De-Clutter Your Home: Week Four (Cabinet)

Step 1: Remove and clean.
Just like any ol’ de-cluttering and organizing process, the very first thing you need to do is take everything out of the area you are tackling. Every single thing.

Have separate piles or boxes for the following categories: donate/sell, move elsewhere and keep. You may also need a trash can handy.

When everything has been removed from the cabinet, give the area a thorough cleaning. Wipe the walls, the cabinet door(s) and handle(s), the shelves. Don’t forget to wipe the top and bottom of the cabinet as well, if possible.

Tip: Use contact paper to protect the shelves in your cabinets.

Step 2: Create a plan.
Decide how you want to organize your cabinet once it has been de-cluttered. I suggest getting your plan down on paper (being as detailed as possible) before you start putting everything away.

If you just shove everything back inside, thinking “I’ll organize it later”, odds are that you won’t remember or have the time to do it later. You have the time NOW, so do it now.

When you de-clutter and organize areas in your home, it’s best to get things completed as soon as possible so that the process doesn’t drag on and on and completely exhaust you.

Tip: Baskets are a great way to create boundaries in your cabinets. Put all like items into their own separate baskets and label them accordingly so that you know what’s inside.

Some questions you may want to ask yourself when you are creating your plan:

Under The Bathroom Sink: Do I want baskets? If so, how many and what size? Do I need to keep towels in here or can I keep them in the linen closet? Should my medicines stay here, or would they be better kept in one of the kitchen cabinets?

Pots & Pans: Do I want to invest in a hanging pot rack to save space in here? Where would I put it? Can I keep my baking sheets and muffin tins in the stove drawer instead of in here?

Step 3: Purchase needed supplies.
If you have decided to purchase any organizing supplies for your cabinet, pick them up as soon as possible.

If you are purchasing baskets, dividers or other organizing supplies, be sure to measure the cabinet before you go shopping.

Don’t purchase anything until you have measured the space, otherwise you may end up buying an item that does not fit (resulting in frustration and another trip to the store).

If you don’t need to purchase any organizing supplies, you can move on to step #4.

Step 4: Put your plan into action.
It’s now time to complete the de-cluttering and organizing process for your cabinet of choice.

Start putting everything back inside the cabinet, according to the plan that you laid out in step #2.

If you have created a very detailed plan, this process should not take you very long.

When you have finished de-cluttering your cabinet, remember to keep it up. Take an extra second or two to put things back where they belong when you are returning them after use.

show other family members the new, organized space and encourage them to keep it up as well.

Having an organized and clutter free cabinet will make the items inside so much easier to find when you are looking for them.