out this post 10 Swedish Death Cleaning Tips for a Decluttered Home!
Food To Declutter From Your Kitchen
Expired Food. It happens to everyone, so try not to feel guilty about this one. It might be as simple as a few crackers in a box that got pushed to the back of the pantry, a seasoning packet that you didn’t see or something in the fridge. It’s not worth making yourself sick (literally or with guilty feelings). This link can help you understand the food date labels on your food.
When looking for expired or past-their-prime foods, don’t overlook your cooking oils. Olive oil can last up to a year while vegetable and canola oils can last up to 18 months. Unrefined coconut oil has the longest shelf life at 2-3 years.
Spices & Herbs. While there isn’t a safety issue here, old spices lose their potency and the flavour gets weak. Give ground spices 2-3 years once opened while whole spices are tasty for 3-4 years. Fresh herbs in your fridge will last a week. If in doubt, open the jar and smell it.
If you have any spices you bought for one recipe that you didn’t end up loving, let them go during this guilt-free purge! (Throw ‘em in the compost if you can!)
Condiments. Unopened condiments will last about a year, but the clock is ticking once opened. Ketchup’s high acid makes it good for about six months, while mustard is good for one year. Mayo is very short at only 2 months! Salad dressing is typically good for about 3 months.
Check the labels for the best before date!
Freezer-burned food. You don’t want to eat freezer-burned food. Look for dry or dark patches on meat, shrivelled produce or ice crystals. It’s lost its moisture and won’t taste good.
Food No One Will Eat. If no one is going to eat it because they don’t like it, keeping it until it expires is a waste. Donate food that is still good to Community Fridges, homeless shelters or other community projects
Dishes, Containers & Utensils and Other Kitchen Things to Declutter
Open those cupboards and have a look for things you can easily declutter to make that kitchen shiny and new!.
Cups that don’t match your current stage of life. With small kids, it’s all sippy cups and then plastic cups. Maybe it’s the McDonalds glasses or the Disney themed ones for your older kids. Get rid of the ones no one is reaching for.
Extra Plates & Bowls. Just a quick check! If your family size has changed, sometimes you can end up with far more than you need.
Extra Mugs. Have you counted the number of mugs in your cupboard lately? It’s a collection that seems to grow without any effort. You don’t need to keep all of them.
Alternately, put the Christmas ones with the Christmas decorations so they aren’t crowding your cupboard the rest of the year. Same with Halloween or other seasonal mugs.
Travel mugs & Water bottles. You don’t need as many as you have. No one does. Look for any that are hard to clean or annoying to use. Definitely get rid of any that have lost their lid. Favourites can stay. Excess can go.
Lids that don’t fit any containers. You know the one I mean. You reached for it and it never fits the container you think it should. There might even be more than one. If you are concerned the container will show up, then put them in the penalty box away from your kitchen for a couple of weeks to see if it shows up.
Forgotten Kitchen Things To Declutter
Excess containers. If you realize you don’t keep leftovers, you don’t need a lot of containers. Think about what you actually use and curate a reasonable collection of the sizes that will make your life easier.
Jugs and Pitchers. Does your family still use these? Everyone had them when I was a kid. Usually it was the same one: a plastic Tupperware one. If you don’t mix up drinks, this is just taking up space for nothing
Chipped serving dishes. You don’t have to keep broken or chipped serving dishes. You deserve nice pieces and you are never going to choose to use damaged ones anyway!
Good China You Never Use. Maybe you even have the formal flatware to match. If you don’t use it, let it go. Did you once use it tohost for the holidays, but you don’t anymore? Maybe the new family host should have it, but don’t be surprised if they don’t actually want a full set.
Avoid getting caught in “all or nothing” thinking when it comes to dish sets, even the fancier ones.onsider keeping a practical number of settings if you can’t bear to let all of Grandma’s dishes go to donation. Maybe just dinner for two or just a plate to use for Christmas baking. You don’t have to keep the set intact!
Knives & Utensils
Knives you don’t use. You know what knives you use all the time and you know what knives you never reach for. Donate the ones you don’t use. If you have steak knives, you may also want to think about what you need; your family of four doesn’t need a set of eight or ten knives. This can be an easy thing to look at as you declutter your kitchen.
The Countertop Knife Block. If you have a countertop knife block (or one for scissors), consider whether you have space in your drawers for knives or if a wall-mounted holder would work better.
Cooking Utensils. Diets change. There is no point in keeping the potato masher if you never make potatoes. If anything is damaged, like a cracked wooden spoon, it’s not useful.
Reusable Lunch Kits & Thermoses. Whether the theme is too young for your now-teenager or no one is packing lunch, don’t keep these. Maybe it isn’t the right size. That’s okay. Move on.
Scratched up plastic cutting boards. Plastic cutting boards get difficult to clean when they are scratched and thedeep grooves harbour bacteria if not properly sanitized. It is recommended to replace plastic cutting boards every five years or sooner if the grooves take on a dark appearance that doesn’t wash away.
Small Appliances
Small appliances you haven’t used in the last year. It’s easy to put them away in a cupboard and forget about them completely. Do you have any of these “stowaways” hiding in your kitchen? Rice cooker, instant pot, slow cooker, ice cream maker, waffle iron, toaster oven, deep fryer…The list goes on and on. Open those cupboards you rarely look into and remember that your kitchen needs to have space for the items you actually use if you want it to feel manageable.
