Dejunk Yourself Week Three: Dejunking the Best Room in the House
It's time to tame the beast
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Is there a more difficult room to declutter than the kitchen?
Many of us crave those gorgeous, seemingly unattainable Pinterest-style kitchens where everything has a place and no mess is made. But we have to think practically.
Not only is it the room we spend the most time in. It’s also often dual+ purpose, doubling/tripling/quadrupling as a dining room, a workspace, a drinking den, a kid’s playroom.Â
As someone whose career has revolved around food and wine for the last decade, the kitchen is my sanctuary. And I’ve spent just about as long perfecting it into a practical but clutter-free space.
This is not something that happens overnight. It’s the toughest room of the house to tackle, which is why I’m dedicating a whole week of this course to it.
Take your time on this one - start small, and declutter a little bit every day. It might take a few weeks or even longer.
But boy is it worth it.
Be mindful of what you own by documenting what you use
First things first - what do you actually use on a daily basis? Much like your closet, it might be far less than you think.
And do you even know?
To find out, spend a week documenting what you’re using. You could do this by clearing a cupboard and putting only what you’ve used back in there. If you don’t have space for that, you could turn the item upside down, or perhaps stick a Post-It on the gadget. You could write it down. Whatever you do, use a signifier to show you’ve used the item.
By the end of the week, you’ll know your non-negotiables. Everything else is a potential candidate for the declutter pile.Â
If it’s not been used in the last week, has it been used in the last month? 3 months? Year? Has it ever been used? As The Minimalists say, if it spontaneously combusted right there on the worktop, would you feel sad or relieved? Your reaction is a good indicator as to if that item can go in the donate pile.
Being mindful of what you actually use goes a long way to identifying what can be thrown out or donated.
Truly understand that you can live with less in your kitchen than you think
There is nothing like living out of Airbnbs for two years to really appreciate how little stuff you need to make great food.
Even at my most minimal back in the UK I still had scores more dishes, saucepans, and utensils than I live with on the road now.
Sometimes it means being flexible, or that a dish might not be presented exactly how you’d like it. But it almost always still tastes great - because good food can be made in a single saucepan with a single spoon.
Knowing this goes a long way to help you to declutter your kitchen space.
Relocate anything that doesn’t serve your kitchen’s purpose
If you use your kitchen table as a place to work or do life admin, it’s likely to be covered with papers and items that don’t actually belong in the kitchen.
So move them to where they belong.
The same goes for anything in your kitchen that doesn’t actually live there. Kid’s toys. Clothing. Tools. Anything that you can’t eat with or cook with, return it to its rightful home and watch your space become less cluttered in moments.
9 easy wins for day one
Throw out any takeout-related paraphernalia. Be honest - you’re never going to use those tiny packets of ketchup leftover from a takeout meal months ago, are you?Â
Clear the front of your fridge. Old receipts, takeout menus (they’re online!), crappy art neither you nor your kid cares for - get it off the fridge and into the recycling.
Clear the out-of-date food. We’ve all got old spices, jars, and condiments that could be years past their use-by date. Chuck them.
Extra aprons and dishcloths. I always had far too many of both. Cut them into rags or recycle them.
Worn out or no longer used wooden spoons. No one needs 10 wooden spoons - just two or three will usually suffice.
Cookbooks you never use (we all have them). Photograph the few recipes you like in there and donate the books.
Mis-matched Tupperware. If the container doesn’t have its lid, in the recycling it goes.
Old cleaning supplies. Rationalize duplicates into one bottle, throw away anything you don’t use, and put empty bottles near the front of the cupboard so they’re used up first.
Chopping boards. Everyone seems to own at least four or five (or more) when you only really need one or two.
Clear the worktops
This is something I’ve only recently taken on board and I wish I knew earlier how effective it is to have clear surfaces. When my countertop used to be the home to my toaster, a kettle, and jars of tea, coffee and sugar (and more), it now only houses a kettle (because I’m British so that kettle is used a LOT).
Everything else goes away in the cupboards. After all, a toaster is only used once, maybe twice a day. The same goes for the cooking oil or salt and pepper.
