Take Inventory and Reduce Duplicates
- 7 hairbrushes
- 4 blow dryers
- 12 bottles of lotion
- 6 ice cream scoops
- 30 cans of green beans
These are some of the duplicate items found when Becky, a single woman with no children, took an inventory of the contents in her home. Does anyone actually need 6 ice cream scoops? Sound familiar? It should. It is actually quite common that, when we are not organized, we waste money buying duplicate items that we do not really need. Rather than digging through a cluttered cabinet, closet, or pantry, we go to the store to buy a new hair dryer only to realize down the road that we have actually done that four times already!
A super easy way to see immediate decluttering results is to take an inventory of what you own and keep only what you truly need. Do you have multiple bottles of the exact same lotion open? You are not alone. Condense down the two or three partially used contents into one container and recycle the rest. Food duplicates a problem? I know, I know. The green beans were on a fantastic sale this week! Resist the urge to buy. They will go on sale again before you know it. There may also be an accessibility issue in your kitchen or pantry causing you to buy duplicates as well – see number three below.
Check out these creative ideas from ShelfGenie for increasing storage, organization, functionality, and accessibility in your home.
Group Like Items Together
This simple tip alone will greatly reduce the number of duplicate items you have in your kitchen. Keeping like items together allows you to easily see your inventory at all times.Are plastic containers taking over your space? Do you have containers stored in multiple locations in your kitchen? Designate a home to place all the plastic containers AND their matching lids in one spot. Remember tip number one above and reduce where you have too many of one size. Most importantly, toss mis-matched tops and bottoms.Check out these creative ideas from ShelfGenie for increasing storage, organization, functionality, and accessibility in your home.
Increase Accessibility
Create zones in your kitchen to increase access to the items you use most often. We naturally spend a lot of time in our kitchens so why add to that time searching for items scattered in different areas? For example, when you need to bake cookies, stop walking around searching for items in multiple places. Instead, create a baking zone by storing the items you use most to bake with in closer proximity to one another.Check out these creative ideas from ShelfGenie for increasing storage, organization, functionality, and accessibility in your home.
Clear Off Countertops
Feeling overwhelmed in your kitchen? Take a look at your countertops. Visual clutter creates mental clutter. Find creative ways to remove as much as you can off your countertops. Can you save space in a cabinet by nesting bowls or containers? This will add storage capacity to that cabinet for something that currently lives on your counter. Small appliances and kitchen gadgets tend to be the biggest culprits of counter clutter.Check out these creative ideas from ShelfGenie for increasing storage, organization, functionality, and accessibility in your home.
Purge that Pantry
Organizing your pantry can be easier than you think. Start by using our first two tips above. Take an inventory of what you have and purge the duplicates. Toss expired food, plan your next few meals around the items you have the most, and donate what you do not need.
How do you keep the pantry from piling up again? Restock your pantry by grouping similar items together. That way, you will know what and how much you have of each item. Keep your most commonly used items in the front and at eye-level. Deep pantry shelves make it hard to see contents in the back so line your items up in rows from front to back similar to the grocery shelves. You might also consider pullout shelving that, when pulled out, brings your contents out to you!
Check out these creative ideas from ShelfGenie for increasing storage, organization, functionality, and accessibility in your home.