10 Tips to Declutter Your Kitchen

When I’m going through a decluttering challenge, I always start in the kitchen. The kitchen is the busiest room in my home, so keeping it clean and decluttered is a priority. If you’re needing advice on how to declutter your home, these ten tips to declutter your kitchen will help you get off to a good start!

10 Tips to Declutter Your Kitchen

Let’s hit the ground running and talk about the supplies I use to declutter my kitchen. I start out with a trash bag for any trash, a handheld vacuum cleaner to help me clean out drawers, my favorite all purpose cleaner, and a rag. 

Start in one section and work your way around

My first tip is to start in one section of your kitchen and work your way around. So for me, that means starting at my coffee station. I clean out the upper cabinet in that area and then clean out the drawers I have in that area. My tea drawer tends to get pretty messy, so that’s where my handheld vacuum gets put to use. 

I clean as I go, so I will take items off of one shelf, or out of one drawer, clean that shelf or drawer, and then put items back. This way, I don’t have tons of things sprawled all over the kitchen. I will throw away any trash during this time, or place items that do not belong back in the cabinet or drawer on my island to be rehomed.

Medicine Cabinets

In our new house, I keep my medicine in our kitchen. I do have a post about how I organized my medicine cabinet in a bathroom in my last house, and I do organize my medicines in the same way, just in a kitchen cabinet now.

When I declutter my medicines, I dispose of old and expired medication. I like to group like medicines together, so in one container I will put our cold medicine, and another container will hold children’s medicine. I have a tray for ointments and a first aid caddy that includes bandages and antiseptic.

Spice Cabinet

With my spice cabinet, I throw away any spices that are really old, and I clean off the lazy susan all of my spices are held on. I do not specifically organize my spice cabinet. I tend to keep my spices in the original containers they came in. I use my spices so frequently that I generally know where they are located on the lazy susan and can quickly find them. 

Pantry Decluttering

My biggest tip for decluttering the pantry is to group like items together and to put items in reusuable containers. I keep my sugar, rice, and cereal in reusable containers at the top of my pantry. My flour, powdered sugar, oats, and brown sugar hang out in containers on my counter in my baking section.

Make sure you vacuum out any crumbs, throw away expired items, and use clips for chip bags or other open bags to prevent staleness.

Fridge Cleaning and Decluttering

I actually declutter my fridge once a week and give it a good cleaning about every two months. When I’m decluttering my fridge, I’m getting rid of leftovers and throwing away old and expired dressings and sauces.

I use a mixture of water and vinegar along with rags to wipe down the fridge, and I remove the drawers and shelves and wash them in the sink with dish soap when I give the fridge a cleaning.

Storage Container Decluttering

I used to struggle so much with storage container decluttering. Now, I go through and match bowls with lids. Anything that doesn’t have a match gets tossed. I also toss old, gross looking bowls.

I’m looking to invest in some glass storage containers because I do think they will last longer and are safer for storing food.

Plates and Servingware

We really do not have a ton of plates, bowls, cups, etc. Our stuff gets broken easily here! I do go through and get rid of yucky old sippy cups and items we no longer use.

We do have a ton of travel mugs. I’m not sure why we have so many! I should probably only keep enough for each person in our family!

Utensils and Silverware

This is another area I really don’t have to declutter myself! I use a divider tray to store our silverware. I think a lot of our forks and spoons must get thrown away accidentally because I recently had to purchase more! 

Dollar Tree also has trays that I like to use to store kids’ forks and spoons and also our plastic straws.

Under Sink Decluttering

I keep flower vases and cleaning supplies under my kitchen sink. I try to keep only the cleaning supplies I regularly use under there. I use a Dollar Tree bin to hold my extra dish scrubbers and I keep my dish drainer and mat under the sink as well.

Cleaning and Organizing the Kitchen

My biggest tip for having a clean kitchen is to make sure you are doing the dishes regularly and cleaning off your countertops. Only keep items on top of your counters that you actually use on a regular basis. Try to find homes in your cabinets for the items that you do not use so regularly.

Also, organize the kitchen in a way that makes sense to you, Keep pots and pans by the stove, baking trays by the oven, cooking spoons and ladles by the stove, dish rags by the sink, etc. It just makes good sense to keep items close to where they will be used.

More Decluttering Resources

How To Declutter Your Whole House Step by Step

Things to Throw Away When Decluttering

How To Declutter With Kids

Mini Decluttering Sessions