I definitely have jumped on the New Year organizing train. Actually, I’ve been on the train for a few months now. I’ve upgraded, if you will…invested in a first class ticket! In 2020, we renovated our kitchen, upgraded our entryway, and revamped our dining room. In each of these projects, there was re-organization, repurposing, and rehoming.
While I am loving my new kitchen, it is time to pare down and make this gorgeous space work better for our shrinking family.
Over the years, I have accumulated extra dishes, bowls, pots and pans of every size, silverware, glassware, cups, etc. Add owning an antique and consignment store into the mix coupled with an addiction to vintage items and you have the perfect formula for clutter!
I mean, how much of this kitchen display do you thing I packaged and brought home when I closed The Blue Building in 2019?
With 5 children it is simply easier to have more than enough as opposed to being short. We never had to run the dishwasher or wash dishes in order to serve a meal. We are indeed very blessed.
#1 now has a family of his own. #2 is married as well. #3 lives nearby in his own home. #4 also lives nearby in her own place as well. That leaves Mr. Blu, #5, and me! So our kitchen that at one point served 9 (including my parents), now needs to function for 3.
I would imagine at some point, extras will be needed when everyone is visiting. But those items can be stored away and utilized only when visitors are here. I no longer need 15 dinner plates, 15 soup/cereal bowls, 15 glasses or stock pots in which to cook 2 pounds of spaghetti. It’s time to pare down and to live more simply.
While I would love to have some state of the art or brand new organizing accessories for my drawers and cabinets, that will come as I exhaust the list of priority projects in our home. Those items can be so expensive and after all of our improvements in 2020, my budget is a big fat $ZERO! So, for now, or at least until I clean out the garage and can access my wood working tools to build some new drawer dividers and the like, I will simply gut each drawer, clean the current organizers, donate or store excess items, and refill my cupboards and drawers with just essentials.
First target…the silverware drawer. Having run my own antique store for 10 years, I have been to thousands of yard and estate sales. There is not a kitchen gadget that is safe from me! I love them. And if they are vintage…even better. But, do I NEED them?? More often than not, that answer is no.
Here is what was in my silverware drawer:
I found my Pampered Chef scraper that has been missing for 18 years! Actually, I found both! They were all the way in the back of the drawer under the organizer. I could probably stop right now because I can’t imagine being more satisfied with this project than I am right now! But…I will continue.
Being in the antique and consignment business means that you keep “like” things together. So if you find a beautiful vintage slotted spoon along with its gorgeous matching serving spoon, you keep them together even though you only need a slotted spoon. This is curse. And eventually, you must recognize that you don’t need the serving spoon so you must set it free. Reality is that there is someone out there who needs that serving spoon! “It’s a crime to separate them,” the voices scream. Well, I’m here to tell you that it’s a crime for me to have this much crap. So some of it is going!
How many sets of vintage measuring spoons does one kitchen need? Or carving knives?
I dumped it all out on the kitchen table. While the trusty Rubbermaid silverware drawer organizer was soaking in a bleach bath, I sorted all of the utensils into the following:
- KEEP IN DRAWER for daily use
- move to OCCASIONAL USE basket to be stored in pantry
- move to STORAGE for large parties/visits
- DONATE
- TRASH
On the 12th Day of Christmas, my hoarding drawer revealed:
And here is my newly purged drawer:
Much better! One drawer down and 7 to go…then on to the cupboards and pantry! This organization task will take me a while. I must do it in stages because purging, for me, is overwhelming. So, stay tuned for more progress…a little at a time!
I’m sharing this post as part of a January Organizing Blog Hop with some incredibly creative friends! Thanks to Sydney from Sydney and Co. for coordinating this hop. Head on over to check out the other post on great organizational tips!
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