How To Declutter Your Kitchen and Make It Work Better for You

Decluttering a kitchen isn’t always about getting rid of as much as possible. Sometimes the real goal is simply to make the kitchen work better for the way you live right now.

Recently, I helped my mom declutter and reorganize her kitchen after she had been living in her new home for about six months. When she first moved in, we found a place for everything, but after using the kitchen for a while, she started noticing some problems.

Things she used were stored too high. Items she rarely or never used were taking up valuable cabinet space. Some things had simply been put wherever they fit during the move rather than where they made the most sense.

How to Declutter Your Kitchen and Make It Work Better for You

So we decided to go through the kitchen again.

What started as a little reorganizing turned into a surprisingly big declutter, and it reminded me of several things that can help anyone who wants a simpler, more functional kitchen.

Start With What Isn’t Working

Before pulling everything out of your kitchen cabinets, take a minute to think about what is actually bothering you.

My mom’s biggest issue was accessibility. Some of her glassware and serving pieces were stored on the highest shelves. She couldn’t see what was up there, and getting something down meant climbing on a step stool while holding glass.

That didn’t make sense for her anymore.

This is a great place to start in your own kitchen. Ask yourself:

• What is annoying to get to?
• What do I use every day?
• What am I constantly moving out of the way?
• Are frequently used items stored in inconvenient places?
• What is taking up valuable space even though I rarely use it?
• Are there things in the kitchen that could be stored somewhere else?

You don’t necessarily need more storage. You may just need to rethink how you’re using the storage you already have.

Declutter Before You Organize

One of the first things we did was look through the cabinets for anything my mom already knew she didn’t want.

Instead of reorganizing those items or trying to find a better place for them, we took them out immediately.

That one step made the rest of the process much easier because suddenly we could see the space we had available.

This is why I almost always recommend decluttering before organizing.

There’s no point in spending an afternoon beautifully organizing things you don’t actually need.

Start with the easy decisions. Pull out anything you already know can go, and then reassess your space.

You might be surprised by how much room you already have.

Look at How You Actually Live

This was probably the biggest theme throughout our kitchen declutter.

My mom had quite a few things that belonged to a version of her life that doesn’t really exist anymore.

There were margarita glasses even though she doesn’t really make margaritas anymore. There were special serving dishes that might have been used for parties or holidays years ago. There were pie dishes even though she rarely makes pie.

None of these things were necessarily bad or useless.

They simply weren’t useful to her anymore.

This is an important distinction when you’re decluttering.

Instead of asking:

“Could I use this someday?”

try asking:

“Does this fit the way I actually live?”

Most of us can invent a future situation where almost anything could be useful.

Maybe you’ll host a big dinner.

Maybe you’ll start baking pies.

Maybe you’ll need twelve matching glasses.

But if you’ve owned something for five or ten years and that situation hasn’t happened, it’s worth questioning whether you need to keep storing something for it.

Your Kitchen Should Reflect Your Current Season of Life

Our needs change.

Maybe you used to entertain all the time but don’t anymore.

Maybe your kids have moved out.

Maybe you’ve stopped baking as much.

Maybe you cook completely differently than you did ten years ago.

Or maybe, like my mom, you’ve moved into a new home and realized you want things to feel simpler.

At one point while we were decluttering, my mom said that going through the moving process and simplifying so many other areas had made her want to have less in general. She wanted her kitchen to be accessible and simple rather than filled with things she couldn’t reach and rarely used.

I think this is something that can happen naturally as you declutter.

The more you experience the benefits of having less, the easier it can become to recognize the things you no longer need.

It’s Okay to Break Up a Set

This can be surprisingly difficult.

We often feel like something has to stay together simply because it came as a set.

My mom had coffee cups that matched her dishes, but she never used them. For a long time, breaking up the set felt wrong.

Eventually, she realized that keeping cups she never used simply because they matched her dishes didn’t make much sense.

You don’t have to keep:

• Every glass in a set
• All the matching coffee mugs
• Every piece of your dinnerware
• An entire bakeware collection
• All the pieces that came with an appliance
• A complete set of anything just because it was sold that way

Keep the pieces that serve you.

A complete set sitting unused in a cabinet isn’t necessarily more valuable than an incomplete set you actually enjoy using.

Give Your Best Storage Space to the Things You Use Most

As we created more room, we started moving things around based on how often my mom actually used them.

