For those who follow Miraclean’s Facebook page, you are familiar with Tackle It Tuesday.
Every Tuesday morning I post an area to clean and give recipes and tips on how to clean those areas using all-natural products.
This past Tuesday, I decided to tackle my bread cabinet. I call it my bread cabinet, but I have holiday dishes, stuff I’ve never used from my wedding: like a cheese dome (seriously), books of all my recipes I’ve acquired over the years and bread.
I quickly realized that in order for me to organize this area of my kitchen, I was going to have to clean out another cabinet; the one above the oven. Now, that’s a challenge!
That cabinet was full of three different sugars, two bags of flour, random Tastefully Simple products, pancake mix, Metamucil, you name it, it was in there.
The entire process did not take long because once I start throwing stuff away, I cannot stop! I love it. It may sound silly, but it is very liberating to not feel tied down. I always get that feeling of, “well, I haven’t used it…EVER…but what if I may need it?”
I’ve learned to hush that voice and start throwing away or donating things I do not need anymore. See that keyword, NEED. It’s not a want. I don’t need thousands of tupperware containers when I cook for two, so I keep about 12 and throw the rest away. I don’t need three sets of dishes because I never host dinner parties and thankfully the friends that I do have come over for dinner aren’t looking at my place settings. (Even though, I do make sure it all matches because I’m weird like that.)
I think people get tied down to that feeling of “one day I’ll need this.” I’m sure one day I will throw a dinner party. And one day I will be mad at myself for giving those dishes to my cousin when she bought her first house. (I highly doubt it, but it could happen.)
My point is, don’t get so tied down. Use what you need. Keep enough stuff to fill the space you have. I have a two bedroom, one bathroom condo. I have a small storage unit outside and I’m in an upper unit, so I have an attic. I have never been in my attic. Ever. I don’t want to. Whenever I purge the shed and have my “I NEED ROOM” moment, it’s out with the old and in with new.
With such a tiny house, I don’t have room for a whole cabinet dedicated to nothing but Tupperware, but somehow my cabinet is full of Tupperware. Time to purge. I’ll give some to friends and throw away containers where the lids are missing or the container is warped or out of shape.
I am a total freak when it comes to organization. I love little baskets that hold everything from my car keys to hats, scarves, gloves, etc. I love the over the door coat racks and shoe organizers. I will admit that my house gets disorganized, like every other house you live in, but I try to make it point to have a place for everything and everything in it’s place.
Next time you feel the need the purge, just remember you are purging for a reason. You need to make room. So, make room. Throw it away, pass it along to a friend, donate it. Whatever ‘it’ is, if you know you haven’t used it in a long period of time, you probably never will. And, if you do throw it away and a few years later kick yourself for it, you can always buy another one.