So, yes, I have decluttered the cupboards/drawers and shelves in my kitchen once a year, for at least five years in a row, and in the last two months, I have done it twice.
I have gotten rid of a massive amount each and every time.
This is just a fraction of what went in the last two months -
Some items go because of my arthritis, the Le Creuset pans are now too heavy.
Some items go because of color, I have white trays that are more versatile. I dislike red.
Some items go because of duplication, so many glass baking dishes!
Would anyone look at my kitchen now, today/decluttered, and think “minimalist”?
Nope.
No one would open a drawer or cupboard or look at my pantry shelves and think anything looked “empty”.
If everything reappeared, that I have gotten rid over over the last five years, it would be a very shocking amount.
I suppose it could physically be put back in the kitchen, it all came out of the kitchen, but it would have to all be Tetris-ed in to every possible spot.
Even if just what I have eliminated in the last two months came back, it would be shocking.
When I started doing the dishes every day, November 2023, it changed my perceptions.
When everything is clean, every day, how many of each item are needed, reduced, greatly.
Since my husband puts all the clean stuff away, every day, and because I like everything put in its spot, all the spots have to be easy and obvious.
I looked at the kitchen more from my husband’s point of view with this clean out.
As he takes each item out of the dishwasher, is it obvious where it goes? Is it easy to put away? Is it very very tidy?
I commune with my kitchen, in a very different way, now. My relationship is entirely different.
I enjoy my kitchen.
My kitchen feels like art, to me now.
All of this was possible, because I now do the dishes, every day.
