Kickstarting the Kitchen Challenge

The next part of the Nikki Boyd 52 Weeks to a Beautifully Organized Home card deck involves moving on to the kitchen! This section covers cards/weeks 3 through 11, which go through various different parts of the kitchen, including cabinets, drawers, under the sink, etc. We’re going to go through these one at a time, just like I’ve been doing with everything else.

Card number three (Week 3) is all about going through your space and looking for things you’re not using. This means tossing out lids that don’t have a match, extra cooking utensils, kitchen gadgets, mugs, water bottles, and so on. It’s not so much a matter of reorganizing everything yet, but rather just getting rid of things you don’t need.

Saying Goodbye to the Old, Welcoming the New

The first thing I’m doing is retiring my old Food Network set of ceramic-coated cooking pots and pans. I’ve had these for easily over a decade, and as much as I really enjoyed using them, the ceramic coating is starting to chip off just from use (and from accidentally using metal utensils when I shouldn’t have!). It’s time for those to go.

I have replaced them with this stainless steel cookware that I ordered online. They are much more durable and less likely to chip since there is no coating. I did not order a set this time, but ordered the pieces I know I use the most.

Instead of just throwing my old pots away or trying to donate something that’s no longer usable with the chipping, I found a local metal recycling place. I emailed them, and they said they would take the pots—just not the lids.

As for the lids, I’ve decided that if I can use them on my new cookware, I will save them as extras, because extra lids are always helpful! However, any that I don’t truly need or am not going to use, I’m going to donate. They are still in good condition, and you never know who is going to need to purchase a replacement lid for a cooking pot because they broke one. I put those in a box along with some other plastic containers that I decluttered last year.

A Head Start on Storage and Plastic Containers

I actually started decluttering my kitchen last October and didn’t get through everything, but here are some photos of that project from before:

During that project, I went through all of my plastic containers and storage—including glass containers and lids—and then put them in these plastic organizers that I got on Amazon.

Because of that, this part is already completed!

Responsible Decluttering: Finding the Right Home for Trash

Not everything that you declutter is going to be able to be donated or sold due to its condition. At the same time, some things really shouldn’t just be thrown in the trash.

In this process, I am endeavoring to locate specific recycling options—like the scrap metal place for my old pans, or other specialized recycling for electronics and hazardous materials. These are things that really shouldn’t be thrown away and can’t go in regular curbside recycling, but just need to go to the proper facility.

This does take a little bit of extra time away from just getting things out of your house immediately. However, in the long run, I think it’s worth it for the environment and for my own peace of mind. I want items to go where they truly belong.

Looking Ahead

I think the kitchen is a great place to start. It’s a space where I tend to gather many kitchen gadgets and appliances. Obviously, the ones that I use, I’m going to keep—and hopefully, I’ll be able to better reorganize them once some of these other things are gone.

The next cards in the set are going to tackle specific cabinets and drawers, so I’m actually not going to tackle those spaces until I get to those cards. I’m just going to start with what I’ve already accomplished here for Card 3, and give myself a little bit of a pat on the back for getting a head start on this a little while ago!

I’m really looking forward to tackling the kitchen, and also getting to upgrade a few things like my cookware. Since I am starting to cook more, I’d say it’s a great problem to have that I’ve worn out my old cookware!