The Ruthless Declutter Challenge: Kitchen

I've been a long-time fan of Emily Ley and her Simplified brand. I've got her Simplified Planner (Happy Stripes cover!), have read her book "Grace Not Perfection", and I am currently reading "A Simplified Life".

Currently, she is starting a Ruthless Declutter Challenge that is less so just about organizing your home but more about unburdening your home of all the unnecessary stuff that can, overtime, build up and distract you from living your most intentional life.

The "Master Plan" that she emailed fo' free starts tomorrow with the kitchen but I KNEW I wouldn't want to do this after work on a Monday... and especially not the kitchen. Because if truth be told I had been feeling anxiety about the overwhelming amount of pure crap we had in the kitchen. So doing this challenge was super important to me... because I know I'm a clutter queen.

It is true. I love knick knacks and junk and I hold sentimental value to inanimate objects for literally no reason. This challenge to me is not only beneficial for the organized and cleaner home aspect, but for working towards the self development I've been trying to achieve and experience the freedom that comes with ridding myself of having so. much. crap.

For today I decided to do just the bigger cabinets in the kitchen that are on a reachable level. I didn't attempt the cabinets with food or the higher shelves because I didn't want to completely overwhelm myself. I figured the lower shelves would be more manageable to begin with, especially as I test the waters of being a decluttered individual.

So, the first step is to take everything out. I then sprayed the drawers and shelves down, ridding them of dust and crumbs and whatever else has been sitting in there.

I forgot to take pics of all the "before" drawers and cabinets except the one below. I mean... it may be better that way though. All you need to know is there was NO rhyme or reason for how anything was placed and there was a lottttttt of unnecessary junk (a two person home with 7+ frying pans is RIDICULOUS, ok?). In this picture I see a sideways mickey waffle maker, a large box of soup cans but there was only 1 can left, random bowls, bread mix that was a move in present and has since been expired, Tupperware, serving platters, and who knows what else.

WHO NEEDS THIS MUCH TUPPERWARE. EXPLAIN IT TO ME.

So I went through it all. I put sets of bowls back together again. I organized all the Tupperware and through out anything that was looking a little worse for wear or that I knew we didn't need frequently. I found new homes for some of the extra pots and pans and extra stuff that was in good condition but that we did not need. I threw some stuff right in the garbage. I put some stuff in the basement that we don't use week to week but more so for holidays or summer entertaining. And oh my goodness, I can't tell you the relief I feel seeing bare shelves. 

Only keeping the Tupperware I know we use regularly.

I put all the gadgets and gizmos together in one spot, too!

I've got the rest of the house + the top shelves in the kitchen to tackle still, but the Ruthless Declutter Challenge is ON and I'm already feeling the positive vibes from it. The real struggles will come with all my little knick knacks that I love which are scattered throughout the house. I'll get there! And I'm sure I'll feel better once they are sorted, organized and decluttered as well. But for now this is the first step and I am feeling super duper proud of myself.