If you want to declutter your kitchen (or any area), the first thing you need is the right mindset.
Clutter is a state of mind more than anything else. This may sound strange, as you can obviously see clutter as physical objects that pile up and get in your way. However, it is people who create clutter, and the whole process starts in mind.
To reduce clutter, one thing you should commit yourself to is not creating any more clutter in the future. If you don’t start with this step, it won’t matter how much you clean up or straighten things out. The clutter will just return, and faster than you might expect.
When trying to accomplish any goal, it is best to frame it in a positive way. So rather than resolving to “not create clutter” or even to “declutter,” it is best to think in terms of being neat and organised.
Do You Need a Bigger Kitchen?
It is natural to think that the ideal solution to kitchen clutter would be to have a much larger kitchen, like a farmhouse kitchen. Whether this would mean doing a major renovation to your present kitchen or moving into a large house, the more space you have, the less clutter.
While this may make sense on the surface, it is not usually the case (unless your kitchen is truly tiny relative to the size of your household).
Clutter expands with space.
The larger a room is, the more difficult it can be to keep track of everything. This creates a feeling of less control rather than more.
I’m not trying to talk you out of remodelling your kitchen, especially if you have some specific goals in this direction. However, it is not usually the best solution for kitchen clutter. For this, your primary focus should be on making better use of the space you already have.
Trash & Recycling
This is another area where you may have to develop more efficient habits. An overflowing trash bag or recycling bin can create a cluttered feeling in the kitchen.
Have an organised system for trash and recycling.
How you set this up depends on your preferences and the size and layout of your home. You may for example, want to have a small or medium-sized garbage pail in the kitchen and keep your larger trash can out of the way, perhaps on the porch. This is usually preferable to having a giant trash can in your kitchen. Either way, trash cans should always have lids that fit snugly, so people don’t have to see or smell the contents.
If you don’t have an efficient system for separating trash, compost and recycling, set one up so that everything goes into its proper container right away.
