Decluttering the Kitchen Cupboards

Kitchen cupboards can gather a lot of clutter and become disorganized easily. Go through them often to get rid of the clutter and keep them organized.

It’s Day 28 of our 30 Day Decluttering Series! We are so close to the end! I hope you have been able to declutter your own problem spots this month, I am very happy with what I’ve been able to do in just a few weeks.

However, I have another sick child. I have resigned myself to the fact that my big projects aren’t going to get done this month—especially since there are only a few days left, and one of those days is Halloween.

Even though life continues to throw curve balls, I’m faithfully sticking to my 15 minutes a day rule.

Today I was able to get through the worst cupboard in the entire kitchen. For me, that is my Tupperware/miscellaneous container cupboard. Oh my gosh, it drives me nuts and it is impossible to keep it organized for long.

It’s not really overflowing, it’s just a mess. Also, since I have a galley kitchen, I had to use my phone for these photos since my camera lens wouldn’t be wide enough. I apologize for the less-than-stellar photos. (Not that the ones I’ve been showing on these posts have been more-than-stellar or anything.)

Here is a closer-up of the mess:

Kitchen cupboards collect clutter. Stay on top of it by keeping them organized and getting rid of the things you don't use. Or the tupperware that doesn't have matching lids anymore!

I truly hate this cupboard. It’s used often, since I send my girls to school with a lunch every day, and I prefer to use a container instead of buying plastic baggies all the time. But every time I’m making lunches, I get frustrated because I can never find containers and lids that match without pulling 25 things out of the cupboard.

I even have a bin that’s just for lids, but if you look closely, you’ll see it doesn’t matter that much.

Using a bin for just tupperware lids is a great idea, but keep it from gathering things that don't belong.

It’s way too small, for starters. Which is probably why a bunch of lids are haphazardly thrown into the cupboard. It also contains a few things that shouldn’t be there. I spy a canning lid and some containers.

So that wasn’t working for me.

And neither was the rest of the cupboard.

I pulled everything out first and made a few decisions. See that bronze canister in the cupboard (hidden now by the words I put on top of it)? I love it, but my counter space is at a premium and I don’t know where to display it. For now, I put it in my “I’m deciding” pile. Maybe I’ll think of a better home for it, but if I don’t, it’s time to just let it go.

There were a few other things in the dark recesses of that cupboard that I simply never use. So those also went into the donate/get rid of it pile.

After I sorted through and kept what I wanted to, I started making sure that everything had matching lids. To my absolute surprise, every single container had a matching lid. You could have fooled me with how long it takes to find one every day!

I did still get rid of a couple containers and their lids because they were warped or didn’t stay on properly. Useless.

Don’t keep useless things.

I sent one of my daughters upstairs to fetch me a couple bigger fabric bins. I knew there were a few unused ones in the storage closet.

One of them I filled with a few things that I use less often and pushed it to the very back of the cupboard. The other I filled with lids and labeled it, in the hopes that the people living here will actually put the lids away there.

These adorable ice cream dishes were stuffed way in the back and were always rolling around being annoying. I moved them over to the hutch where I had made room for them when I decluttered all the games. I am much happier having them over there.

Finally, I just organized what was left as best as I could. Plastic/Tupperware containers are not super easy to organize. I realize that I will need to re-organize this cupboard often in order to keep it working properly.

But I am much happier with how it looks right now!

I organized and decluttered another of my cupboards back in January. That one is heavily labeled, and I am pleased to say that it is almost as organized as it was when I first finished it, and I haven’t had to redo it yet.

You can find that post here: Organize the Catch-all Cupboard.

Which kitchen cupboard will you start on?