If you’ve landed here, I’m assuming that you need, as I do, to clean out some clutter in your kitchen. There is no doubt in my mind that the drawers and cabinets in a home’s kitchen can quickly become the most cluttered, overstuffed, and tightly packed in the home.

It’s not hard to figure out why, either. The kitchen is the place where there is a constant flow of new mail, groceries, school papers, and so much more. Yes, those of you who are extra tidy can quickly disperse the worst of it, but still, a lot of things go into cabinets that are already full.

The beautiful side of kitchen clutter is that this room holds perhaps more memories than any other in the home. The stuff in your kitchen holds a lifetime of moments together where you ate meals, cooked together, talked out problems, laughed and cried together.

While you’ll also be cleaning out and organizing cabinets where food, spices and cleaning products are stored, I want to draw your attention to the more lasting residents of your kitchen cabinets that might be connected to memories you haven’t thought of in years.

Just consider the memories connected to these objects found in your kitchen.

• Glasses and Mugs – Got a “World’s Greatest Mom” mug in your cabinet?
• Cookbooks and Recipe Files – I have my Mom’s vintage Betty Crocker Cookbook in my kitchen. ❤️
• Plates & Other Dishes – Lucky you if you inherited your grandmother’s china.
• Flatware – You might still have the stainless serving spoons received at your 1970s wedding shower, but should you hang onto them?

It’s not hard to understand how we end up with kitchen cabinets and drawers packed and stuffed full of stuff we use everyday, but there is also plenty of stuff that can go – after we preserve the memories connected to it.

But how can you declutter your kitchen stuff without accidentally losing the memories and reasons why you kept it in the first place?

Here’s how!

GETTING STARTED – DIVIDE AND CONQUER

As you might have already done with your books/bookshelves and paper memorabilia and magazines, you’ll need to consider dividing the things you find when decluttering your kitchen into easy-to-define starting categories. 

But differently from how we categorized books and paper memorabilia for sorting, you’ll be first deciding what needs to stay put. The essentials. Since a kitchen is a place of daily work, everyone who lives in your house (even if it’s just you!) will be depending on certain objects to be right where they expect them to be.

I suggest that you’ll want to consider dividing your kitchen stuff into these 4 categories:

1. Those things you use on a regular basis and need to leave right in the cabinet or drawer where everybody expects them to be!
2. Those things you aren’t really using often, but you treasure and want to keep, possibly for future generations.
3. Those things that you no longer want, but someone else would enjoy and can be given away or sold.
4. Those things that you no longer want or you don’t believe would bring enjoyment or value to someone else.

I’ve created a simple flow chart app that you can use over and over again to help you go through the Divide and Conquer process of making decisions about what to do with your household object when decluttering. It’s free to use! Fill out this form to get free access.

And as I like to say – Now it’s time to make a mess!

But first, some guidelines. As I mentioned earlier, your kitchen is a place of preparation and very active. Depending on whether you are going to work through this process quickly (over a few days) or need to spread it out longer – choose a good place to sort. 

You’ll also need a place to store the objects that you will be letting go of until you’ve preserved some of their memories. More on that later on!

Depending on how much stuff you have, find some boxes and/or baskets and start the sorting process. I’ve elaborated on each of the 4 categories, so keep reading. 

CATEGORY ONE – THE STUFF YOU USE

I function the best within an orderly process, so my advice to you is to tackle decluttering your kitchen stuff one cabinet, drawer or shelf at a time.

Take a hard look at what you’re finding and ask yourself – “Am I or someone else in my household using this on a regular basis? Is it essential to our cooking?”

If the answer is yes – then leave it right where it is for now. This isn’t the time for reorganizing. That can come later after you’ve decluttered.

With the essentials secured, now it’s time to declutter and sort the non-essential stuff.

CATEGORY TWO – THE STUFF YOU TREASURE

To sum up, the Stuff You Treasure category of kitchen stuff will be those things that are 

1. Precious enough to you to keep in your home and occupy some precious space, and
2. Will be left in your home after you’ve died for your family to either keep or give away, but with them still knowing why they were precious to you.

But what if there are some things in your kitchen that you really treasure but you don’t have the space or desire to keep them in your home?

The answer is simple. Photograph it. Write down your memories. Let it go.

Move on to Category Three where you’ll learn how to preserve memories for yourself and your family. ⬇️ 

CATEGORY THREE – STUFF TO GIVE AWAY OR SELL

In today’s world of inexpensive digital media, we’ve been given the perfect solution to preserving the memories connected to our household objects while still living in an intentional home.

