Day 3 & 4 of spring cleaning

Day 3: Declutter and wipe down in the kitchen

Clean up from the most recent meal and wipe down your counters. You’ll need them for sorting. You’ll also need a large box (don’t do a bag as you’ll probably be putting some dishes and stuff in your donate box and they’ll be less likely to get broken in a box).

Today you’ll go through all your drawers and cabinets first (save the pantry and sink). I start with drawers. One drawer at a time put the contents on the counter and sort through anything you haven’t used in a year. I don’t care if it’s brand new, donate it.  If you have some drawer organizers have them handy to separate things out so you can find them.  As you start doing this think about how you use your kitchen. Besides wiping everything out with my vinegar solution (how the heck do crumbs get in the silverware organizer and drawer anyways????) including the backs of the doors- I also ended up taking off the child proofing and moving around my entire kitchen.  After the drawers, start on the cabinets, top ones first.  I think it took me about 90 minutes to go through everything but about 2 ½ hours including the reorganizing.

Sidenote with pictures: Here’s how I ended up reorganizing. Two things were bugging me about my kitchen. I need my kids to be able to reach to set the table and serve themselves simple meals. Also, my dishwasher is in front of all my dishes and glasses meaning I have to unload the dishwasher on top of the counter and then put everything away, making unloading the dishwasher twice as much work.

to the right of the stove-pots and pans in the bottom, lids & cookbooks up top

Above the stove-things I use once a month:

Baking and serving dishes to the left of the oven

 

 

So, I started by moving the silverware to the single drawer beside the dishwasher. Since my silverware goes into the dishwasher in a caddy, I can take the caddy out and put it on the counter and unload into the drawer.  I moved my glassware and dishes from above the dishwasher where I couldn’t immediately put them away to the lazy Susan in the corner of my kitchen-glasses on top (including a box to corral my water bottles and travel mugs, which I went through) and plates and bowls on the bottom. Not sure if this is going to annoy me or not yet, but the Susan is plastic and I didn’t know If the weight of the plates would be hard on the upper rack, plus, we get drinks throughout the day way more than we need plates. Now I can unload directly to the Lazy Susan and the kids can reach all of it. No more asking me for drinks all day!

 

Above the dishwasher is now prep stuff-my food processer, cutting boards, liquid measuring cups, etc.  as that counter is where I do my baking and cooking prep work.  Except for the top shelf which is stuff I don’t use often. I’m short so everything on my top shelves I need a stool to get up to. Best for stuff I don’t use a lot.  I put up there some Ramekins went from an entire shelf of wine glasses (I’m the only one who drinks wine) to a set of 6.  Next to the stove ended up baking stuff-pie pans, muffin tins, crockpot, above the oven are tall little used cake pans (angel food, etc.) and the fry/steam machine.  To the right of the oven, I put all my pans on the bottom (pans next to the oven? Genius!) and the lids are in the cabinet above along with my cook books. I took a shelf out of the upper cabinet to make room for tall things and used it on the left side for shorter things.  Just because a shelf is in one cabinet doesn’t mean you can’t use it somewhere else or move it to a different height. 

 

Behind the dishwasher I put my mixing bowls, which I usually hand wash anyways because 2 are so big they’d take up the entire machine and large baking pans are on the roll out shelf above. There’s some space behind the mixing bowls but due to the art closet I put in the other side of the peninsula last year, that can be some art overflow.

 

 

 Day 4: Finishing the kitchen

After going through all the cabinets and drawers, it’s time to tackle the pantry.  Look at how it currently is situated. If everything is jammed in there, take everything out. As you do pile stuff up in your kitchen.  Here are examples of piles:  Small appliances, baking items, cooking items, pantry (stuff you have on hand for when your open item runs out), dishes, etc. that you don’t use often, Tupperware/food storage (maybe this was in your cupboards, mine are in the pantry),  Snacks.  You can even put a paper where each will go.  Take everything out and as you do, don’t just put it in one pile, save a step and put it in the appropriate pile. Throw out anything expired. Give away anything you haven’t used in a year. If you need it you can borrow it from someone. Make sure all your Tupperware has a top for it and toss items that don’t match are stained or broken.

One thing I found when doing my pantry is that I had a lot of short circular containers that were taking up more space than they needed to so I did purchase new baking goods containers as they were the worst offenders. Some people may also want to do the same for snack goods, but we go through them quickly enough that I think we’ll stick with what we have.

