When was the last time you took a proper look inside your kitchen cupboards? Do you know exactly what’s in them, or are they filled with half-empty packets of pasta, tupperware boxes with missing lids, and perhaps a random tape measure or two?

“Kitchen cupboards and drawers are the perfect go-to place for everything from tin foil to pens,” says Vicky Silverthorn, decluttering expert and author of Start With Your Sock Drawer. And while it can be handy to have a home for all those random bits and bobs they can soon stack up – along with the dried fruit you bought for making that cake last year, and the split peas you used in a curry one time.

If you think yours could do with a clear-out, then help is at hand. We asked some of our favourite decluttering experts for their top tips on how to sort and organise kitchen cupboards.

1. Get it all out

First of all you need to take stock of what you actually have. “Start by emptying all the cupboards and collating similar items,” says Sally Walford, decluttering expert and author of The Declutter Monster. “Check for out-of-date things first, and then duplicates.”

2. Be realistic

Because best-before dates are often just a guide to freshness, it can be tempting to hang on to random ingredients “just in case”. But if you’re going to cut down on the clutter then you need to be brutally honest with yourself. “Are you really going to use that two-year-old packet of half-empty chestnuts?” says Beverly Wade, decluttering expert at Cluttergone.

3. Learn to say goodbye

“Let go of old chipped plates and crookery,” says Helen Sanderson. “It doesn’t have a good energy and reflects back to you that you are not worth good quality things. You don’t need expensive things, but keep the things you do have in good order.”

MORE: 5 GOLDEN RULES FOR DECLUTTERING YOUR WARDROBE

4. Think about what you need...

Prioritising the items and equipment you use daily is key to a peaceful kitchen, explains Vicky. “With this in mind, remove anything you only use for dinner parties or special occasions, and box it up and label it,” she says. “Ideally, store it in a garage away from the kitchen where you can locate it easily when needed. This will give you more space for living.”

5. ...And what you use

Once you’ve got the special occasion pieces out of the way, tackle the utensils. “Lay them all out and assess the situation – do you have doubles, trebles and even quadruples?” says Vicky.

“Get rid of what you don’t need and try and think simply – a knife cuts an avocado, slices an apple, and hands squeeze lemons. Do you really need an apple corer, an avocado slicer and a lemon squeezer? Be realistic about what you use.”

Product, Blue, Turquoise, Porcelain, Tableware, Bowl, Cup, Teacup, Ceramic, earthenware, pinterest



6. Get it in order

If there are gadgets and appliances you want to keep but don’t use regularly, Vicky advises keeping them in the low down, harder-to-reach cupboards. “Keep the ones you use frequently in convenient places, preferably near to where you use them,” she says.

MORE: 7 THINGS A DECLUTTERING EXPERT NEVER HAS IN THEIR BEDROOM

7. Look at how you use the space

Apply the same logic when arranging your food items. “Try and arrange everything according to how regularly you use it – oil by the cooker, spices and seasoning you use daily on the side, and monthly in cupboards,” Vicky says. “Place those you need to grab more regularly at the front, whereas those you may reach for only every few months can go towards the back.”

8. Get it in one

Vicky advises using the ‘one step process’ trick when deciding where to keep thing. “You don’t want to be moving five things just to get to your favourite mixing bowl you use daily,” she says. “There should be a one-step process to getting the piece of equipment you need each time.”

9. Don’t stack it

It might be tempting to stack items on top of each other to save space, but Vicky advises against this. “File items next to each other for easy access,” she explains. “Mentally, if something is harder to get to you are far less likely to use it.”

MORE: 5 THINGS A DECLUTTERING EXPERT WOULD NEVER BUY

10. Tupperware is your friend

Get some clear storage containers to house all those aforementioned packets of pasta. “They will help you see how much you’ve got of everything, keeping you in control of clutter as well as saving you from overbuying,” says Sally.

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11. Don’t feel guilty about the junk drawer

"Everyone is allowed a junk drawer or cupboard but it doesn’t have to be disorganised – you still want to be able to find exactly what you need when you need it," says Vicky. She recommends using drawer dividers so that everything has a home. And be strict: keep it to one small cupboard or bottom drawer only.

12. You don’t have to do it all at once

The idea of decluttering your kitchen can be so exhausting that we keep putting it off… and off and off and off. “You don’t have to do it all at once,” says Beverly. “If you’re short on time or energy, it’s an area that’s easy to tackle cupboard-by-cupboard.” Squeezing in a couple of hours here and there, rather it taking up a whole Saturday, makes it much more manageable.

MORE: THIS GENIUS HACK WILL CHANGE THE WAY YOU ORGANISE YOUR LINEN CUPBOARD

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