A kitchen remodel can significantly disrupt your day-to-day life. So, before you start dreaming about improving your kitchen with the perfect kitchen color palette, it makes sense to declutter and organize before a kitchen remodel.
Making this kind of effort before the remodel will allow you to approach the renovation in carefully planned out steps. You will be able to dismantle everything before the construction work starts, but also organize everything perfectly after the kitchen renovation. So, let’s take a look at a few organizational tips to make your kitchen declutter as effective as possible.
Remove the kitchen utensils first
A good kitchen declutter may start from the kitchen cabinets and drawers. Interestingly, people usually associate decluttering their home with paring down their clothing or family belongings. As a result, kitchen utensils and appliances tend to pile up without you even noticing. This happens mostly because they seem less expendable than for instance clothes or toys.
However, just think about the number of old or useless appliances you keep stacking up in your kitchen cabinets. There is really no need to keep holding on to your old bread toaster when you have bought a new one.
Throw away anything you have not used in a while.
The same goes for kitchen utensils and silverware. Yes, they are an essential part of your household, but you just might have too many to ever find use for. And now is the time to figure out what stays and what goes out. What should you do with those items? Organize a yard sale or a charity giveaway for the items you decide are just superfluous.
Declutter and organize all kitchen items separately into labeled boxes
Once you finish the decluttering of the kitchen utensils and appliances, organizing them and packing them into boxes should be a breeze. So, instead of throwing everything into a single box, it makes more sense to have smaller boxes with appropriate labels.
Hence, designate a single box for pans, another one (with three or four compartments) for utensils, a third one for your mixer.
At this point this might seem unnecessarily complicated, but you will be thankful to yourself in the end. This kind of organization allows you to find anything you may need while your kitchen is being remodeled. In addition, you will be able to just pull everything out of a box and restore everything to its designated spot after you finish the renovations. Nothing mixed up or lost – less stress for you.
With proper organization, you will be able to use your kitchen right after the remodel.
During the home renovations, you may even rent a storage unit if you do not have enough space to keep the boxes in your kitchen or your home. In this case, a short-term solution might be good since you will be able to free up the kitchen and let the workers do their job without any obstructions or distractions.
As for family silverware and other items you might attach certain emotions or memories to, you can pack them securely in an air-sealed box to avoid exposing them to moisture or mold.
Make categories for similar items
Just as with kitchen utensils and appliances, it helps to have clear-cut categories for other items that you keep in your kitchen. For instance, you may have a cereal box or spices category, or one for canned foods and sauces.
Of course, you may not have to do this if you have a well-organized pantry or a kitchen island. However, decluttering and recategorizing your foodstuff before a kitchen remodel can be extremely helpful. There are simply no more excuses not to throw away expired food that has been laying in the back of the drawers for ages.
Also, you may decide to temporarily store your kitchen items in a storage unit. This is something many homeowners make use of when they are remodeling their kitchen. If you decide to do the same, take note that some things shouldn’t stay there for more than a few days or weeks. So, some foods should not be kept in a storage unit since they may rot. Since you surely want to avoid having to clean or pay damages to the storage service provider, make sure you know what you can and cannot store in a storage unit.
Designate one box for frequently used items
So far we have mainly discussed how to declutter and organize before a kitchen remodel by focusing on the phases before and after the remodel. However, what if you plan to stay in your home during the renovations?
Essentially, it helps to have a single box for items that you use on a daily basis. Rummaging through boxes to find your vegetable peeler might destroy all of your previous efforts to declutter and organize your kitchen. When you have such a box or cabinet, you will know where to find what you need immediately. This will save you a lot of trouble since it eliminates the need to surround yourself with boxes.
You will probably need many items from your kitchen, but you might not be able to enter the kitchen while it is being renovated. That is why it makes sense to pull everything out of the cabinets and other storage spaces.
Empty the kitchen cabinets completely to make things easier for you during and after the remodel.
Also keep in mind that your appliances or items might get damaged if they remain in the kitchen during the remodel. So, if you drink coffee on a daily basis, you should place the coffee maker in your living room.
All in all, we hope this short guide will be helpful when you start to declutter and organize before a kitchen remodel. We strongly suggest you take the time to do so since it will make organizing your newly renovated kitchen much quicker and enjoyable.