Once the pantry is empty wipe down all the shelves.

Think about how you use the space.  Stuff that you don’t use often stick up top where you need a stool to get it. Stuff that’s too heavy put in the very bottom.  Stuff you use most often should be in the middle and like items should be together.  My pantry is one of those slider double sided ones and this is how I’ve got it:

Top: Paper goods, including my once a month meal swap pans, paper towels, paper plates, etc. dishes I barely use, liquor & medicines I want to keep away from the kids.  Next down: My pantry of stuff I got on sale or that is to replace what’s about to run out on the left, on the right is all my baking goods. Middle shelf: Left is food storage Tupperware (I finally got down to 1-2 brands which made stacking easier) the squares stacked together, the lids in a plastic shoebox container; and in a paper holder upright is my foil, parchment paper and plastic wrap.    On the right, under baking is the snacks (I would put them lower, but the kids will get into them all the time!) Last shelf on left has school lunch supplies (we use reusable bags and pack lunch everyday), cloth napkins in a basket and plastic baggies. The lower right is canned goods and cooking supplies like oils, noodles, convenience box foods.  The bottom stores my heavy appliances-bread maker, Kitchenaid mixer and the right side has large Costco items like soda that are too heavy for my poor shelves.

 

 

Pantry clean out will take anywhere from 45minutes to 3 hours depending on where you are starting from.

Next it’s time to tackle that sink area. I left it to last since I’m expecting you’ve been using it as you clean.  First, it probably has a window over it.  Clean the blinds and if there’s curtains, take them down and wash them.  To clean the blinds take a vinegar or degreaser spray and a microfiber towel works best.  Have the Magic Eraser nearby.  If yours are like mine, there’s probably food and stuff on them from everyday use of the sink below.  Put the blinds down and start by having the side you usually have towards you tilted flat towards you.  Spray and wipe down each blind individually. This will take some time, but I promise once you do it REALLY well one time you’ll be able to keep them up really easily from now on.  Next, flip the blinds the opposite way and do the back, then flip back to the front and wipe off overspray from the back. Open the blinds up and wash the walls and cabinets around  the sink area.  Then wash the window, including the window sill which you may want to declutter (if you have a bay window with plants, now would be a good time to wash the shelves, water the plants and deadhead any yellow leaves) also wash in that track.  You probably will need your tooth brush for the job.  Time: 30-45 minutes depending on how your blinds started.

Now the sink:

Start by washing any dishes in it.  Throw some lemon or a cleaner Plink thing into the disposal and let some hot water run while you pray around the outside and scrub your tooth brush around the edge of the sink.  Run the disposal next.  Take out the disposal and sink catchers, scrub a little and throw in the dishwasher.  Next, scrub down the fixtures and rest of sink (you could use soft scrub or baking soda for this job and a scrubby sponge, an Eraser may be useful as well), including the drains, which probably need a toothbrush for all the ridges.  Then start wiping down. When you’ve cleaned the sink if you have a stainless steel one and have the mineral oil wipes, run them over that and make it shine.  I also threw my dishwasher overflow cover (that little metal cylinder) into the dishwasher and scrubbed under it with a tooth brush.  15-30 minutes.

Now under the sink.  Take everything out.  Throw away anything you don’t use-gross sponges, rusted steel wool, that detergent you tried and hate.  Give away stuff you don’t use like vases, watering cans, etc. Then take the trash out and put your trashcans in the sink with some dish detergent to soak while you get to business. 

Have one container of cleaners/scrubbers under the sink and on one the sink for things you use on a daily basis (I got a cool basket at the container store that rests on the sink center) Anything else can go in a broom closet, etc. there’s just not room under there for much.  Wipe down all the pipes and the insides of cabinets  and the walls and floor inside the cabinet.  Back under the sink should be a dish drainer (I use a collapsible one that folds flat), small container of cleaners for weekly cleaning, dish detergent.  Scrub down the garbage and recycle cans, put a new bag in and put them back under the sink. 30 minutes.

Kitchen floor:  You’re almost done!  Sweep up, then grab some diluted vinegar, a scrubby sponge, a stack of rags, your Magic Eraser and tooth brush. Start in one corner and spray about a 2x2 square and scrub up anything  that’s stuck (don’t forget the baseboards, esp where they meet the floor which is a magnet for sticky crumbs!) then wipe clean with a rag.  Keep working until you are done 30 minutes.

Congratulations, you can eat off any surface in your kitchen now!