Just take a lovely photo. Write down your memories so that you and your family will have them secured. And then let the stuff go.

And actually, even with the kitchen treasures that you want to keep for future generations, this is my recommendation. We aren’t guaranteed that objects in our homes will stay safe or that we will mentally hang onto the memories connected to them. So go ahead, take a digital photo and keep your written memories in a safe, digital place for lasting storage.

Here’s how.

Get a good photo. Find a solid background that will give your memorabilia or magazine cover the best change to be photographed nicely. A piece of whiteboard from your craft or office supply story will work great for this. 

Place the white board in a sunny spot and position your kitchen object on it. Use your digital camera or smartphone camera to take a photo.

I’ve got an ebook coming out very soon that will give you more help with taking good photos of your objects, but for now you can get good results with your smartphone’s camera and a sunny spot.

Write those memories. After you take some photos and before you forget about it, open up a Google or Word doc and write a few words about your kitchen object and why you loved it. That photo and your written memories can be added to your Family Story Collection for your enjoyment and for your family when you are no longer around.

If you also want to display the photo of this memorabilia, take extra care with the lighting for your photo so that you can get the best possible result. But either way, putting this photo in a frame will give you the chance to relive the memories connected to this memorabilia every time you walk past it on your wall or desk.

Once you’ve curated the memories, now it’s time to share your object with someone else.

Give to a family member – Once you’ve captured and curated the memories and you’re ready to let go of your object, make sure and check with immediate and extended family members who also might have connections to the object.

For example, I would never get rid of something that belonged to my mother without checking first with the rest of my family who loved her, too.

Sell

• Ebay – There are many kitchen objects that are valuable to collectors. If you’re curious, please take the time to do a quick internet search for value. One tip is to go to eBay and search for an item using the “Sold Items” filter. This will give you a good idea of current market value. This is ideal for identifying the value of brands like KitchenAid, Le Creuset, or vintage Pyrex.
• Facebook Marketplace – This is always a great place to give away or sell things that you no longer need.

Donating to Thrift Stores – If you want to donate your kitchen goods to a thrift store, be sure and check out their list of accepted donations before you load up your car and make the trip to the donation center. Here’s a link to Goodwill, but of course there are so many more thrift stores that you could check out. 

CATEGORY THREE – STUFF TO THROW AWAY or RECYCLE

Even with your best efforts to give away and donate your kitchen objects you don’t want any longer, you’re still going to need to put some in the trash. 

But don’t overlook the option to recycle glass goods. 

Here are some common guidelines for glass recycling:

• Rinse and Dry: Ensure containers are empty and dry to prevent mold and contamination.
• Keep Bottles Intact: Do not break bottles. Intact glass is easier for facilities to sort by color.
• Remove Lids: It is recommended to remove metal caps/lids and recycle them with metals, though some guidelines say to leave them on to prevent them from becoming loose litter.
• Labels are Fine: Labels do not need to be removed.
• Use Proper Drop-offs: In many areas, glass is not allowed in curbside carts and must be taken to specialized drop-off locations.

What to Avoid (Non-Recyclable Glass):

• Windows and Mirrors: Treated differently and cannot be mixed with food containers.
• Ceramics and Pottery: Items like mugs, bowls, and plates.
• Heat-Resistant Glass: Pyrex and ovenware
• Broken Glass: Hazardous to workers

Now it’s time to open up that cabinet where you’ve stored all those mismatched drinking glasses and work through the 4 categories.

• Which ones are you actually using on a regular basis? Leave those alone.
• Which ones are treasured – like the champagne glasses from your wedding that you want your granddaughter to have some day? Store somewhere safely and also take photos and write a bit about them. If they get broken, you’ve already captured them and curated the memories.
• Which ones haven’t had a liquid in them for years and you can just give away or donate?
• Which ones are in a state (stained, chipped, cracked) where you really just need to throw away or which ones are intact enough to be recycled?

As always, my advice is to take your time and make this process as joyful if possible. Congrats on taking the steps now to downsize a bit and be more intentional about what you are keeping in your home.

Can I ask a favor? If you take a great photo of something special or end up framing some memorabilia that is connected to a milestone, I would love to see it and hear the backstory!

You can either DM me on my social feeds or, if you want, tag me so that everyone else could see it and be inspired.

Here are the accounts you can tag me in – 

Instagram @roseandbirdstudio  

Threads @roseandbirdstudio

Facebook @roseandbirdstudio