Sounds like too much work.

All my stuff is stored in the house or garage until we finish remodel - I may give this a try when time to move in! Thanks for sharing.

- Place these items in lidded boxes, and move them to a nearby storage area-

I see this as the main problem with this plan. Not many people I know (actually, no one I can think of) have unused, easily accessible storage areas near their kitchens where they can keep boxes & boxes of kitchen items for who knows how long.

It would have made me crazy to have been preparing meals or baking and have to stop and forage through boxes for things as I needed them.

We've been kind of living like that for two years while I build our house. The unfinished kitchen only has the things we absolutely need, and we're finding that we're not missing the other stuff much at all. We're probably operating with about 15% of what we used to have.

The article was fun to read, thanks for sharing. I like the box and banish approach: taking out all the items one hasn't used in years, but are reluctant to get rid, put in a box and banish them them for 6 mos. to a year. Out of sight, out of mind and possibly easier to let go of later.

I think I'd be frustrated with the drastic approach. I'd being digging through boxes to get that potato peeler and masher, when I would have been better off boxing up all the duplicates, triplicates, and quads of extra utensils.

We moved out of our house for a whole house reno and put everything into storage as we were moving into a furnished house. As I was packing up I purged and got rid of a lot of stuff. When we went to the house I took the basic, basic minimum kitchen stuff. We lived there for 6 months and had a baby shower, family dinners, kids over and I didn't have to buy a single thing.

I didn't need the melon baller, all the extra wooden spoons, spatulas, didn't even need that potato masher because a couple of knives and a fork work just fine. It was the duplicates of stuff that cause the problem and the stuff that gets used once a year or that's only used for 1 recipe.

I purged again when I moved back in and get rid of a lot of kitchen stuff and haven't needed to buy anything.

When we remodeled the kitchen in our previous home in 2006, I purged as I took stuff out of the drawers and cabinets in preparation for demo. As a result, I ended up with NOTHING in my kitchen that was not used. Since then we've moved, and moved with us all that same stuff, so once again (in a newly remodeled kitchen), we have only what we actually use, with very small exceptions - I do have a couple of plastic trays in a bottom drawer that hold a few small items I do not use. One of these days I'll get around to purging that too!

When I moved 3 yrs ago, I kept out only the bare necessities. I did box up the other things into a few shoe boxes (including the plastic kind). I put a box in the utility room and a box of things I thought I might use more often on the pantry shelf. Over the last 3 yrs, I have emptied out most of it. Some to the trash and some into a kitchen or pantry drawer. I decided to keep the beaters for the mixer and parts for the ninja in a plastic drawer in the pantry. That's where the mixer and ninja live anyway (and are seldom used).

I wouldn't do the 'remove everything' and then go get what I need from another room to make a meal. Most of us know what we will basically need. Then if you don't use the other things w/in the yr, toss them.

Most of mine were 40 plus yrs old, so not worth giving to anyone. I did go out and even buy a few new things. My old rubber type spatulas were disgusting, as were several of my knives.

Lol I feel like I'm getting more cabinets/storage so my goats can finally come back in my kitchen. :-)

Hmm yeah I thought the point of remodeling is so that you have room for all that carp.

No way would I be able to tolerate having to go through boxes to find stuff to fix dinner. I've moved a bazillion times and rule number one is unpack the kids toys and kitchen first. Everything else can wait, but to make life bearable, that stuff has got to be put away.

I did give and throw some things away while I was packing up for the remodel. And I packed some china up so that it can be left that way for a couple of years until my kids are a little older and we are more likely to use it.

That method would drive me crazy. I think it's pretty easy to identify what you use daily, weekly, monthly and rarely and plan your storage accordingly. And if you realized you need something more or less often than you originally thought, just tweak the storage system or toss it later.

This is one of those "good ideas" that in practice would drive me nuts also. I was SO happy to get rid of my mess and my boxes. I seriously decluttered when I packed up the kitchen- gave away a lot of stuff that I had never used and wouldn't miss.

When we packed for the move I took everything out of the cabinets, removed duplicates, things we never used and the "not worth moving" things ... sent them to charity and packed the rest.

It was about a 30% reduction in items, because I hadn't purged the kitchen like I did the laundry room.

I agree with scrappy25. I purged pre-Reno while packing up kitchen. Funny thing is that after living with minimal things in our temporary kitchen, I found that I really didn't need even all the things I boxed and saved for the new kitchen. Therefore, I am purging more as I unpack boxes to put away in my new kitchen. Space gives me a sense of freedom.

I also did a purge as I was packing for the reno, and even as I am unpacking stuff back into the kitchen, there are some things I am getting rid of or relocating in that process too. I would say I got rid of 30% as well.

I'm at that stage where I'm starting to move some stuff back into my kitchen. I agree with funkycamper that it shouldn't be too hard to identify the things I use daily, monthly, rarely. But maybe for those things that are in the gray area, I'll box them up and put them in the laundry room for a few months to see if I miss them.

lazy_gardens, I love that you posted your packing photo!

Is this what the author means about separating out the goats...

From the sheep...

