Today I am sharing - KOMONO: Kitchen - Cooking Tools (including Baking supplies)
If you are new to my blog, Welcome! In case you missed it, be sure to read my Introduction and Getting Started post, so you know what the KonMari Method is all about and the reasons why I am doing it.
Also in this series:
Komono: Skincare products, Make-up & Accessories
Komono: Valuables & Electronics
Komono: Household Equipment: Stationery
Komono: Household Equipment: Craft Supplies
Komono: Household Supplies
In a nutshell, Marie Kondo has four rules she recommends people follow when doing the KonMari Method:Komono: Valuables & Electronics
Komono: Household Equipment: Stationery
Komono: Household Equipment: Craft Supplies
Komono: Household Supplies
1. Tidy in one shot, as quickly and completely as possible.
2. Sort by category, not by location
3. Selection Criterion: Does it 'spark joy?'
4. Order of tidying: Clothes, Books, Documents (Paper), Miscellaneous items (Komono), and Momentos (Sentimental)
As suggested in the book, I will start doing the KonMari Method with my own 'stuff' first, then I will work though the kids items, because I am too sentimental and would find it hard to part with their things right off the bat. I also need to get my head around this new process of de-cluttering, tidying and organising, so hopefully when it comes to purging my kids stuff, it will be a lot easier (well, let's hope so).
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The fourth category of the KonMari Method is KOMONO (Miscellaneous). Now for me, this category is probably bigger than the Paper category. Do you remember in my Introduction post, I mentioned I felt overwhelmed by the amount of stuff I had stored in containers sitting in my office, well majority of them fit into this category. I have containers of miscellaneous items - that I haven't really touched for the past 3 years and includes stuff I have kept for over 10! This category may take some time, however I will be following Marie Kondo's recommended order (see below) and will hopefully (fingers crossed) find a new home for everything and only "keep things because I love them, not 'just because'" (Marie Kondo) - which is totally why I always rebound, and why I NEED the KonMari Method in my life.
Over the next couple of weeks or however long it takes me, I will be tackling Komono (miscellaneous items 1) which includes:
- CDs, DVDs
- Skincare products
- Make-Up
- Accessories
- Valuables (passports, credit cards, etc)
- Electrical equipment and appliances (digital cameras, electric cords, anything that seems vaguely 'electric')
- Household Equipment: Stationery & Crafts
- Household supplies (expendables like medicine, detergents, tissues, etc)
- Kitchen goods/food supplies <------YOU ARE HERE
- Other
As always I will be keeping these three rules in mind when doing my purge:
1. Tidy in one shot, as quickly and completely as possible.
2. Sort by category, not by location
3. Selection Criterion: Does it 'spark joy?'
Today I am sharing - KOMONO: Kitchen - Cooking & Baking Supplies
In the book 'The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying', Marie Kondo doesn't really go into much detail when talking about the Komono (miscellaneous) in the kitchen. It is an area of the home, I believe, that needs to be broken down into sections, otherwise it could be very overwhelming to do it all at once. I am glad I purchased Marie's second book 'SPARK JOY' because she does split this sub-category into three sections and really breaks it down.
The three sub-categories for the Kitchen Komono are:
This is the second drawer, where we keep the BBQ tools, and extra cooking utensils. We have a 'Utensils Jar' that we keep on our bench next to the stove. It includes our most-used cooking utensils.
Chopping Boards / Deep Fryer
We had nine chopping boards and I purged 4 (there is a small one hidden behind the blue board). Eventually, I would like to replace the four pictured with a new one. Just need to find one that I like and that would be suitable for our family. I would love to know what you have - let me know in the comments or send me a message.
Pots and Pans (top drawer)
When we first moved into our new home, I put the pots and pans in the corner cupboard. However, it became a bit of a nuisance when I started dinner prep, so I moved them to the drawers under the oven. It was THE best decision. We have the pans and smaller pots in the top drawer (they are quite big drawers), and our two bigger pots in the bottom drawer. I also decided to put our re-usable oven trays in this drawer too because they were too bulky for the corner cupboard.
Corner cupboard 1 (top shelf)
This corner cupboard is located under the stove. It is home to our baking trays, pot lids (yes, that is a cutlery tray used to store the lids), and our crockery/baking dishes. I moved these items around a bit until I was happy with their location.
Corner cupboard 2 (top shelf)
Our 2nd corner cupboard is home to more of our baking supplies, like measuring jugs, bowls and a few cooking tools, like colanders and grater. This cupboard was a bit of a shambles before I took everything out (sorry forgot to take a photo as I was on a mission to get everything out!).
Now, I can see everything at a glance, and I love it.
The second shelf has my partners protein shake tub & supplies, our platters and the waffle maker (we love waffles). So much white space - I LOVE IT - this sparks joy.
DISCARD/DONATE/RETURN TO OWNER PILE
This is the aftermath. Items that don't spark joy, belong to friends and family, to be discarded or donated. All of this 'stuff' was taking up valuable space in my cupboards. Now it's all gone.
