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We’re going to start this challenge off with the heart of the home: Kitchen Drawers, Cabinets, and Countertops. Even if you’ve organized your kitchen before, look at it with new eyes and see if you can make it better. If your kitchen is a total mess right now, remember this opinion while you Declutter. For things to change, you have to make different decisions.

{Before you get started, review How To Organize.}

DECLUTTER

Prepare your TRASH, RELOCATE, and DONATE bins for decluttering/ removing items that no longer go in the kitchen. Instead of a separate decluttering step first, you can combine steps 1 & 2 to save time in the kitchen. Declutter every item you touch while sorting.

COUNTERTOP

• Gather items that stay on the counter and move them to the table. Get them out of the way while you’re organizing the drawers and cabinets. Items that will stay on the counter should be items that are used almost every day. Precious counter-space is not worth “the occasionally used” item.
• For right now, though, leave the items on the counter that need to be put away into drawers and cabinets. Sort them with the drawer and cabinet items.
• Group similar-type-items or items that will be used during similar processes (even if they’re different). Play around with different groupings until one works best for you kitchen and your stuff.

ORGANIZE THE DRAWERS

• Pull everything out of the drawers. Declutter items or group similar items while you pull them out. Think through each item while you touch it. If a group of similar items are already contained in a basket, keep them in that basket while you sort.
• Look at your groupings, which items do you use most? Rank in order of importance, which really comes down to how often each group is used.
• Look at your most important group of items and pick a drawer for them. Where will it be most convenient for daily use?
• Go through group by group, in order of importance, and assign them a drawer.
• Measure each drawer and write notes on what is stored in each, mark if you already have a working drawer organizer (and it’s dimensions).
• Shop for drawer insert organizers for drawers that need it. Plan out the inserts on paper first, so that you buy what works on the first try.
• If you have stuff left after all the drawers are full, then you either need to fit more per drawer or declutter more —> I suggest decluttering.

Use a piece of scratch paper and make a visual plan for the drawers.

ORGANIZE THE CABINETS

• Before you get started, take a look at all your cabinets. Try to visualize groups of items that would make sense together. Draw your cabinet and take notes on a piece of scratch paper. Pre-plan what’s going in the cabinets. It is okay to change some things as you go, but pre-planning will really help reduce the work. As best you can, put items near where you use them.
• Start with the cabinet in the most prime location, which is the one you can reach the easiest and is closest to the area where you stand more. Empty the entire cabinet onto the countertops.
• Using your plan, fill the cabinet with the new items, taking them off the counter or from other cabinets.
• Go cabinet by cabinet, in order of importance or in order of all the stuff filling your countertops, until all cabinets are organized.
• When you finish getting items in cabinets that function better for you, look around and see if anything would be better contained in baskets on the cabinet shelves.

FINISH UP IN THE KITCHEN –

Before you’re done with the kitchen, take a few minutes to put everything away: Countertop items from the table back to the counters, donate declutter items, and relocate stuff back around the house. If you have time this week and you didn’t already do it with the cabinets, go ahead and organize your pantry and fridge! If you’ve got the energy left – make it pretty! This is a big week, so you may not get a chance to “make it pretty” like you want. It’s okay, progress is progress!

(And don’t worry, the Love Home Challenge is coming in the fall – you’ll get to do a lot of decorating then!)

Wishing you lots of awesome organizing this week!

From my home to yours,
Mary

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