The Hardest Part: Getting Started
Cleaning isn’t easy, but it’s sort of built around momentum. That is to say: when you get up proper momentum, cleaning takes over. As cleaning takes over, you have more difficulty stopping than you may expect. Essentially, you’re almost to the point of being totally finished with your work, and it draws you on like the carrot impels the mule.
Getting started is hard, though. The “mule” has to be prevailed upon to move before you can entice him with a carrot, and getting him to move a lot easier to conceive than achieve. You’ve got to push past his natural stubbornness. In your situation, you’ve got some stubbornness as well; we all do.
The best way to get past it is to establish good habits, and be diligent to maintain them. Again, this is easier to conceive than to achieve. You might plan in advance when you’ll clean so you’re mentally prepared for it. Then you can put on your loud music, maybe have a little cocktail, and get to it in a way that almost makes the process fun.
A great place to start, especially as fall encroaches, is your kitchen. During Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years, you’re going to spend a lot of time in that kitchen preparing food in the form of entrees and hors d’oeuvres. If you prepare your space a few weeks prior the holidays, you’re going to save time and complication. Also, you’ll have less cleanup after family events. With that in mind, consider these tips.
1. Identify Cookware That’s Broken Or Won’t Be Used
Broken cookware tends to pile up in cabinets under the counter or in the pantry. Often such cookware will fill up entire shelves. The thing is, how often do you use that blender from 1995? How often did you use it when it was new? Was it really a good acquisition? Does it even work anymore? Why do you have three blenders?
Find the blender you like, and all its associated parts, and either sell or trash the old or broken blenders. The same applies for toasters, little toaster ovens, egg preparation accoutrements, and all variety of funny little devices you used once and forgot about.
Narrow things down to only those devices you use regularly—like the toasters and waffle irons. Get rid of the rest. When you do this, lots of free space will suddenly be revealed, and you can use that space to reduce clutter without having to get rid of it.
2. Reorganize Everything Into A Cleaner Shape
Next, go into every drawer, cabinet, lazy Susan, pantry, and shelf. Grab all the things. Pull all the things out. Now put them back in an organized fashion by kind. Silverware goes in one drawer, and is separated by type. Put plastic cups on one side of the cabinet, and glassware on the other. Stack up the plates appropriately.
As you do this you’ll find you’ve got more space than you realize, some things are broken and need to be thrown away, and now it’s easier to find what you’re looking for. Also, cleaning up becomes easier because you can keep categorizing things by type.
3. Perhaps Install New Cabinets
New cabinets provide storage space where before there was only air. Here’s a site which offers a variety of options as regard kitchen cabinets. The right cabinetry will enhance kitchen appearance, increasing property value proportionately. With more space, you may not necessarily have to get rid of old unused cookware. This is still a good idea, though.
4. Use Vertical Storage Techniques Like Hanging Pots And Pans
New kitchen cabinets are kind of a vertical storage technique, but they need not necessarily be. However, there are racks you can purchase which can be hung from ceilings, cabinetry arrays, or wherever is convenient. These racks can be used to hang pots and pans in a way that’s similar to a chandelier.
This option doesn’t work for all kitchens, but finding a way to use empty vertical air is definitely a considerable tactic. Essentially, figure out where you’ve got a little area above your head that hasn’t been utilized, and put that space to use for organized storage.
An Uncluttered Kitchen Is More User-Friendly
Getting rid of unused or broken cookware will free up space you can use for storage. Reorganization also reveals additional space and helps reduce clutter. New cabinets can exponentially increase how much free space you’ve got, as can vertical storage techniques.
One of the best ways to declutter is to more efficiently store things. To that end, figure out how you can restructure the premises for most efficient use. You may be surprised how much available space you have hiding behind disorganization.
