GOING SIMPLE WEEK 2 :: Kitchens

Congratulations on finishing up your bathrooms in week one! I’m so excited we made it through our first space together.

Imagine walking in to your kitchen, the space is clean. You can find exactly what you need, and you know exactly where to put it when you’re done. This is possible.

Because we use the kitchen in our homes every day, multiple times, this room can feel the most daunting, but it’s also one of the most rewarding.

Remember to continue to focus on your family life, your personal goals and a dash of real life self care throughout the week as well!

To join the private Facebook Group + Going Simple Challenge, click here!

So in the hopes to keep this post as short as possible, here’s less chit chat, and more tips to get us through our kitchen spaces!

Going Simple :: How to Tackle Your Kitchen Clutter

Here are eight simple tips to clear your kitchen space of excess, and focus on what you love most.

1. Start with a clean slate.

I like to organize my kitchen knowing as few dishes as possible are hiding in the dishwasher and sink.

The night before, I make sure to clean up any dishes lingering about, and I run my dishwasher. The morning of, I serve breakfast, unload the dishes to their cupboards and start with as clean of a space as possible.

2. Categorize your stuff.

Group like items together, and simplify from there. This helps to avoid the chaos of emptying every cabinet and drawer at once.

If possible, add some simple baskets to easily access items from your shelving. This works great for items that tip over easily, can be grouped together, are smaller, or just aren’t pretty!

Going Simple Tip! To keep the process simple, pull out one category as you declutter. For example, gather all your cups and glasses first. Assess your collection. Return your favorite items. Let go of the rest! Then move on to the next category.

3. Be honest with yourself.

Find your weak spots. For me, drink ware is a place I tend to collect clutter. Over the last three years we have downsized from literally hundreds of glasses, cups and mugs down to what we actually use.

Really question yourself. Do you need four crock pots? Or do you have them simply because you’ve acquired them? Keep the items you use and love. Let the rest go.

Remember that each home and family has different needs. There is no magic number of items to own.

Going Simple Tip! Designate one quality water bottle and travel thermos per family member. Not only does this cut down on cupboard clutter, but it saves on daily dishes to wash too!

4. Ditch the trouble makers.

Generally, there are two main clutter bugs in kitchens: kids stuff and promotional freebies.

As a mom, the tower of leaning character plates, tipping sippy cups, rainbow cutlery may be your worst enemy. Not to mention the sibling wars over who gets the blue bowl or princess plate. At. Every. Meal.

I sorted and sold all of the trouble makers. I used the earnings to reinvest in simple, functional children’s dishes and never looked back. Bonus, I think they secretly like the peace their new dish set brings.

Our cupboard in our last home, before simplifying our kids’ plates and bowls!

What to do with those promotional freebies? They most likely entered your home unwillingly, as a free gift from your dentist or that conference you went to last year. But are they serving you daily? Or just creating chaos in your cupboard?

If you don’t love them, let them go!

Going Simple Tip! Try selling items, they often hold value to someone else. Use those funds to invest in quality + functional pieces for your space.

5. Store and organize with intention.

For some reason, our brains are hard wired to think just because it’s always been, it’s the way it should always be.

I’m going to challenge you to rethink the layout of your kitchen storage.

As you return each category to their home, reassess storage. Is it most functional?

We keep our most used items near the dishwasher. Plates, bowls and silverware. By doing so, we unload 75% of our dishwasher with simplicity, and within arms reach.

Going Simple Tip! Use post it notes on your cupboard doors as temporary labels for newly assigned homes. This way everyone can locate items with ease as they learn the new layout.

6. Be creative with storage.

Don’t be afraid to think outside of the box. In our current home, there was no pantry. We did instead have a closet across the way, in our dining room. We added in an outlet for bulky appliances and played with shelving depth to create a butler’s pantry.

Going Simple Tip! Move that shelving. A top shelf we cannot reach does us little good. So if you are able, adjust your cabinet + closet shelving to become most functional for you!

You can also store the “occasional” items like bulky appliances, holiday bakeware and serve ware, etc. in off site storage (think basement, garage, guest bedroom closet, etc).

7. Assess the visual noise in your space.

What is visual noise? Think of it as all the busyness you see when your eye scans the room. Excess decor. Paper clutter. Even cord placement can attribute to visual noise.

The more visual noise, the more visual clutter. So scan your space. What areas can you lessen the visual noise for a more peaceful space.

Going Simple Tip! Designate an Ugly Side of the fridge. Whichever side your eye falls to least is the best place to hide things like paper clutter.

In our home, we’ve designated one spot on the counter called “water station.” This is where we keep water bottles and drinks throughout the day. It saves on spills and lost sippies, as well as decreases the visual noise in our kitchen.

8. Clear your surfaces.

I know, I know. How minimalist of me. But hear me out. Our counters used to be covered with appliances and knick knacks. But I struggled majorly with keeping a clean kitchen. Just wiping my counters once a day was a daunting task because I had to move around so many things.

So I decided to just try out the cleared counter method.

And I loved it! Daily kitchen upkeep is now a breeze. My space always looks clean and feels clean too.

So use discernment with your counters. Ask yourself, “do all these items realllllyyyy need to be left out?” And if in doubt, I challenge you to just give cleared counters a try! If it’s not for you, you can always bring things back out.

Wanting to go BIG with change, but having a hard time commiting?

When I really struggle to make decisions with items (ahem, have we talked about my issue with drink ware?!), I like to try this Going Simple Challenge.

Give this Extra Simple Challenge a try!

Keep only the simplest of sets for your every day use (think, the matching plate, bowl, cups, utensil sets you may have for your kitchen) in your cupboard space.

Box up the extra sets of dishes, bowls, cups, promotional mugs, ALL OF IT.

Set a calendar alert on your phone to revisit the stored items in 30 days. Usually after a month of living without, I have an easier time admitting I don’t need them, and can let them go!

I’m so excited to see the progress everyone makes. Don’t forget to share your before and after pictures, your progress and your struggles in our Going Simple Facebook Community!

Amy

:: SHOP THIS POST ::

When talking kitchen simplification, I get asked my favorites for the following items below. Here are the links for your convenience! By no means do I encourage frivolous spending, quite the opposite, we’re going simple here! But just to save a few inquiries, I’ve put the links below for those interested!

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