I am still reading my Good Housekeeping article on de-luttering and I am on the “kitchen” section today. Sometimes keeping this part of my home de-cluttered is more a dream than a reality. However, I consider myself an expert-in-the-field because I do like a tidy kitchen and this room always seems to be a work-in-process – hence I must be doing a lot of de-cluttering – right? Therefore “expert status. I am sure that someone else messes it up again as soon as I have spent the energy de-cluttering. But I can never catch them at it… So once again, using the six tips that GH has given us in this article, I thought I would score myself and also add my personal “Kitchen Wisdom”.

1. Show ‘Em Off – The recommendation here is to eliminate cupboard clutter by hanging your pots on S-hooks on a pegboard or a suspended rack. While I do agree this looks very Julia Child in the magazine photos, I have never done this myself and always think that unless you have a very small set of perfectly matched and unused shiny pots, that this adds to visual clutter. I think this one is a matter of “personal style” and how big your kitchen is. I stack mine in the cupboard on racks so they are double-deckered and minimize the space / footprint they occupy. Since you cannot see them, I don’t consider them clutter. And if I leave them in the cupboard instead of using them, they definitely do not contribute to my clutter problems.
2. Put A Lid On It – “Mount a rack on a cupboard or pantry door.” I have to say that this is a great idea – but I don’t do it. I just leave the lids on the pots (which I try to keep in the closed cupboard as much as possible anyway) so it’s not an issue for me – even if they do say this installation is a simple DIY project.
3. Gather ‘Round – “Get cooking faster. Store go-to utensils in a canister by the stove.” I tend to like this suggestion, but I think it depends on how many utensils you have, how matched they are (notice in the magazine photos they always match), and how attractive your container is. I have found in real life that this can look pretty ugly. For now, I have all of mine in a drawer so I don’t have to look at them and again if I don’t pull them out of the drawer then the kitchen stays uncluttered longer. I will suggest that if you do put them in a drawer that you use a divided tray(s) to sort them and keep them tidy – so when you do need to use them – you can find/select what you need and “get cooking faster”.
4. Purge the Plastic – “Avoid an overflow of storage containers. Keep just a few of each size – and top out at 12.”  This one had me rushing to the kitchen to count my containers as I know that I keep a lot. I found I had 14 of various sizes in the drawer. And I know there are a few in the fridge or freezer, so I guess I have too many. Considering that I agree with this suggestions and have now broken my habit of keeping every take-out food container that ever came into my home (the take-out was so I wouldn’t have to pull out the pots and clutter up the kitchen), I have decided to give myself at least a half point on this one.
5. De-Junk Drawers – “Stash only those items used daily, and move the rest to a more out-of-the-way-spot.” I have a small kitchen so there are no other out-of-the-way-spots. So my advice is: If you use it, keep it. Segregate the drawer my sections and keep frequently used items in one section (for me that includes the corkscrew) and items like the bean-slicer or the cherry-pitter or melon-baller in another section – unless of course you eat beans, cherries or melons every day. If you do not use it, then give it away to someone who will. That is de-cluttering.
6. Sneak Storage – “Hire a contractor to turn the empty space behind the kick plates into drawers (for trays etc.).” Again I think this is an excellent suggestion. But if hiring a contractor is out of the question, then I suggest you find other infrequently used space to hide the trays etc. Or better yet, if you have trays you do not use and you cannot commandeer them into holding other items somewhere in your living space (see LR suggestion) then give them to someone else who might use them.

I think I scored a half-point out of six on this one. In spite of what I said at the beginning my kitchen is not really that bad. So I have decided to redeem my reputation by writing a future blog of my own kitchen de-cluttering tips – watch for more on this subject later…

In the meantime, tell us which of these ideas you liked best. Or give us your favourite tip for keeping your kitchen de-cluttered.