Anything you’ve already replaced. Families change. If you replaced the old slow cooker with a bigger one or downsized to a small Instant pot, don’t keep the old one as backup. Let someone else use them and clear up space for your “right now life”!
Pots & Pans
Warped or damaged non-stick kitchen pans. Once your non-stick pan has become scratched, you should replace it. The toxic substances used in old non-stick pans are no longer used in new products, so it’s not as much of an issue with new pans. However, performance can be reduced when your pan is scratched or warped.
Extra pots or pans from the pot set that you don’t use. Most pots and pans come in a set of 10 or 12, but, in reality, that is far more than most of us need. Keep the sizes best suited for your family.
Duplicate Pans. Instead of alternating between multiple pots of the same size, commit to just using one or two. If you are honest, there’s probably one you like better than the other.
Baking
If you are not a baker, you can probably minimize this stuff without much guilt; keep your measuring cup and teaspoons for cooking.
But we’re looking for quick wins for bakers too.
Cookie cutters you don’t use. Keep the favourites and get rid of the ones you don’t like. (That one you won’t use because the cookie dough gets stuck in the small corners, it can go!)
Pans you don’t use. We don’t need to hold onto every pan just because we used it in the past. If the size or shape isn’t useful, let it go.
Specialty tools you don’t use. Sometimes this is a purchase we thought we’d use more (cookie press anyone?) or maybe it was a gift. Specialty tools need to be used enough to justify the space they take. If you never use a rolling pin, why keep it?
Kitchen Linens
Dish towels. When you are drying dishes, are there a couple that don’t absorb water? Are the towels stained and don’t come out of the dryer clean? Towels don’t last forever and are one of the .
Dishcloths or sponges. Sponges are an easy one to pitch. That dish cloth that washed a few too many knives can go too!
Oven mitts or potholders. Your hands are important. Don’t risk burning them, using oven mitts with holes in them or potholders that are too thin. (Note: nice oven mitts can be a good, low-clutter Christmas gift for someone who loves to cook or bake!)
Tablecloths. If you don’t use them or they do not fit the size of the kitchen table you have, they can go.
Placemats you aren’t using. If you don’t have enough for your family or they don’t match your kitchen since you painted, donate them. I’ve noticed that people use placemats (let alone table cloths) less and less in recent years. If this is you, you’re not alone and you don’t necessarily need to keep many or any!
Paper & Books
Cookbooks you haven’t used in 12 months. If you look at the cover and don’t know what recipe you use in that book, it’s a good thing to donate as you declutter your kitchen.
Recipes you printed out more than 6 months ago you haven’t made. I know your intentions were good. You meant to get to it. Now it’s just paper clutter.
User manuals. This information is available online. Why are you holding on to it? The odds are very good you haven’t looked for the manual since you stuffed it into the drawer.
Expired coupons. Expired coupons are paper clutter and there will always be more coming.
Take-out menus. Even though there are a dozen places you could order from, you might actually tend to order from the same couple of places. Only keep the one or ones you use and get rid of any that are out of date as well. When we order take-out, it is to simplify our lives. For this reason we need these menus to be easy to reach for and use or they aren’t serving their purpose.
While you are doing this, also toss any condiment packets, plastic utensils or napkins that came with your meal.
Seasonal & Special Occasions Kitchen Things to Declutter
Party Supplies for Special occasions. Maybe it’s paper cups and the plastic tablecloth with a specific theme your kids have outgrown. It won’t be used again.
Birthday candles. Are you still counting candles on your child’s birthday cake? Are these candles worth keeping or are they burned down to tiny stubs? It might be time to let most of those go.
Wedding/Christmas/Birthday gifts you never use
I know this is a broad category and maybe encompasses all the other ones, but I’m going to go here anyway. Maybe it’s a fondue set, an electric carving knife or a decorative bowl that isn’t your style.
The gift was given to you. The person who gave it to you, their role is over. It’s yours to do whatever you like with now. Donate it, toss it, sell it. Just get it out of your kitchen now!
Clean Supplies You Don’t Like
Don’t keep cleaners you don’t like. If you switched to a green cleaner and don’t like the less Earth-friendly one you were using before, get rid of the old one.
Keep in mind, some cities and towns may want this disposed of at the Hazardous Waste drop-off site and not in your household garbage.
Decor You Don’t Love Anymore
Maybe you don’t even see it anymore. Look around and remove any decor you don’t love and have kept out of habit. Window ledges, hooks and counter tops are prime spots for this!
Safety Items
This might be a replacement, rather than a declutter, but it’s an important safety consideration.
Kitchen Fire extinguisher. Replace it if it’s more than 10-12 years old. A kitchen one is designed to handle grease fires.
Smoke Alarm. If it’s more than 10 years old, replace it. This includes wired-in and battery-operated models. (And if you haven’t tested it this year, give that button a push!)
Like with cleaning supplies, check with your local town office or city website to see where to drop these off for proper disposal.
You can declutter many things from your kitchen without guilt by thinking about what you do use. Take the time to open the cupboard doors you don’t look behind very often. This is your space for daily life and it is not a storage facility. The items you keep only need to suit you and your family in this stage of your life!
