How are you finding your newly decluttered kitchen now that Day 17 has arrived?
Cleaning out the bakeware, such as baking trays and dishes, is the decluttering task for today.
We frequently buy new bakeware items but we don't follow the "one in, one out" principle and discard the old one, why is that? I am guilty of this too. Maybe it is a case of I will keep the old one in case I don’t like the new one, or in case it doesn’t work as well. But if it was working well in the first place, why would we need to buy another one to replace it? Hmm, it just makes me wonder. At first glance, this might not seem like a big deal, but over time, it means that we end up with an excessive number of these.
We all have our favourite baking dishes and pans, while the others go unused. If this sounds like a situation that you find yourself in, then it’s worth giving some thought as to whether you can discard it, rather than it sitting there and taking up some well-needed space.
Finally, when trying to remove one sheet or pan from the bottom of a stack and they all threaten to fall out, you know it is time to declutter or at the very least, reorganise them. I used to liken my baking cupboard to playing Russian roulette – Will it fall out this time? Or will I be safe to bake another day 😊
How Much Can You Keep Reasonably?
There is no simple answer, sorry to say there is no magic
formula to this query - because there
are a lot of variables. It greatly
depends on:
- How frequently do you bake?
- How much do you bake?
- What do you bake? and lastly,
- How much space do you have in or near your kitchen to store these kinds of items?
Consider the last few occasions when you baked – think about
which items you used, how many can you actually use simultaneously as opposed
to just washing them between uses? After all, our cookers can only hold a
certain amount of food at once.
If you decide that you can’t part with a single item of your
bakeware, but you don’t use it frequently, try using a less convenient location
to store it. Perhaps you have a large cupboard
just outside of your kitchen, so it’s still handy when you want to bake, but it’s
not taking up precious space in your kitchen where you could keep daily use cooking
items.
If you only bake maybe twice a year, - don't discard your only cake pan. You'll regret decluttering it because you'll need it again soon enough. Even if you use
something only occasionally, it isn't clutter if you do use it. So why is something taking up valuable space
in your kitchen cupboard if you only use it occasionally? Save yourself the hassle of moving it daily
to get to the baking tray that you use almost every day since.
The purpose of decluttering and organising is not just about
discarding your stuff – it’s about finding solutions to help you live a more
organised and stress-free life.
What Should You Do with the Stuff You
Declutter?
The final thing you need to do is think about what you'll do
with the bakeware you do decide to declutter.
What are you going to do with the
items that you have decluttered? You
need to make a plan of where these items are going. I have a FREE Printable Workbook that you can download which helps you to clarify your
decluttering goals and there is a Planning Sheet and Decision Maker and much more
to help you on your decluttering journey.
Why not download your FREE copy now?
Donate: What charities/organisations
would benefit the most from this kind of donation? You can choose a charity shop or something a
little out of the normal such as the Cubs and Scouts groups or nursery groups.
Sell: Maybe you would prefer to sell the items, where do you think you could sell them? In my post 35+ ways to Deal with Decluttered Items you will find several selling sites and other ways to remove your decluttered items.
To inspire you to take on this task, I've included some
photos of how my bakeware was and how it is to date.
My bakeware section was all over the place, I had some in the drawers,
I added a few boxes that I had bought from Ikea to keep the cookie cutters together, and the accessories together, there you have it, my very organised baking drawer.
Now onto the cupboards. I had my baking ingredients squished in my narrow wall units but my baking trays and cake tins etc in the bottom unit.
The Deep Dark Cupboards
To not miss anything, make sure that you take everything out
of your cupboards. That way you can visually see how many of each item you
have.
I adore the concept of adding light to kitchen cupboards, so you can see inside them. These come in a wide range of options.
(These turn on when you open the cupboard door)
and even motion-sensor ones.
Don't Forget Underneath Your Cooker
Many people have a little hidey-hole at the bottom of their
cooker, and they keep baking dishes, fairy cake trays and more in the drawer
underneath their cooker. Make sure you don’t
forget this little place when you are decluttering.
My cooker at present doesn’t have one, as we had to buy the
first one we could get, because our old cooker decided to wait until the week
before Christmas to die – Great timing hey?
So, we are waiting to buy a new one until the fridge freezer is due to
be replaced. Because even though we have
a tiny kitchen, I insisted on getting an American Style Fridge Freezer ☹
So we are going to get a larger cooker and smaller fridge freezer next time.
Removing Just a Little Clutter Can Make a World of Difference
As I mentioned earlier – There is no need to declutter items
that you use. Just by removing the items
that you don’t use; you can make your life so much easier. No more praying that the items won’t fall out
of your cupboard because Sod’s Law says that you need to bottom items.