Phew! I am so glad that is over, and I am loving my kitchen even more so now than before. Everything has it's place and I don't cringe when I open drawers and cupboards. Miss B (my daughter) loves 'her' baking drawer and wants to bake all the time now, so I guess that's a good thing.
I might have been a bit crazy pulling EVERYTHING out at once and putting it all on the floor, however if I didn't do it, the task probably wouldn't get done - the final result has made it worthwhile.
If you are joining me in this KonMari journey, and you are about to tackle the kitchen, GOOD LUCK - let me know how you get on. In case you missed it, here's what I did with our plates and cutlery.
1. Tidy in one shot, as quickly and completely as possible.
2. Sort by category, not by location
3. Selection Criterion: Does it 'spark joy?'
*******
In the book 'The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying', Marie Kondo doesn't really go into much detail when talking about the Komono (miscellaneous) in the kitchen. It is an area of the home, I believe, that needs to be broken down into sections, otherwise it could be very overwhelming to do it all at once. I am glad I purchased Marie's second book 'SPARK JOY' because she does split this sub-category into three sections and really breaks it down.
The three sub-categories for the Kitchen Komono are:
- EATING - e.g. Cups, Glassware, Crockery (Plates & Bowls), & Cutlery - things you use for eating
- COOKING TOOLS - e.g. Utensils, Vessels, Appliances, and Baking Supplies
- FOOD - e.g. Food supplies, Storage containers (including plastics)
BEFORE
I knew this task was going to be overwhelming, and I purposefully held off doing it until a couple of days ago. Every time I opened my cupboards I would get frustrated by the sheer volume of 'stuff' I had. Items weren't returned to the right place and it ended up being a complete mess.
So I bit my tongue...and started pulling everything out of the cupboards and drawers - cooking tools and baking supplies - and I put them on the kitchen floor. This is what my kitchen floor looked like. WOW!
I couldn't believe that all of THIS came from the two corner cupboards, the drawer under the dishwasher, 2 small drawers on the right (seen in photo) and 2 bigger drawers under the oven. My kitchen is small in comparison to what you see here...it's no wonder I felt overwhelmed even before I started this task.
There was no turning back, no more procrastinating...this job HAD to be done...I kind of had no choice because it was all on the kitchen floor (note: I did clean the floor before I started).
I worked my way through, remembering the criterion for the KonMari method - Does this spark joy? Do I use this regularly or on a daily basis? I found myself picking out the things I use regularly used as opposed to grabbing the items I don't. Once I had finished, I was left with the aftermath, items that a) no longer spark joy, and b) belong to friends and family. The purge took me about 20 minutes - it wasn't as daunting as I imagined.
Now I had the fun job of returning the cooking tools and baking supplies that do spark joy for me and ended up having a bit of a re-shuffle of my cupboards and drawers.
Cooking Utensils
I didn't actually need to purge any utensils because I did it a couple of months ago as part of the 30 Day Challenge with Peter Walsh. These are our regularly used items. I am fortunate to have a lot of drawers in my kitchen and three of them have cutlery trays in them, like this one. It's great because now, everything has a place.
This is the second drawer, where we keep the BBQ tools, and extra cooking utensils. We have a 'Utensils Jar' that we keep on our bench next to the stove. It includes our most-used cooking utensils.
Chopping Boards / Deep Fryer
We had nine chopping boards and I purged 4 (there is a small one hidden behind the blue board). Eventually, I would like to replace the four pictured with a new one. Just need to find one that I like and that would be suitable for our family. I would love to know what you have - let me know in the comments or send me a message.
Pots and Pans (top drawer)
When we first moved into our new home, I put the pots and pans in the corner cupboard. However, it became a bit of a nuisance when I started dinner prep, so I moved them to the drawers under the oven. It was THE best decision. We have the pans and smaller pots in the top drawer (they are quite big drawers), and our two bigger pots in the bottom drawer. I also decided to put our re-usable oven trays in this drawer too because they were too bulky for the corner cupboard.
This corner cupboard is located under the stove. It is home to our baking trays, pot lids (yes, that is a cutlery tray used to store the lids), and our crockery/baking dishes. I moved these items around a bit until I was happy with their location.
Corner cupboard 1 (bottom shelf)
On the bottom shelf, I have our slow cooker, oven trays and panini press. I originally had the panini press in the drawer under the dishwasher, but now I really like it where it is. However, I'm not entirely happy with this shelf... (*pause* goes off to change them around)
BEFORE:
AFTER:
CLICK! That's better! No more needing to stretch to the back of the shelf to get to the oven trays (which we use every 2nd day). At the moment, our family enjoys toasted sandwiches in the weekend, but I know as we move closer to the colder months, I will start using the slow cooker more for our dinners.
Our 2nd corner cupboard is home to more of our baking supplies, like measuring jugs, bowls and a few cooking tools, like colanders and grater. This cupboard was a bit of a shambles before I took everything out (sorry forgot to take a photo as I was on a mission to get everything out!).
Now, I can see everything at a glance, and I love it.
