Week Three:
Every week on FRIDAY for two (2) more weeks, I'm going to post one challenge related to either organizing, cleaning or general house improvement. Each week will focus on a different room/area of the house. Once the five weeks are up you'll have completed just five small tasks, but your house will be cleaner and more organized; just like that! Magical really.
or "Week THREE" we are going to focus on the kitchen. Now that the comfort food weather is almost behind us, let's go through our bakeware!
You likely already have an idea of which items you use regularly and which items you never or barely use. You also most likely have bakeware stashed in many different areas of the kitchen and various storage cupboards around the house. So let's fix that, shall we?
First, go around the kitchen/house/wherever and gather all your bakeware used or otherwise (muffin trays, cake pans, pie plates, etc.). Try to put them somewhere where you can easily see everything you have so the sorting process will be easier (table, countertop, etc.). Separate into type (square cake pans, pie plates, muffin trays, etc.).
Second, choose/set a defined space or spaces where you'd like your bakeware to live from now on. My bakeware is currently in the bottom of the stove and in a high cupboard. Give the area(s) you've chosen a quick wipe/scrub while they are empty.
Third, now we're going to get to the sorting/purging part. Pick out any items that you have washed (because you've used it) in the past year. But ONLY items that you have washed/used. These are obvious keepers, put them aside in a pile together.
Remove/box up any items that you don't know what they are used for, haven't used since you've owned them, or are broken, missing parts, etc. Also, pick out any items that you don't recognize/aren't yours and box them up as well (to return to their owners or donate later).
You likely have quite a large pile of bakeware still to be sorted through and that's normal. Do you have any items in this pile that you bought/got as gifts, etc. to replace your old bakeware (e.g. the new cookie sheet you bought to replace your old cookie sheet that's so warped the cookies slide to one side as they are baking)? If so, exchange them now (take old warped cookie sheet out of your "to keep" and replace it with your new shiny cookie sheet). Do this for any items you want to replace. Put all old items that you've replaced in the box to give/throw away.
Fourth, put the items that are in your keep pile back in their new home you've chosen. You may have a lot of extra space at this point and want to keep a few more items, and if you do, then simply go through the bakeware pile that is remaining, choosing one or two items at a time that you'd like to keep and putting them away until you've run out of room. Give the remaining items away/sell them/whatever.
Some things to keep in mind/think about:
Overall, just be realistic. You know you're not likely to use that donut pan you got as a gift 5 years ago. You haven't used it yet so why keep it? There are so many other ways to make donuts (like a cookie sheet). Get rid of it!
Note: If you really, REALLY want to keep that donut tray, bundt pan, small round cake pan, because you really, REALLY think you're going to use them soon, then consider packing them away in a box and storing them for a set period of time of your choosing (say 3 months). When the time period is up, give any items you haven't used in the box away! There's nothing wrong with a little safety net when you're first trying to de-clutter and organize. It will get easier!
There are lots of ways to store your bakeware. I've used letter organizers and vertical wire dividers in the past. If you're looking for ideas on how to store your bakeware take a look on pinterest! I'm still new at Pinterest so I don't have much yet and am still learning, but feel free to take a look anyway.
http://www.pinterest.com/chakey/
I'll be sharing my progress (before and after pictures) below once the week is up! Please feel free to share how YOU did either my emailing me or using the comment section below! I'd love to see your before and afters!
Update:
Below are my before and after pictures.
I got rid of a few items that I haven't used in the past year as well as relocated some items (like cheesecloth) to more appropriate areas. Because I'm short, I kept the items that I use the most in the bottom of the stove and the items we use less regularly in the left cupboard above the fridge. I added a wire shelf in the left cupboard and put square pans on top and rectangle pans on the bottom. I also put all my circular cake and springform pans in the back of the cupboard (I use them least).
Because staying organized is a continual process, I plan on going through the bakeware again in the future (about 6 months or so) to get rid of more items that I haven't used in that time.
This is an area I've been meaning to go through for a long time now, and I'm happy I finally got around to it and how it turned out! How did you do on this challenge?
You likely already have an idea of which items you use regularly and which items you never or barely use. You also most likely have bakeware stashed in many different areas of the kitchen and various storage cupboards around the house. So let's fix that, shall we?
