A cluttered kitchen is no fun – so let’s get it sorted out once and for all. This list of things to declutter from your kitchen will help you take back control again and say goodbye to kitchen clutter for good.
The kitchen really is the hub of the home. It’s a space that has to work really hard, and with that comes a lot of stuff!
We have to house items for cooking, food storage, eating, socialising – and lots more.
It’s no surprise that even though it has the most built in storage space of any room in the house – that space can get full (and overflow) all too easily.
In fact, kitchen clutter is a real issue for most of us at some point.
So – what can be done?
Ideally you should have a full declutter of the room first, and then set up routines to keep the clutter at bay.
Each night have a reset of the space and put things back in their rightful place.
Take 10 minutes to tidy things away and wipe the kitchen work surfaces – then you can go to bed knowing your morning will be made a little easier when the kitchen is ready to go!
It sounds nice, right? But how do you get to that point? Decluttering, my friend!
As such – I’ve listed the 30 items that you can easily declutter to make space in your kitchen, along with some ideas of how to go about decluttering them.
I hope they help, and that you get to enjoy a streamlined kitchen ASAP!
So – let’s start at the start, with asking how you’re going to tackle it…
What Kitchen declutter method will you use?
In the kitchen there are a couple of great ways to go through it all that you could pick from:
A cupboard at a time
This method works for a few reasons:
- Kitchen cupboards mean that the space is already broken up into smaller chunks – so if you prefer to do a little decluttering at a time to avoid overwhelm, this may be for you.
- It’s a great option when you are decluttering in small gaps of time as and when you can. Just go through one at a time in any time you have available – and before you know it, you’ll have done the entire room!
Take everything out at once
This isn’t for the faint at heart, because it does make a lot of mess in the process – however it has some huge benefits as well:
- If you’re thinking about moving things around a little as well, to make things work better – then this would be a good option because everything will be empty and you can add things into the areas you really want them to go and make the best use of the cabinet space you have.
- You can see all like items in one go, and therefore it’s easier to make decisions based on the amount you need. For example, if you have lots of mugs but they’re all in different places, you will see them all when you empty every cupboard. When you see you have over 30, you will more easily be able to let go of, say, 20 of them!
Remember – neither option is a bad one – you do what works best for you and your end goal / time constraints.
So – you now know how you’ll tackle the decluttering at a high level – next you need to work out what to declutter – and here’s my list of things to look out for when you want a more clutter free kitchen.
Things to declutter from your kitchen
#1 – Freezer burned food you won’t eat
#2 – Out of date / expired food in your pantry / food cupboards (canned good, packets, etc..)
#3 – Items opened in the fridge but past their best before date
#4 – Any food you won’t eat. It’s just taking up valuable space, and before you know it it will be out of date and of use to no-one.
The best idea is to take it out of the cupboards now and donate to a food bank so someone gets to enjoy it.
#5 – Excess food packaging – this can be boxes with separately wrapped snacks inside, large bags of crisps with smaller bags inside – etc…
The outer packaging can be bulky to store, whereas the smaller items inside could be a lot easier
#6 – Tupperware without a lid, or items that are stained from food and no longer any good
Related: Brilliant Storage Ideas For Tupperware
#7 – Crockery – anything that’s broken, chipped, or excess pieces.
#8 – Mugs – Broken, chipped, or excess. This is one area that we all seem to collect far too many (we get a lot of these for presents and keepsakes as well).
Really think about how many people you will have on average in your home drinking from a mug at any one time – and that’s your maximum! (and no, you can’t count that party you once had where you had 100 people over…. be realistic!)
#9 – Glasses – Chipped, cracked or excess – in a similar way to mugs, these can get out of hand really quickly.
Especially as there are many different types of glasses (wine, water, whiskey, pint, etc…)
#10 – Cutlery – excess cutlery will very quickly clutter up the kitchen drawers.
Keep as many as you will need on average incl. guests – and stick to that number. If you have lots of people over for a one-off event, then you could easily borrow some.
#11 – Kids items – bottles, cutlery, plastic plates etc.. that they’ve grown out of now.
#12 – Gadgets you don’t use. Time to let go of that ice cream maker, or garlic press!
#13 – Duplicate items that you only need one for.
It’s all too easy to keep more than one item without realising it – and that’s why you need to have a space for each type of item. That way, when you notice you already have one – you can more easily let one go.
#14 – Any small appliance you don’t use. That mixer you thought you’d use every day that’s gathering dust in the kitchen cabinet?
That fancy coffee maker that you can’t be bothered to clean so don’t use now? Yup. Them.
Related: What To Do With An Old Microwave [Your Ultimate Guide]
#15 – Pan lids that don’t match any pans
#16 – Knives that aren’t sharp any longer and won’t sharpen very well
#17 – Excess cleaning items under the kitchen sink
#18 – Worn out tea towels
#19 – Anything stuck to the front of the fridge door (i.e. magnets, notes etc…)
#20 – Excess furniture. Chairs for too many people around the dining table, a table that’s too large for how many people you tend to have sitting there, or any other furniture that’s used for storage in the space.
#21 – Ice from the freezer – defrost it if it’s getting too much and taking up space that you could use to store food (who knew!)
#22 – Any kitchen items on your work surfaces that aren’t used every day and need to be to hand.
Ideally you want as few items as possible on the kitchen counter tops because that means they will be a lot easier to clean, plus you’ll be less likely to want to re-clutter them once they’re empty.
Related: 9 Clever Ideas To Get Clutter Free Kitchen Counters
#23 – Anything in the junk drawer that really doesn’t need to be there (I see you!). We all seem to have a drawer in the kitchen that’s for random things – and this is fine because it IS a place that’s the hub of the home – but it’s a problem if it gets too cluttered and nothing can be found.
I prefer to use this as my “quick tools and bits” drawer rather than “junk drawer” – and house matches / pens / screwdriver / hammer / tape measure / torch etc… in it that I can grab quickly when needed.
The key is that all of these items are things that we DO need pretty regularly – and so it’s not just a dumping ground.
#24 – Recipe books you never use and never will
#25 – Non kitchen related items that have made their way into that space
#26 – Anything whose job can be done by something else (you could for example let your toaster go if you have a good grill)
#27 – Anything on top of the kitchen cupboards – this causes lots of visual clutter, and is really hard to clean
#28 – Any entertaining items (serving dishes, tablecloth, mats etc…) in the kitchen cupboard that you haven’t used for years and are unlikely to again.
It feels nice to have lots of options when it comes to entertaining – but in reality most of us stick to one or two things that we love.
#29 – Non stick pots and/or pans that have lost their non-stick qualities or been scratched etc…
#30 – Decor – broken or excess ornaments, kitchen accessories, wall art etc…
What about items you’re not sure about?
Hopefully you won’t have many things like this, but it does happen!
In the kitchen this is really common because everyone uses the space, and so someone else may use something that you aren’t aware of. Also, you may use it once or twice a year only, for specific events or recipes.
I don’t advise having a maybe pile – as this is a way to delay the decisions you need to make.
But – I do agree that sometimes we are simple not sure whether items are used or not.
So – with this in mind, one option that you could use to make sure you don’t let go of things you actually need, is to add a sticky dot onto each item and take it off when you use it.
After a certain amount of time (a few months to give you time to go through a few events etc…) simply take out anything that still has the dot on and let it go – no questions asked!
Lots of ideas for Things to declutter from your kitchen…
Hope these have helped, and given you some inspiration for the next time you tackle your kitchen clutter.
Read Next: 30 Easy Things To Declutter From Your Utility Immediately
