Kitchen Declutter

My kitchen is a quarter of the size of most, 2 feet of counter space gets me absolutely no where which is a shame considering my deep love of food. So with a total of 5 cupboards I don't have the space for piles of gadgets and nonsense. After an unfortunate discovery of tiny almost see through ants, there was no better time to pull everything out of the cupboards and decide what I really needed to put back in. I'm pretty sure these sad cupboards are from the 80's and so every time I wash them I lay down fresh scrapbook to keep things clean. (the paint sticks to dishes and peels right off, thrilling I know) Since I'd already sorted through my mugs a few months earlier, there really wasn't anything to remove from the dishes.  We normally kept breakfast things beside the mugs but they had been defiled by these tiny miscreants and earned a one way ticket  into the garbage. This gave me more room to lower the things on top shelves that I couldn't reach anyway.  New food products have been moved to the left side and every shelf lovingly sprinkled with peppermint oil to avoid another attack. 

Below the dishes are two drawers, one with ziplocs, parchment paper, etc. and the dreaded large utensil drawer. I don't know anyone who hasn't tried to open theirs before only to find it stops at about an inch and the tongs have wedged themselves in the top creating a barricade. Get a cardboard box this is where we go hard. Do you need a pineapple corer when you maybe buy one a year ? Or 7 spatulas ? Yeah me neither. I did have a hard time accepting that the turkey baster was demon spawn that I didn't need because I could do the same thing with a ladle. (Ever tried to clean those things throughly ? It doesn't work)  Somehow I acquired stainless steel skewers and anyone who knows me well understands my disdain for kabobs. A few months ago I purchased a counter top utensil can for the things I use constantly like wooden spoons, spatulas and whisks. I've lost a number of whisks to the overfilled drawer warping them into something resembling a New York art gallery. 

In the bottom cupboard I have one set of pots and pans, a strainer and salad spinner, baking pans and the air fryer. All was well here, except that one weird shaped pan whose purpose I never figured out. 

Under the sink are the extras, garbage bags, paper towels, dish soap, sponges. Nothing exciting here. 

Then we make it over to the food. Pull it all out and start with expiry dates, it's much easier to narrow it down this way. Did you know spices have expiry dates ? Yeah me neither, but you sure notice they hardly have a smell any more and therefore lacking flavour. Luckily this set of black canisters saved my sugars and pancake mix from the ants, they seal very well. 

Buy them here: https://www.walmart.ca/en/ip//en/ip/Hds-Trading-CS44155-4-Piece-Ceramic-Canister-Set-With-Spo/5L7A1ZGZ6Z94/PRD5L7A1ZGZ6Z94

We love to shop at Costco and would usually just keep what didn't fit on the floor. The cat found a bag of potatoes in this corner and decided this was a great place to pee. (Same day as the ants, I was in a super mood) So I pulled a small shelf unit out of our closet to store everything where she's to tubby to reach.

As far as gadgets go I have a hand mixer, automatic grater, magic bullet, mandolin and food processor. (as well as the toaster, microwave and Keurig)

Lastly we get to the silverware drawer, also home to tea towels and all those take out bits and bobs. You know, the plastic cutlery, sauce packets and wet napkins that have been there since you moved in. If you haven't used them yet, you won't. 

Many hours later I've at least got something resembling a kitchen I can work with. I can't wait to have a house so I can actually put everything away, but in the mean time you can make any space work.