Happy New Year Everyone! We hope your 2026 is off to a great start. Many New Year’s resolutions include organizing and decluttering our homes. Starting the process can be overwhelming. We would love to help. Whether you hire us to work with you directly in your home or read our blog advice (or both), we are here for you.
If you are interested in professional organizing, contact us for a consultation. We offer a variety of services at different levels to suit your needs.
If you want to start decluttering your home yourself, we offer tips and suggestions in this and our upcoming blog posts. The best way to tackle a seemingly overwhelming project is to START SMALL. With achievable goals and manageable tasks, you are less likely to give up before you reach completion.
While decluttering your home, take on one room at a time. This post will address the kitchen and pantry.
TEN ITEMS TO GET RID OF IN YOUR KITCHEN AND PANTRY RIGHT NOW:
- Expired/Old Spices & Oils: Spices lose potency and oils go rancid; toss anything past its prime. Buy new spices when you need them. If you never cook with cardamom or dill, why are they in your spice rack?
- Freezer-Burned Foods: Items with freezer burn lose flavor and texture; discard them. They simply taste bad.
- Old Condiments and Dressings: Check expiration dates on sauces and dressings; they aren’t immortal. Since many of these aren’t used regularly, they can linger for years in your refrigerator.
- Scratched Nonstick Pans: Once the coating flakes, they’re unsafe; replace or switch to cast iron/stainless steel.
- Chipped Mugs, Glasses and Dishes: Cracked ceramic can harbor bacteria and break; chipped glass can cut you.
- Unnecessary Gadgets: Get rid of single-use tools (like banana slicers) for multipurpose items.
- So Many Plastic Containers: It’s easy to accumulate take out containers, but how many do you really need? Toss containers without matching lids, or vice versa, and pitted plastic ones. If you must, keep only a few of each size.
- Stained/Threadbare Kitchen Towels: Use them one last time for a heavy duty job, like cleaning the oven, then toss.
- Duplicate Items: How many potato peelers do you need? How many colanders? Choose your favorite and clear out the rest.
- Unused Appliances: Do you have a toaster AND a toaster oven? Do you have a rice cooker but only make rice on your stove top? Clear out any redundant or never used appliances.
Donate any clean items in good condition to a local charity. Throw away, recycle or compost any perishables and damaged items.
Once you’ve created space in your pantry and/or kitchen cabinets, you can store items that have been sitting on your counters. This will make your kitchen feel less chaotic and give you more working space for creating your culinary masterpieces.
Stay tuned for our next blog post about decluttering your home office.