Keeping surfaces clear goes a long way to making your kitchen a calmer, more organized space.
Go multi-use
A single decent chef’s knife can eliminate the need for scores of kitchen gadgets.
A quality Dutch oven can do the work of many different saucepans or oven dishes (and look better doing it).
A stick blender can do 95% of the job of a big, complicated food processor with dozens of parts that inevitably distribute themselves all throughout the kitchen.
Embracing multi-use items is one of the single best ways to reduce your kitchen gadget habit.
The sticky issue of the pantry
Clearing out your food can feel like a near impossible task. We’re (rightly) conditioned to feel bad when we throw out food, especially if it’s still in date. So we keep the tiny, unusable bits of specialty flour we bought to bake a cake three years ago.
Here are some ways to make clearing out your pantry easier, quicker, and less guilt-laden:
Donate unopened, in-date food to your local food bank
If there’s unopened food in the pantry that you never use (I’m looking at you, canned fruit), food banks are a great place to donate. Just ensure the food is in date.
Throw away duplicates
The last time I stayed at her house, I counted three jars of cumin in my mother’s house, two of which were out of date.
Throwing away - or combining packets of - duplicate food is a quick win.
Take one shelf at a time
No one said you have to declutter a whole pantry in one go. It took me nearly a year to whip my own into shape. So, as we learned in week one, you listen to my mother and take one small part of the pantry at a time.
Learn how to substitute ingredients
You don’t always need very specific ingredients to make a dish - you can often find a great substitute on your shelves. This means that random spice mix you bought for a very specific dish can go (or at least be used up and not re-bought). Plain flour can replace strong white. Penne can replace orichiette pasta. You get the idea.
Challenge yourself to eat from the pantry for the next week
Pull out those cans and think about what you could make from them. How about what’s in your freezer?
As I discovered one snowy week a few years back when I couldn’t drive to the store, it takes surprisingly little time to eat through a pantry. So if you’re looking to size down what’s in yours, eating your way through it is the quickest - and most guilt-free - way to do that.
Plus it’s fun thinking up recipes you can make with some frozen broccoli, a can of tomatoes, and a jar of beans.
An easy way to clear the fridge
Cleaning out the fridge is no picnic. There’s something that feels so wasteful about throwing milk down the drain or chucking half a can of beans.
If you want to lessen the guilt, here’s a tip:
Pull out everything from your fridge. Anything out of date or moldy is an easy chuck.
Take stock of what’s left. If you can think of a meal using whatever ingredient is in your hand that you can cook now, write down that meal and vow to make it this week. Random bits of cheese could become cheese scones. A singular potato could be boiled and refried in a skillet, mixed with onion, garlic, and any other odd vegetables in the fridge as a lunchtime hash for one.
If you can’t think of anything to make with said ingredient, then it might be time to throw it out (and be mindful of re-buying it in the future).
A note about mugs, glasses, and crockery
The chances are, you have too much of all of them. I’ve been to households of two people who own over 30 different wine glasses, 20 mugs, and piles upon piles of crockery.
As an ex-Sommelier, here are my two cents on wine glasses: You do not need hundreds of different shaped glasses for different wine styles - it’s a myth. Get the right ones and you only need one per adult, plus a few spares for guests. Head over here for more information.
With regards to mugs or crockery, if you’re keeping your list of what you use in the kitchen, you’ll know which ones you use on a frequent basis. Keep your faves - donate the rest.
Resources
A reminder to download my 100 items to discard today checklist, which has some great ideas about tackling easy wins in your kitchen.
Your homework
This week, I want you to start with figuring out what you use on a daily basis in the kitchen, as per point one. Dedicate 15-20 minutes a day to a small portion of your pantry, fridge, and freezer, and start throwing out those old bits of food. And let us know how you’re getting on in the comments.
I want these courses to be as value-laden as possible, so here’s something extra from me to you: My inbox is always open and I love getting mail. If there’s some part of your house - or the course - that you’re struggling with and want some one-on-one help, just shoot me a message at charliebrownwriter@gmail.com. I’m here for ya.