When we bought our house December 2000, the kitchen was still in the half-finished state it had been in for the previous nine years since my in-laws stopped working on remodeling it for health reasons. The floor was exposed wood because the previous flooring was no longer visible, having long since worn away. Some of the walls had wallpaper and some were still bare drywall. The wooden paneling, that was meant to cover ALL the walls on the lower half, was only installed behind the cabinets on one side of the room. The cabinets used to be new on the outside wall, but they were never quite the right fit for the wall, so there has always been a three-inch gap between the stove and the cabinet next to it on one side or the other. My in-laws also chose a lovely country blue colored countertop, but the blue has worn away in many places on the countertop that gets the most use. I wish I could say those issues have all been dealt with over the almost eighteen years we have lived here, but that just isn’t the case.
There is one wall of built-in cabinets that my in-laws lovingly refinished and those are the ones we will focus on for this decluttering session.
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There comes a time when you realize you just can’t put it off much longer. Organizing your kitchen is a daunting task.
I recently helped an older couple organize and declutter their kitchen cabinets and drawers. The lady of the house wanted to line all the shelves and drawers and asked me to stop at the local hardware store, Lowe’s, to see what we could get to do the job. I found their selection back near the freezers.
Personally, I prefer to line my shelves and drawers with vinyl flooring remnants, where I can unroll it on the floor or table and draw out all the pieces I will need to cut ahead of time. The is very easy to cut with a pair of scissors and because it is flooring, it is very sturdy and easily washable. It also lasts for many years. In this case, it might have been much cheaper. These were the color choices for the 6′ x 9′ rolls they had in stock.
I couldn’t convince them of this so we chose a shelf liner instead, and I must admit that given the sheer number of shelves and drawers in this kitchen it was a relief not to have to make four cuts for each drawer, though using the pre-determined widths (20″ & 12″) did waste a bit of liner. I used Duck Brand easyLiner in the taupe color. It took two of the 20” x 12’ Value Roll to do the drawers and base cabinets and then, we liked it so well, I went back for eight of the 12” x 7’ rolls to do all the shelves in the wall cabinets. (Total cost from Lowe’s was just under $100) (See photos of similar products below)
This shelf liner is about 1/16” thick and has a foamy feel to it. It is almost like a rubberized non-slip surface and it seemed like it would cushion the shelves ever so slightly. The easyLiner was very easy to cut, especially when I used a metal ruler and an Exacto knife to cut excess width along the back of each shelf.
We started the job at the top of one base cabinet, the widest one in this case, and removed everything from the top shelf/drawer. We then wiped out the drawers using some hot soapy vinegar water, rinsed with clean water, dried it with an old towel and allowed it to dry the rest of the way while I cut the liner for that drawer. You can use a hair dryer to speed the drying process, but do NOT put the drawer liner in while the drawer is still wet. This process was repeated until all the base cabinet shelves and drawers had been tackled and finished. We like the way it was turning out so I measured to get a decent idea of how much and what width we would need to do the upper cabinets the next day, and left to stop by Lowe’s again on the way home.
5 Tips to Remember:
Handle one shelf or drawer at a time. Do NOT pull everything out at once or you will likely find yourself overwhelmed and wishing you had left well enough alone.
Make sure you buy enough of the product you decide to use all at once so it will all match and you won’t have to stop in the middle of your project to go find more.
Make sure you have everything you need before you jump in.
Declutter and get rid of expired, stale, or open containers as you go.
Do NOT use contact paper on shelves! Bugs love to hide underneath and can live off the glue as food for years! Trust me, whoever does this task next time will thank you. Likewise, do not tape or staple the edges down.
Wipe all containers before putting them on your newly cleaned and lined shelves. Fold all towels or linens neatly and sort by type as you put them away. Get rid of holey linens or relegate them to the rag bag. Anything that is still perfectly usable and not expired that you are getting rid of can be donated to a local charity. Check all dry ingredients for critters and make sure they are stored in clean dry jars or tight sealing containers to keep the ants or weevils from getting into them.
If you find you have pests living in your cabinets, read this article to learn how to deal with them.
Date all pantry items with the date you bought them and again with the date you opened them. We all tend to lose track of how old things are in our pantry and this keeps us from doing that. Discard any items that are expired and if you use them often add it to your list for the grocery next time you go. Take note of the sizes and keep in mind how often you use various spices and such. Don’t buy more than you can use in the time before an item expires. Search the internet if you are unsure of the shelf-life of a particular item. If you prefer, write the throwaway date on the items as you add them to your pantry. Find a system and be consistent.
I like to organize my spices in alphabetical order, but have them also split by container size with the small metal containers in one cabinet and the larger spice containers in another. Each cabinet is alphabetized separately. You can use small baskets or boxes for packets of mixes to keep them neatly in one place. Again, assess your needs and organize in a way that fits your style and needs as long as it is something you will stick to. You will spend less money buying duplicates because you can’t find the one you already have.
When you put dishes and such back in the cabinets, put like items together and get rid of oddballs that don’t match the rest unless it has a lot of sentimental value or you use it regularly.
Do not keep plastic storage containers unless they have the matching lids. Get rid of any that do fit in the reasonable-sized cabinet shelf or drawer you have allotted for them.
You need not be overwhelmed by the enormity of this task. Once you have the supplies you need, tackle a shelf or drawer a day until they are all done. Play your favorite music or podcast to listen to while you get your kitchen organized.
The finished project is a huge reward in itself. If you need motivation, grab your smartphone and take before and after pictures. After a couple of shelves or drawers are done, you will be so excited by the difference you won’t want to stop until all of them are done.
TIP: Make a list on your smartphone of the spices you have on hand so you won’t be tempted to buy them again just in case. I keep a “Group” in my phone’s contacts called “Info Only” and store things like the size of furnace filters, the model number of toner or ink cartridges, pen refills, window sizes, reward card numbers and other things that have nothing to do with contacts and everything to do with being able to quickly find the info when I need to. As a general rule, if I have to look it up once, a phone number or address gets added to my phone contacts so I never have to look it up again.
