Things have been developing that way at my house too. I blame it on being busy, tired, and doing a reno. When something gets plopped somewhere because it was the handiest place. Then that something ends up living there permanently for no good reason. Like why does the anti-biotic ointment need to stay on top of the MW when the bandaids are in the bathroom at the opposite end of the house?

So true. When we emptied out the kitchen I stored everything in the basement. I took the advise of bringing things up as I needed it, so in a few weeks, my kitchen had only things that I used most often. (Did I really need the melon ball scooper? etc.)
I did the same with my china cabinet. Why did I store Christmas stuff in there? Now it has all my serving dishes handy for parties and gatherings. Everything is functional and not cluttered.

I am in the process of putting my kitchen back together after boxing everything up and having it partially renovated. I am also throwing away and donating a ton of stuff that I really don't need. My husband is even more enthusiastic about it and we are creating a great deal of space. I donated my cookbooks (except for a handful of those that I actually use) to Goodwill, pots and pans to Goodwill and consignment shops and gave my son enough kitchen ware to stock his first apartment. I haven't finished yet as I really had WAY too much stuff in my old kitchen as we have lived here for 25 years. My collection of batter bowls and crocks will be rotated so only part of them will be displayed. I really don't need to have all those small appliances and the ones I don't use are going to be donated. I know it will be wonderful when I am finished but it is exhausting right now. LOL.

Same here. Left a lot of things in the basement pantry. Very liberating to not have all that stuff around. Gave stuff away too. Still have more than I need.

Once went to a Mark Bittman book signing. He said that he got rid of all his cookbooks!

I think every kitchen large or tiny can benefit from being completely evacuated and selectively set back up every so often. I now have several shelves and shopping bags in the basement filled with kitchen "junk" for a far-off future yard sale.
Just bring back in what you use. Simplify. The upside is, with less junk to rummage through you end searches so much quicker.
Some would say this applies to decor just as much.
Casey

Sally Sue-
Your post is so timely! Our tiny kitchen is being demolished (love that word) tomorrow AM bright and early. All cupboards are emptied into boxes in the living room. And my junk drawers took up four brimming shoeboxes! What happened there.
I hope to have more storage but used better, time to edit and donate.
This Forum has helped us so much in planning this much-anticipated change. No fancy new appliances, lovely laminate countertop, adding tile backsplash and hoping to make a splash with that.

sallysue, I understand exactly what you're saying! I moved most of my kitchen 'stuff,' including cookbooks, into another room. I'm taking note of the things that I've brought back and kept beside the stove, things I've used most often, and where I've used them. Recently had to choose which cookbooks to keep out, and which ones to store below deck.

Of course, vintage pottery is always useful, anywhere ;) .

something I discovered now that I have rethought my kitchen gear is that I kept things together that had nothing in common. Why was ice cream scoop consorting with the stove utensils? Why were bandaids and batteries and the electric knife together? My new kitchen gives me the luxury of dissociating things and putting them together in new ways. One of my new habits is to use bakeware as dividers in new wide upper drawers. Here I already had perfectly functional divider units that I didn't recognize as such--I almost went to store to buy new divider thingies. Lasagna pan now holds paring and shredding utensils; brownie pans hold measuring spoons and such. It's no big deal to dump the pans temporarily when I need to actually use them and I'm using these pans more now because they're close at hand.

Another thing I've done is dissociate serrated knives and some of my little knives from the knife set; they now live with the flatware right by the sandwich station. Easy to cut sausage, cheese, and bread without taking extra steps.

Be sure to rethink your collection of plastic containers. How many old yogurt tubs do you really need? Now that our recycler accepts them, I'm dumping a lot of old plastic!

I should do that with my closet. Take all my clothes and put them in the basement, bringing up things as I need them. I'm pretty sure I'd end up with 1 pair of jeans, 3 shirts, and a pair of khakis. It will be like getting a new closet!

>Why were bandaids and batteries and the electric knife together?

Well, maybe not batteries, but bandaids + electric knife makes sense to me! :)

Yes, this is a very timely thread. I was just looking at the spice/canned goods cabinet this morning, thinking "Gee, what a mess. I need to straighten this out."

Ooh, we just did this recently.

Problem was, we had a huge ontological dispute (raging many days) over whether the can opener belonged with the 'sharp cutting things' or the 'bottle openers'. Is its sharpness subsumed by its opening capacity, or vice versa?