:-)

I've used the box method but not the drastic method. We didn't seal the box and retrieved a few things but a lot got donated. I made sure I only had one of each kitchen item start. Duplicates returned as demand necessitated (extra kitchen scissor and basting brush for our household). I loved the result. Everything has its place. None of the draws are full, it's easy to find what you need, and makes cooking more efficient.

I've heard of that method ... but, realistically, I know what I use and what I don't use. I could accomplish the same thing by going through each drawer.

I hadn't used my bundt pan in years, but I know I never want to buy another. For some reason, this year, I've used it twice in the past month, because I decided to make pound cake instead of shortcake to go with all the strawberries! So I'm glad it was there, but it was fine living on the bottom shelf of the lazy susan.

Now if I could just get myself to donate that popsicle mold... Maybe we just need a "library" of these things-- my neighbor uses my springform pan once a year, and I haven't used it in 2 or 3.

We've had two places for a while now, but plan to retire to the second one next year. That's when we'll find out which things are second string, because I know there are a lot of duplicates lurking.

Just another thought on this. The experts around here advise people to plan ahead for what they will be storing in which locations including determining where you will be doing certain tasks so the items needed will be placed right where you need them. Part of this is to determine proper drawer heights and such. If that is done, it should be a no-brainer on what needs to be in the kitchen and where it goes. And there's nothing wrong with duplicates if you have a need and have planned a place for them. As an example, I have measuring cups/spoons in my prep area so I can measure when creating savory dishes, and another set in my baking center. I appreciate that I don't need to run back-and-forth between the two places to measure stuff. The things each station shares, like colanders, mixing bowls, strainers, and the larger 2-cup and 4-cup measuring cups., are stored in-between the two stations. I keep a whisk in a drawer next to the cooktop for when I need to stir a gravy or sauce while cooking while the rest are kept in the baking center. All this makes things more efficient. Believe me, I was never this efficient before implementing the ideas learned here. Yay, GW!

Funkycamper, yes that is helpful advice. I made a list of all the frequently used items and I'm trying to make sure they all go in the right place when I start moving back in. I still struggle with the once in a blue moon items. Sometimes I feel like if I put them in too inaccessible a place it will just reinforce not using them. But putting the yogurt maker front and center in my pantry still probably won't get me to use it more often... sigh.

Yeah, I dunno about those either sometimes. I guess the trick is that the storage is not in the kitchen or pantry but still accessible. My stuff in the basement is very accessible. It's just not in my way when I don't need it. I got rid of my juicer because I hated cleaning it so much that I never used it. I prefer smoothies in my Blend-Tec anyway and it's MUCH easier to clean. Do you like home-made yogurt? Do you like the process of making it? If not, maybe it should go to someone who does?

@edible you don't need a yogurt maker to make yogurt. I make one batch every two weeks with just single serving containers and two pans of hot water.

Our issue isn't so much kitchen tools and small appliances as it is way too many plates, cups, bowls, flatware, etc. I'm trying to convince my wife to get rid of ALL of our mismatched everyday stuff, and start over. So far- no interest. I made a count one day, and we had 20 coffee mugs! That's for two people. The most people we've ever entertained was 9. Same thing for dinner plates, and that's not counting three sets of china, which thankfully aren't kept in the kitchen.

We did this with our bathroom stuff when we downsized from a 10'x16' bath with loads of cabinet space to a 5'x7' bath in a tiny house. We had boxes labeled "bathroom" and pulled stuff out of them when we needed it. At the end of a month, we did a sort through what was left in the boxes, mostly pulling out first aid things that aren't frequently used, tossed a whole bunch of old stuff, and put the rest into a box for yard sale cheapies.

It worked really well. On occasion we do pine for a 2nd toilet and/or a 2nd sink in the house, but we have plenty of storage. Who'd have thunk it?

As we are moving back into the kitchen, I am packing away all our mismatched/extra stuff into a storage locker we rented for a year or so. In awhile I will pull that stuff back out and probably, after a year of living without it, be able to let it go....

I think this is a great idea.
When I unpacked boxes from the restoration people, I didn't have a kitchen. Microwave, the Freezer half of a side-by-side and a rolling dishwasher that drained into a hole in the floor. Glamorous. Didn't spend much time in there due to the lack of heat, walls, flooring, blah blah blah.

I've since built, found and refurbished cabinetry. I have SO MUCH CABINET SPACE showrooms would be jealous. Ironically, I've also purged so much crap it's embarrassing.

As I actually went to put things into the drawers, I realized I didn't need 3 rolling pins, even antique ones, since I don't bake, nor have a DH to beat with it.
I was never going to make cheese with that kit.
90% of the spices I had I used once.
I sorted out and donated 3 different and full sets of dishes.
I gave my sister our family Lismore Waterford and other things like that. She entertains, I do not.
I gave away entire pots and pan sets. I like pans and pots, but I don't need 7 different frying pans. I even have my grandmother's Farberware.
Oh, there's more, but thankfully I can't remember.

I do subscribe to the statistic that once you put something into a file cabinet, chances are very high that you'll never look at it again. I'm trying to resist loading up all this cabinetry with things I'm never going to use. So far, so good. Everything's on the counter.