First, go around the kitchen/house/wherever and gather all your bakeware used or otherwise (muffin trays, cake pans, pie plates, etc.). Try to put them somewhere where you can easily see everything you have so the sorting process will be easier (table, countertop, etc.). Separate into type (square cake pans, pie plates, muffin trays, etc.).
Second, choose/set a defined space or spaces where you'd like your bakeware to live from now on. My bakeware is currently in the bottom of the stove and in a high cupboard. Give the area(s) you've chosen a quick wipe/scrub while they are empty.
Third, now we're going to get to the sorting/purging part. Pick out any items that you have washed (because you've used it) in the past year. But ONLY items that you have washed/used. These are obvious keepers, put them aside in a pile together.
Remove/box up any items that you don't know what they are used for, haven't used since you've owned them, or are broken, missing parts, etc. Also, pick out any items that you don't recognize/aren't yours and box them up as well (to return to their owners or donate later).
You likely have quite a large pile of bakeware still to be sorted through and that's normal. Do you have any items in this pile that you bought/got as gifts, etc. to replace your old bakeware (e.g. the new cookie sheet you bought to replace your old cookie sheet that's so warped the cookies slide to one side as they are baking)? If so, exchange them now (take old warped cookie sheet out of your "to keep" and replace it with your new shiny cookie sheet). Do this for any items you want to replace. Put all old items that you've replaced in the box to give/throw away.
Fourth, put the items that are in your keep pile back in their new home you've chosen. You may have a lot of extra space at this point and want to keep a few more items, and if you do, then simply go through the bakeware pile that is remaining, choosing one or two items at a time that you'd like to keep and putting them away until you've run out of room. Give the remaining items away/sell them/whatever.
Some things to keep in mind/think about:
- Items you purchased/were given with good intentions of using: Consider giving these away to a family member or friend. If you would like to use it in the future you could always borrow it from them.
- Special Holiday Items: Big turkey roasting pan? Bundt cake pan that you use once a year Christmas morning? Look around to see what else you have that you could use instead or borrow an item from a family member or friend.
- Speciality Cake Pans: Dora the Explorer cake tin for Jenny's 3rd birthday? Ghost pan for Billy's Halloween Party of 2005? Consider donating these. You can rent ones from some stores like the Bulk Barn for a small fee or borrow them from your local library for FREE. No need to take up all that extra room in your cupboards in case you need to make a Dora cake for your future neice's birthday one day.
- Duplicates: 4 muffin trays but you only ever bake 12 muffins at a time? Keep one tray and give away the rest. Do you really need both those two glass pie plates and the two aluminum ones when you only bake 2 pies a year? Keep the best one or two and give the rest away.
Overall, just be realistic. You know you're not likely to use that donut pan you got as a gift 5 years ago. You haven't used it yet so why keep it? There are so many other ways to make donuts (like a cookie sheet). Get rid of it!
Note: If you really, REALLY want to keep that donut tray, bundt pan, small round cake pan, because you really, REALLY think you're going to use them soon, then consider packing them away in a box and storing them for a set period of time of your choosing (say 3 months). When the time period is up, give any items you haven't used in the box away! There's nothing wrong with a little safety net when you're first trying to de-clutter and organize. It will get easier!
There are lots of ways to store your bakeware. I've used letter organizers and vertical wire dividers in the past. If you're looking for ideas on how to store your bakeware take a look on pinterest! I'm still new at Pinterest so I don't have much yet and am still learning, but feel free to take a look anyway.
http://www.pinterest.com/chakey/
I'll be sharing my progress (before and after pictures) below once the week is up! Please feel free to share how YOU did either my emailing me or using the comment section below! I'd love to see your before and afters!
Update:
Below are my before and after pictures.
I got rid of a few items that I haven't used in the past year as well as relocated some items (like cheesecloth) to more appropriate areas. Because I'm short, I kept the items that I use the most in the bottom of the stove and the items we use less regularly in the left cupboard above the fridge. I added a wire shelf in the left cupboard and put square pans on top and rectangle pans on the bottom. I also put all my circular cake and springform pans in the back of the cupboard (I use them least).
Because staying organized is a continual process, I plan on going through the bakeware again in the future (about 6 months or so) to get rid of more items that I haven't used in that time.
This is an area I've been meaning to go through for a long time now, and I'm happy I finally got around to it and how it turned out! How did you do on this challenge?