Day 16 – How to Declutter & Organise Cutlery Drawer

Your cutlery drawer is probably the most used drawer in your kitchen -  if not your entire house.  I guarantee that you use it at least 3 times a day if not more.   Since it is so frequently used, why not make sure it is organised and decluttered to make it simple to open and locate items?

Normally, this task doesn't require much time. Just make sure everything is properly separated, remove anything that shouldn't be there, and tidy up a bit.  So, let’s spend a few minutes organising this drawer (or the place where they keep their flatware and cutlery).

When decluttering your drawer, you might find that you have too much cutlery, so take time to discard what you don’t need, why not donate it to charity – they are always grateful for such bric-a-brac items.

Consider how many people live in your home and try to have enough silverware for at least a full day's worth of meals to determine if you have too much (or not enough) cutlery.  If you wash your dishes at the end of each day then all of your cutlery will be prepared for use the following day. So you don’t need 100 forks for the 3 of you 😊

Begin by taking everything out of the drawer – you can give the drawer a good hoover out and wipe it down whilst everything is out.  Then sort each item of cutlery into piles – So the forks together, the knives, dessert spoons etc.  But by collecting all the items together you can visually see how many items you have, and make an informed decision.

It's time to organise the drawer after you've cleaned it out.

Even though I have a cutlery Drawer Organiser - my drawer was still a mess, it's the small random utensils that seem to dominate the drawer space.

As you can see from the photo of my drawer below. I have kept the drawer organiser, but I also have a box for keeping small utensils – such as my potato peeler and ice cream scoop and such like.

I know it's only a small change, but it does really make a difference, even my husband (who doesn't mind chaos) has noticed it's easier to find things.

All Drawer Organisers are not always made equal

I suggest purchasing a drawer organiser if you don't already have one.  These work so well, and to be honest - it's the easiest and most logical way to store all of your spoons, forks, and other utensils.  However – some of the organisers work better than others.  So, it’s important when choosing one that you keep in mind what you need to store in them.  If you only use a bog standard set of cutlery that’s great – most will suffice – but the problem arises when you use speciality cutlery, such as steak knives, cake forks or plastic baby spoons for your children.

 

 

Basic Cutlery Organiser

This is a basic cutlery drawer like I have - they are available in most supermarkets or homeware stores, and they don't cost a lot of money.  The majority are plastic, but they are long-lasting and are pretty study.

Bamboo Multi-Sectioned Cutlery Organiser

If you prefer a more eco-friendly version, here is a bamboo option.  It does have more sections than the traditional plastic version, so if you have steak knives then this would be a better choice.

Plastic extender Cutlery Organiser

This is a great option for making use of your entire drawer - as either side of the "traditional" cutlery holder has a pull-out extension piece, where you can store extra pieces of cutlery - or in my case my small utensils.  This is something I may consider next time I need to change my cutlery holder.

Narrow Drawer Organiser

This option by Joseph Joseph is brilliant if you only have a narrow cutlery drawer.  

Why not send me before and after photos of your completed organising project so I can add some of the best to the page?

Small Drawer Baskets

Alternatively, if you don't want to buy a traditional cutlery holder.  You can use individual storage baskets for each type of cutlery, which deals with the issue of certain organiser trays not accommodating certain types of cutlery.   You can overcome this potential drawback by using individual baskets, they can be a good option for homes with young children that have a lot of kid-sized spoons and forks.   

Be sure to measure your drawers to ensure that you will be able to fit enough baskets in for all the cutlery.

The only downside with using these individual baskets is they tend to slide around a bit – if they are not exactly the same dimensions as your draw.  One way to tackle the sliding issue is to buy a non-slip lining for the drawer.

Going forward

This drawer needs to be regularly kept on top of – but you will see that spending a few minutes straightening it as part of your Kitchen routine will make a huge difference and end up saving you time in the long run.

 

I'd love to hear your ideas on how you keep the extra types of cutlery organised in the drawers. Don’t forget to tag me #GoDeclutterblog30DayChallenge

I really appreciate you stopping by and want to say thank you - because without you I wouldn't be here. Believe in Yourself, You got this, NOW Go Declutter!