Just about done with the kitchen and on track with week one (procrastinating on the tiny miscellaneous drawer because I saw a crayfish the last time I opened it). The outbox (the dining room table for this go around) is overflowing. That's what I like to see! Well, not really. But I'm hoping that once it's gone, I can keep similar items from coming back in.
Below are "after" pictures with summary tallies of what's being kept.
This cupboard was crowded with vases (the cheapies from flowers I've received over the years), an extra unnecessary colander, an unnecessary and bulky pot and borrowed Tupperware. Now we have:
- a salad server with 4 matching salad bowls - this would be considered unnecessary and I could probably be convinced to get rid of it. But it's one of those things that I like the look of and would like to have it stored on an open shelf and use it more frequently. Maybe I can keep it for now and reevaluate after the move
- metal collander
- 4-sided food grater
- tea light candles
- a Mongolian Coke bottle - yes, definitely unnecessary. It'll go in my keepsake box if not displayed somewhere
There wasn't much to get rid of in our baking staples. The one improvement I'd like to make is getting glass containers for these products.
This cupboard had a stock of expired popcorn and an overabundance of hot drinks handed down to us, some expired and some just not to our liking. (Arctic white hot chocolate, anyone?) We've limited it to the items we like/will use. The IKEA glasses on the top shelf should probably go in the outbox as I'm wondering if champagne glasses are really necessary. Regular glasses are just fine for special occasions. And I like our smoothie glasses, but would like clear ones even better and might convince Daniel to let us update soon.
This cupboard went from Crystal Light overload with random supplements, down to our regularly used multi-vitamins, pain reliever, emergen-c and the trusty Lactaid. Oh, I'm just realizing that open box of baking soda is well past it's prime and should be tossed.
Ousted from this drawer: chopsticks that have never been used in the 9 years I've owned them and cheap silverware that didn't fit well because of over-sized plastic handles and were hard to clean also because of said handles. The dry-erase marker keeps leftovers dated and used, and the permanent markers have randomly come in handy here.
The pantry has been pretty well organized since my two times through the Home Cure and intentional meal-planning and shopping lists have kept food items to the minimum. I got rid of a few food items given to us that I knew we wouldn't use, and put a casserole dish in the outbox that I don't think I'll miss. I'd like to eliminate some of the unnecessary cleaners (plan on going the vinegar, baking soda, salt, lemons route), replace the towels and replace a couple pots and pans. Still to work on in the kitchen: utensil drawers, storage bag drawer, small miscellaneous drawer, and spice cupboard.
Find other posts in this series linked >> here.