Things she reached for regularly came down to accessible shelves.

Things that were lightweight and rarely needed could go higher.

Heavy items needed to be somewhere secure and easy to reach.

And some things didn’t need to be in the kitchen at all.

For example, my mom had already moved barbecue supplies and some cleaning products out of the kitchen because she didn’t use them frequently enough to justify giving them valuable kitchen storage.

This is a simple organizing rule that can make a huge difference:

The easier something is to reach, the more frequently you should be using it.

Your prime kitchen real estate shouldn’t be occupied by something you use once a year while the bowl you use three times a week requires a step stool.

Store Like Items Together

As we moved things around, we also noticed that some categories were spread throughout several cabinets.

Food was one example.

By consolidating the food into one general area, we freed up other shelves and made it easier for my mom to see what she had.

This is also helpful for preventing overbuying.

If your food storage bags are in three different places, for instance, you might think you’re running low and buy another box when you already have two hidden somewhere else.

Try grouping categories together:

• Food and pantry items
• Baking supplies
• Food storage
• Everyday dishes
• Glassware
• Serving pieces
• Small appliances
• Cleaning supplies

When you can see an entire category at once, it’s much easier to know what you have.

Use Up What You Already Own

We found quite a few disposable kitchen supplies that had accumulated over time.

Some had been purchased for camping, some for everyday use, and eventually there were more than my mom needed.

Rather than throwing away perfectly useful supplies, the plan was simple:

Use them up and don’t buy more until they’re gone.

This can be a great decluttering strategy for consumable items.

You don’t always have to get rid of something immediately. Sometimes decluttering means putting yourself on a temporary buying ban and intentionally working through what you already have.

Don’t Let “Someday” Take Over Your Kitchen

We also found appliances and kitchen tools that had essentially been replaced by something else.

My mom had an appliance she wasn’t using anymore because her Ninja could do the same job, and was the one she actually reached for.

Once you find something that works well for you, ask whether you really need to keep all the older versions too.

Backups can be useful, but too many backups eventually become clutter.

The same goes for specialty gadgets.

If you haven’t used something in years because another tool does the job just as well, it may be time to let the duplicate go.

Sentimental Doesn’t Automatically Mean It Has to Go

Not everything needs to pass a strict usefulness test.

We came across some things that had sentimental meaning, including pieces my mom had made herself and things that had belonged to family members.

That’s different.

Decluttering isn’t about stripping your home of anything that doesn’t have a practical purpose.

The goal is to be intentional.

You can keep something simply because you love it.

But it’s helpful to recognize the difference between:

“I’m keeping this because it’s meaningful to me.”

and

“I’m keeping this because I feel guilty getting rid of it.”

Those are two very different reasons.

Pay Attention to the Things You Keep Decluttering

One thing that really stood out during this kitchen declutter was how much easier it was for my mom to let go this time around.

Some of these things had survived previous decluttering sessions.

Years ago, she wasn’t ready.

This time, she was.

And that’s okay.

Decluttering doesn’t have to be a one-time event where you make the perfect decision about every possession.

Sometimes you’re not ready to let something go.

Then a few years pass.

You realize you haven’t used it.

Your life changes.

Your priorities change.

And suddenly the decision that used to feel difficult becomes obvious.

That’s why revisiting areas you’ve already decluttered can be so helpful.

Organize for the Person You Are Today

By the end of our kitchen declutter, we had created a surprising amount of empty space.

But the biggest improvement wasn’t simply having emptier cabinets.

My mom could reach the things she actually wanted to use.

She wasn’t going to have to climb up to high shelves as often.

Similar items were together.

Things she hadn’t used in years were gone.

And the kitchen made more sense for the way she lives now.

That’s ultimately what I think a successful kitchen declutter should accomplish.

You don’t need a perfectly organized kitchen filled with matching containers.

You need a kitchen that makes your everyday life easier.

So if you’re thinking about decluttering your own kitchen, don’t start by asking how much you can get rid of.

Start by asking:

What would make this kitchen easier for me to use?

Then let that answer guide your decisions.

You may find that once you start removing the things that no longer fit your life, you don’t miss them at all.

Instead, you notice the space they leave behind, and how good it feels to have a little less.

Read More:

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How to Declutter an Overwhelming Space

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