The second shelf has my partners protein shake tub & supplies, our platters and the waffle maker (we love waffles). So much white space - I LOVE IT - this sparks joy.
Baking Drawer
This is one of my new favourite spaces in the kitchen. Our BAKING drawer - well technically it's my daughters, because she loves to bake and it is located under our dishwasher (I had our waffle maker and panini press in here, with a cupcake cake tin which belongs to my friend). We have our bowls *specifically for baking, moulds, and baking supplies (stored in these two baskets I got for $2.50 from K-Mart). Now we don't need to sift through cupboards and drawers to find something. It's all in one drawer. SPARK JOY!
DISCARD/DONATE/RETURN TO OWNER PILE
This is the aftermath. Items that don't spark joy, belong to friends and family, to be discarded or donated. All of this 'stuff' was taking up valuable space in my cupboards. Now it's all gone.
I might have been a bit crazy pulling EVERYTHING out at once and putting it all on the floor, however if I didn't do it, the task probably wouldn't get done - the final result has made it worthwhile.
If you are joining me in this KonMari journey, and you are about to tackle the kitchen, GOOD LUCK - let me know how you get on. In case you missed it, here's what I did with our plates and cutlery.
Next: 'My KonMari Journey' - Komono: Kitchen - Food Storage & Food
This task is a semi-big one too...I will be tackling food storage: including containers, kids plates, plastic cups, drink bottles and lunch boxes. As well as all of our food in the pantry, fridge and freezer. It's going to be a goody, so watch this space.Please note: The Komono (Miscellaneous) category has several sub-categories, and I will be sharing a post for all of them (some will be combined, some will be split into two parts). Watch this space or Subscribe to my Blog, so you don't miss a post.
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I am super excited about this journey and I would love for you to follow along in this process, better yet, join me - Subscribe to my Blog, so you don't miss a post and together we can tidy our homes and change our lives, once and for all. I will also be sharing my journey on my Facebook page, and Instagram, so be sure to follow me there too.
Charlene
If you would like to give the KonMari Method a go, and you don't have the book - Here is a checklist of the fourth category - KOMONO (Miscellaneous items 1) . Click the image below and Save/Print. You can also view my previous checklists HERE.
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I seem to recall a big clear out for you last year? You are such a good housekeeper, Charlene. I am doing a massive clean out this weekend and it's the first time in AGES. I actually can't wait! x
ReplyDeleteYes, I did Bron, but I relapsed :( I am hoping that the KonMari Method is true to it's word and I won't go back to my old ways...I am definitely seeing positive changes in our home since starting and it doesn't take long to tidy up, because everything has a home and we are getting into the habit of returning things as soon as we have finished with them...taking a bit longer for my 2 year old though. Go figure.
DeleteWOW Charlene. That is a BIG job. This week I emptied two shelves of Tupperware and baking ware and put what I used and loved back in the cupboard. I still need to do the rest of the kitchen. Your posts always motivate me that I can do it. x
ReplyDeleteThanks Rebecca! It's nice to hear I am inspiring others! Good on you for giving it a go
DeleteI simply cannot wait to have more space so that I can do a super good clean out and enjoy my kitchen! Half of our stuff is still in storage. Thank you for linking up with #HIT
ReplyDeleteIf you enjoy your space, it will inspire you to cook/bake more.
DeleteGosh this is so inspiring for me! Thank you. My kitchen cupboards really need this kind of attention. They are full to the brim, and spreading ...... I can think of 5 other locations in my house where "surplus" kitchen stuff is being stored. Maybe the time has come for me to let go of the extra tupperware and large platters that I hardly ever use. I could certainly do with gaining some more storage space back (and being able to find things I do actually need again). I hadn't heard of this method before, it sounds really interesting. I like the idea of pulling everything out at once and getting it done in one go. I am particularly impressed it only took you 20 minutes! Makes a daunting task for me suddenly seem more achievable!
ReplyDeleteYou definitely can do it Clare! The KonMari method is truly life-changing.
DeleteOh my goodness! I so need to do this in our kitchen! I love how you organized your pots and pans and your lids. I am pinning this for later!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for pinning Mary, I really appreciate your support.
DeleteGreat job Charlene. This reminds me that I still alot of work to do with my kitchen. Thanks for sharing your ideas.
ReplyDeleteThank you Doris. Kitchens are usually filled with a lot of unused items. Good luck with yours.
DeleteWell done! Great idea how you stood all your lids up, easy to find.
ReplyDeleteUsing the cutlery tray has definitely helped me keep the cupboards tidy (and yes, I can find them easily)
DeleteWow. Such a great job. We did our kitchen over the summer holidays and donated 2 big boxes of stuff. It felt so good and we can also now see what's inside our cupboards. You must be so close to the end now! Keep going, you're inspiring me to give it a crack too! Xx
ReplyDeleteWow! Go you!! That's awesome! Yes I can see the light at the end of the tunnel Shannon. Thank you for your comments and support, I really appreciate it.
DeleteWow charlene you are realy a good housekeeper.. Surely I'm gonna try your method..
ReplyDelete