Basic Kitchen Organizing Part 10 – More Kitchen Planning

If you have your kitchen station map roughed out, there are a few more planning steps that will make the actual organizing go more smoothly.

Take A Second Look At The Map

The last time you worked on your kitchen map, you set up stations for all of the activities you typically do in your kitchen.  There is one more thing I would like for you to consider before you set your heart on the approximate layout.

Which do you mind more, cooking or cleaning? For me, cooking is more fun. I do not mind crossing the kitchen to get dishes when cooking. But when I am putting clean dishes away, the fewer steps I need to make, the better.  Now obviously you can not get everything near the sink and dishwasher. They may not even be as close to each other as you would like. Consider your everyday dishes and flatware. You may want to tweak your map with that in mind.

Take a second look at the other stations you planned out earlier.  Do they still seem to look like they will work for you? Sometimes after working in your kitchen several times between the planning days, you will be able to identify stations that were left out or that you do not really need.

Determine How Much Time You Are Going To Spend

Do you have the time available to do the entire kitchen in a day or weekend or will you need to work a little each day over a period of time until it is done?  Do you have time to work one step throughout the kitchen or would it be easier to do as much as you can in one single cabinet? Are you prone to starting projects without finishing them? Are you more likely to throw in the towel when a project drags out or when you take on too much at one time? Read through the processes coming in the next article in the series and match them to the time you have available for each organizing session.

Determine How Much Work Space You Have Available

Now you obviously do not want to pull everything out of all of your cabinets right off the bat. Spaces can (usually should) be broken down into smaller steps. The size of your available work space often determines the maximum limit to what you can tackle in each step.

You only want to pull out an amount of stuff that will let you move around and see everything you have out.  Making piles on the workspace that you need to dig through will only slow you down.  If you could fit two cabinets worth of stuff on your workspace, it is better to unload only one so you have plenty of ‘white space’ to be able to really see what you are working with.

Do you need to bring in a temporary additional work surface? If you are working with several helpers, it may be a good idea to get some additional tables. If you are working on your own, it will probably be just as easy to work with the space you already have available and work in batches.

Determine How You Intend To Handle Clutter

Now that you know that not all clutter is junk, hopefully you will be able to free yourself from more unnecessary stuff. What do you intend to do with all of the things that you realize are clutter to you?

If you are going to have a yard sale, make or buy price stickers to price as you go. If you wait to price it later, you will double the amount of time and energy spent and you will be much less likely to actually have the sale. Try to handle each item only once from your kitchen to the sale. Go one step further and set the date for the intended sale in your calendar. Hold yourself to the date as closely as possible.

If you are going to donate, stop by your favorite box spot to make sure you have plenty of boxes on hand before you begin. Then find out if your charity has a pick-up service available and which days/times they do runs. If not, find out if drop off is open for any day. Pack up the items as you declutter and get them out of your way.  Try to take the boxes to the car as they get full.

If you want to give family and friends the first shot, try to get them to be present as you are decluttering or go ahead and set a date for a swap party. Have boxes (and stickers) on hand to immediately pack up anything not claimed to add to a sale or donate.

If you are not going to donate or carry it off as you go, where do you intend to hold the stash until the sale or party? For how long? Make sure it will be feasible. You will probably need double the room for boxes you imagine you will need. Until you have gotten them out of your home, it is still clutter. It has just been moved from one place to another. The kitchen will work better but only at the expense of another room. If it sits too long, you will be tempted to declutter the boxes by returning the clutter back to your kitchen. Please don’t.

Have Your Supplies On Hand Before You Start

Disposable boxes and price stickers have already been mentioned. How many other tools do you need? I have made a list of 10 tools I consider essential because I seem to use them on almost every job. Most of them are things you already have around your house for other purposes or could be picked up very inexpensively. You do not need much money at all to declutter and sort. Save the cash to buy or make all of those pretty containers later when you really know what you need. What other tools or supplies can you think of?

Determine Who Will Help and Be Around

Help is always a bonus. It can be a time for bonding and speed up the project.

But the real reason I am asking is because I am, well, starting to shrink!  To get to the upper shelves in cabinets, I often need a step stool. On occasion I climb sock footed onto counter tops in my own home. Both can be pretty dangerous.

Accidents do not happen when we expect them. You want someone to be around just in case even if they are not helping. If you live alone, call someone before you begin and let them know what you are doing. Have them expect a call when you are done and ask them to check on you if they do not get that call.

If you are home alone with little kids, wait to do out of reach spots until someone can be around. This time it is not just for you. If you fell and somehow became unconscious, there will be panicked, unsupervised little loves of your life left by themselves until you come to or someone else finds you. Anyone remember the scene in Steel Magnolias when little Jack is screaming at the top of his lungs? {Chills!} Remember how the look of the kitchen makes it pretty obvious that he had been alone for quite a while? {More chills!} Need I say more?