Now this is a big area to cover and will take a while. Remember to do one area at a time and tackle this job over a week or two. Work on it for half an hour, then go away from it for a while. I like to do it half an hour a day then do another half an hour the next day. It makes it less consuming and overwhelming. One section at a time, one half a hour at a time – it’s acheiveable.
DrawersSort through all the drawers in the kitchen. I have no idea what is in your drawers, but I will go by what’s in mine…
I seem to accumulate stuff in my ‘gadgets” drawer – I collect them and love them. But the rule is, if it isn’t used in the last year, it’s never going to be used, so it has to go. As hard as it is to let my precious “gadgets” go to a new home, I do it.
Pull out the entire contents of each drawer, one at a time, clean the bottom of the drawer. Declutter each drawer. Be ruthless – remember if you don’t use it, it’s just taking up space.
Having trouble with decluttering? Here are some tips:
Cutlery: have your kids outgrown their Bob the Builder cutlery set? Do you have 16 sets of mixed up cutlery? What can you cull?
Cooking utensils: Do you have 3 potato mashers? 42 sets of tongs (if you do send them this way! My tongs seem to go walkies!) Sharpen your blunt knives and put away. One knife of each type – the rest are just clutter.
Miscellaneous: Do you collect those little ties that come with freezer bags? Have you got 3 boxes of half used glad wrap? Etc etc? An empty roll of al-foil?
Sort through your cups and mugs, throw away chipped and mismatched crockery, do you need 25 sets of glasses? Do all your appliances work? Give them all a clean before putting them back.
Got your box ready? It might be an idea to have an old newspaper ready to wrap glasses and crockery, to give to away to help prevent breakage.
Remove all items, wipe the shelves down before replacing the items that you will be keeping. Close the cupboards, then focus on packing the box with the items you have culled.
This is a very big job, so make sure you don’t have an appointment or anything to run off to for the next few hours. It takes me about an hour to sort out my pantry – and it’s decluttered!!
Remove everything from the pantry – wipe the shelves out and clean the area thoroughly. Go through each item and put the out of date foods in the bin. Do you have tins of food that you probably will never eat? Give them to a charity or churches that do food parcels.
For a very neat looking pantry, Tupperware is great – if you can afford it. Otherwise other plastic wear will do the trick, so there isn’t messy looking packaging lying about, and it will keep mice, ants and cockroaches out of your food.
Again pull everything out, wipe the shelves and clean the crispers. I clean the crispers by soaking them with very hot water and dishwashing liquid. I empty it out after sorting the fridge out, give it a wipe, a rinse and pop it back in.
Sort out what you have. Do you have 3 jam jars with a smidgen of jam in the bottom? Throw them out. Also throw out old food and out of date food.
I have a little system in my fridge. I put all the condiments on one side up the top, and all my cooking needs (curry pastes, garlic, tomato paste etc) on the other side. This way when the recipe calls for a tbs of Thai curry paste, I know that it’s on the right hand side of top shelf. If my husband is making a salad and needs some pickled onions, he knows that they are on the left.
Do you have a herbs and spices rack or cupboard? I do!!
One good thing about herbs and spices is that they never go off. They will lose their flavour after a long period of time, and when you notice that happening, it’s best to throw them out.
Herbs on the other hand do lose their flavour alot quicker. The best way to tell if they are still ok is rub them in your palm and take a smell. If you can’t smell them, they are old and won’t add any flavor to your meals.
My tea and coffee cupboard is always full. I get given packets of tea and ground coffee at least 6 times a year for gifts. No big deal, because I love tea and coffee.
The shelf life of tea bags are around about 18 months, so they need to go in the bin if they aren’t used before then. Instant coffee on the other hand has a shelf life of 3 months opened, or 12 months unopened!!
Note to self: buy smaller jars of instant coffee!
Fridge
Get a box of small reusable stickers (from a newsagent) and pop them on to your fresh produce containers in the fridge. Write the date you bought the food on to the sticker so you know what is fresh and what needs to be used soon.
Tip submitted by Donna, Melbourne
If you have a tip to share, please send it through to skipper
domesticguru.com