That way lay madness and divorce, so now we just let the can opener live wherever the last person who emptied the dishwasher puts it.

circuspeanut, get two can openers, so you BOTH can be right!:)

Count me in on the new kitchen purge. The only things I didn't/couldn't pack or give away were my china tea cups and tea pots and other vintage china dishes. Well, MOST of the cups I kept, some did go into a plastic tub and into the garage. As far as the other stuff, I also kept only what I use most often. However, the cook book collection is still stacked on the bottom shelf of my vanity in the bedroom (since April); I figure when I find just the right bookcase or storage solution I'll know it. Until then, I'll sort through them later and keep only my favorites (which will probably be all! ugh).

I took several large boxes of stuff to the Ladies Aid booth at our local flea market. They sell dishes and some kitchen items to raise money for the local museum. It's a win-win. I took a few things to recycling. I trashed a few. I kept the rest in storage. Once the reno was mostly done and I couldn't stand it any longer without a functioning kitchen, I did the same thing again. Now I have one box of things to go to the flea market. No additional stuff went in the trash. Stuff going to the flea market is perfectly good but no longer matches now that I have decided on a color scheme. My kitchen is more useful and less cluttered and I am thrilled.

Ne

circuspeanut - The can opener belongs closest to the place you will be using the contents of the cans. I have mine next to the stove.

Wine and beer bottle openers are stored near the wine glasses and refrigerator where their victims live.

What great comments! ellendi, Casey, ckells, schoolhouse, writersblock, sounds like you have all noticed the same benefits - I agree Casey and marcydc that all areas could benefit from this treatment!

Breezy, I think you have kids, right? Antibiotic ointment parks itself in all kinds of weird spots and stays there for years....ditto sippy cup lids.

florantha and lazy gardens, I also try to think about who belongs with who(m?) in the drawer or cabinet...sort of like the Bachelorette, but no one is going to make a show about it anytime soon.

frydmice, sayde and mamagoose, I have noticed that I don't really use my cookbooks at all anymore, I saved several from the Goodwill box but still have not used them (see thread named The Blue Thing for current location). It is more fun to look at recipes online and read comments from other people who have made the same things....

Omg circuspeanut, we have the exact same can opener argument, waged silently, over the last 25 years. When he empties the dishwasher it goes into bottle opener and weird utensil drawer, when I empty the DW it goes into the "use all the time next to the stove" utensil drawer. Our recent reno did not change this battle one whit. What IS that????

And pondlily, great idea about 2, but there is ALWAYS only 1 really good can opener, never 2, no matter how many we have!

Lazygardens, I am printing out your answer as my deposition in the preliminary hearing (to be held in my house tonight) regarding the matter of Where Does The Can Opener Go?

:)

Purging cupboards feels so good! Even though our reno won't happen for at least 2 years, I've been going through my kitchen one cupboard at a time. I've donated some small appliances, lots of plastic storage containers, a few pans and baking dishes, 2 pressure cookers, vases, and various dishes and glasses to our church's yard sale. Each time I finish a cupboard (been doing 1 or 2 cupboards every week), I feel lighter and freer. The best so far has been cleaning out the plastics cupboard. Donated most of it and replaced it with some pyrex--love it! Stays organized so much easier. I still have to do my pantries and drawers (4 "junk" drawers!). I just keep telling myself "one at a time, one at a time, . . .).

Most of my kitchen things have been in boxes for many, many yrs. When i moved here there wasn't room and I was too sick to care. every ounce of strength I had went to continuing to work. I only got out a few necessities and have lived fine with those for the past 13 yrs.

so, that's about all I'll have out in my new place too. It has few drawers at this time (might attempt to change that - next yr or so). I do have a pantry tho and plan to put a small vertical divider thingy on the end of one pantry shelf and put on the then 3 shelf area (about a ft wide) 3 of those utensils dividers (plastic). one for seldom used utensils, one for household tools, and one yet to be determined. That'll free up my few cab drawers from household tools and things I seldom use.

I think I'll only need 2 of the 6 drawers in the kitchen for utensils - 1 for silverware and 1 for all else I've been using these past yrs.

We've only been married 5 years and I couldn't believe the amount of stuff we took to Goodwill when we took everything out of the kitchen. Why did I have 3 sets of measuring cups, 2 sets of measuring spoons (1 set was double-sided, so like having 3), close to 30 coffee mugs (not including the ones that match our dinnerware)? Who knows. Why in the world did I walk all over the kitchen every morning rather than keeping things that I use together daily near one another?

We got rid of so much stuff and I don't miss it. I LOVE having my coffee mugs in the cabinet right above the coffee maker and my daily meds (Zyrtec and a prenatal vitamin) in the drawer right below. Anything to get out of the house faster!

Too true. When I packed up the kitchen to prepare for the reno, I could not *believe* where some of the stuff was. If you asked me for it, I likely would have been able to find it, but why was it placed (and left) there?!?!?! Oy.