This month has been all about the REFRESH.
January has given me lots of energy to declutter and tackle some projects I’ve had on my list for weeks - and for the past week, I’ve dedicated myself to organizing and refreshing our kitchen!
We actually have a decent sized kitchen in our little one bedroom rental - however - the cabinet space is VERY minimal. We were perplexed when we moved in to discover that basically nothing fit in our cabinets; plates were too wide, cups were too tall and the drawers weren’t wide enough for our silverware.
We ended up purchasing THIS storage unit from IKEA, and added a DIY shelf (super easy and cost effective) and have been pretty happy with it, but our cabinets have been stuffed full of random pantry items. Our kitchen is relatively tidy on the outside, but open a cabinet and things would tumble out.
This HAD to change.
Here is my process for tidying and refreshing our kitchen!
Assess the Space + Pinpoint What You Use Daily
Before I did anything, I made a list of the things we use in our kitchen everyday. What are the things I need easy access too? Especially when you’re in a small space - you want to make the best use of every nook and cranny! I didn’t want to waste valuable counter space with things I didn’t use. This also helps with the decluttering process
If I don’t use it everyday, what is the value added? Do I keep it, or can I lovingly let it go?
Make a Plan + Take Everything OUT
Decluttering and organizing the kitchen is a big project, even if you have a small kitchen like I do. I decided to break it down so I didn’t get overwhelmed.
Day 1 - Fridge
Day 2 - Cabinets
Day 3 - IKEA Unit
When it’s time to organize, I find it’s best to clear the space. I emptied the fridge one shelf at a time. I tossed expired things and kept what I still needed and used. I did the same with the cabinets - empty it all out and assess what you have.
Clean + Declutter!
While your space is empty - clean it! Give your surfaces a wipe down. It’ll be so nice. Once you have everything in front of you, be sure to have piles for keep, toss and donate. Then go through your things - one item at a time. I asked myself - do I use this daily? What value does it add to my life? Do I keep this, or let it go? Continue this until you’ve got only your essentials! Then breath a little deeper :) Drop off your donated items to Goodwill. Celebrate!
Beautify The Space!
This is my favorite part - but you can’t get here until you’ve tidied! It’s like the cherry on top - once you have your essentials, I love finding ways to store my things beautifully. I got some refrigerator organizers and was so excited to include them. I have been keeping my sparkly water in the box on the floor for weeks because we didn’t really have room in our fridge before, but I got THIS can organizer and now they fit in the fridge easily, and they look pretty too! I also got a clear organizer for our eggs.
BONUS TIP: Store Like with Like!
We had SO many glasses stuffed in our cabinets, and I realized that we hardly use them. I turned the one cabinet stuffed with glasses into a supplement cabinet - which now holds things we use daily - like protein powder, pre-workout collagen powder, and our shaker bottles! They used to be sprinkled in various parts of the kitchen, and now having them all together is a relief!
Our other cabinet is serving as our pantry, and again, I tried keeping like things together. It had a bit of everything in it before, but now it’s mostly pantry carbs haha - like wraps, popcorn, English muffins (things we eat everyday!) and we moved all of our canned goods to one shelf, and baking to one shelf!
We also decided to put our toaster oven in our storage unit temporarily to see if we miss it. It was taking up quite a bit of space and we hardly use it. Dale and I have been loving bedtime bowls of cereal, and our cereal boxes have been living on top of the fridge, which isn’t my favorite. I got these cereal containers and we’ve decided to store our cereal where the toaster oven was! Again - we eat our cereal everyday, and it just makes more sense to make it a little more accessible.
And there you have it! Our kitchens are usually at the heart of our Home, and keeping it tidy and organized is like a gift to yourself. It has taken TIME for us to get to a place of ease in our kitchen (just about a year actually) and its still not perfect - but simply moving some things around and making sure the things we use daily are easily accessible has made all the difference. As always, feel free to reach out on Instagram if you have any questions - my handle is @kristengaraffo and if you decide to declutter and organize your kitchen - be sure to tag me!
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