De-Cluttering Your Kitchen

Clutter, while being bad Vastu, is also one of the reasons people get stressed in their homes, offices, factories and stores. To know what to give away, what to reuse or recycle, what to spend money on and how to maintain it- is where we can help.

Last week an old client called to ask if we still had her kitchen drawings (five years after completion!) She was wanting to re-organize her kitchen the way we had designed it! This is the first-ever such request we have received, but being a hoarder, I soon found what she wanted!

 

And so started my de-cluttering program too!

 

With the festive season, wedding season and winter right around the corner, we’ve all run out of excuses for putting off the annual cleaning and re-organizing of our homes.

This year, Sarita’s unusual request started me on a process of de-cluttering – very difficult for someone like me – and I thought I would share some thoughts from a design perspective with you.

The kitchen is usually the last one on our lists, being the most daunting task. In the spirit of doing this Sarita’s way, let’s make this more interesting and start de-cluttering with that thought in mind! Who knows what you might find!

 

Overwhelmed by the number of things you have?  Not to worry! We are here to help you tidy up that precious counter space, clear out those overstuffed cabinets and make space for some gorgeous new crockery.

It is a myth that a small kitchen would be really cluttered and disorganized due to lack of space. Let’s clear that up today – a large kitchen could be equally cluttered – if you have a counter – you tend to put something on it, if you have cupboards – you will stock them, and many love to put boxes on top of the overheads too!

It is far easier to do a quick drawing on paper deciding where you want what. A space for everything. Plan cabinets and utilize them fully. Keep some empty space for ‘future expansion’. Also, if you are overstocked – give some things away.

Several of our clients use Diwali as the occasion to give – it is, after all, the season for giving. There are NGOs like Goonj, Purukul Foundation, GiveIndia to name a few, that would be happy for used pots, pans, crockery, cutlery, bins, jars, appliances. New ones would be good too! Make space in your kitchen for something bright and new. You could add colour with new utensils, maybe that set of Cast Iron cookware, orange Kitchenaid kettle, teal handled pasta spoon…

 

TIME TO BE BRUTAL

• Empty out all the cabinets and pile up each of the items by category. How much of this do you really need?
• Do you entertain at home or at a restaurant? How often? Do you really require that fancy dinner set?
• Not too many people have the time to cook these days – is the baking set a hope that you will learn someday?
• Get rid of the extras and make space for essentials.

 

Here is a list of things you need space for:

Cooking utensils

Casseroles & serving dishes

Crockery (daily and party)

Cutlery (table and kitchen)

Steel/copper/kansa plates and bowls

Glassware

Microwaveable dishes & Ovenware

Flasks and lunchboxes

Disposables

Appliances

Masalas & herbs

Oils, vinegar and sauces

Jams pickles & table sauces

Lentils rice and Aatas

Breakfast cereals & seeds

Potato and onions

Dog food and biscuits

Snacks – sweet and savoury

Bottles

Soaps, cleaning equipment and garbage bags

Dusters and counter wipes

Empty Jars and martbaans

 

 

If you are saving those plastic boxes – throw them out – they are BAD for your family! If you have old tiffin boxes and your kids have grown up – get rid of them. If you are saving old crockery – give it away (unless it’s an heirloom)! If you are attached to all the old stuff, we can give you some creative ways to reuse it – and really ramp up the energy in your space.

A great idea one of our clients had was to use old crockery – the coloured khurja type – to decorate her walls in the form of mosaics. Perfect for those single cups, mugs, plates, bowls leftover from sets that have all been lost or broken. Kanika from Mini Mason was roped in and created beautiful mosaics from the broken crockery!

 

Another client used wine bottles, getting a glass artist to slice them through the middle and add a holder and light bulb. A lovely cluster of green, amber and pink lights was the result!

I painted motifs along the top of the cabinets in my kitchen – as a change from the austerity of the grey tiles. It became a family project and I love the designs. Next year I shall paint over the cabinets with stencils I bought online!

 

So make a list of what you will give away, what you will recycle, and what you will buy. Make your kitchen an efficient space and maybe some member of your family might be tempted to cook up delicious snacks and meals for you! In my case, I added an oven, and my son has fed me thereafter!

Have fun. Please share ideas for recycling and reusing ‘stuff’.