Organize Unclutter 2008: February - Week 4

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February’s goal is an organized and uncluttered kitchen. Read the original post here >

Well, we’ve organized our fridge/freezer and pantry. Our cabinets, too. We’ve cleared off our counter tops. Our kitchens should be looking pretty spiffy by now, huh? This week we’ll tie up some loose ends: things that may or may not apply to you as well as consider how we will maintain our organized kitchen.

We’ll have 6 tasks to accomplish this week. Ready? Great! Let’s start!

Note: If you didn’t get a chance to start or finish previous weeks’ tasks, this week will allow time for catching up!

Tools you will need:

• Paper and a pencil
• Kitchen and floor cleaners
• Scrubbing pads
• A lemon

1. Kids

In 2005, 729 out of every 100,000 children ages 0-19 died of unintentional poisoning. (CDC 2005) Look now to ensure every cabinet with cleaners, medicines, etc. are child-proofed with locks. If they are not, buy and install locks this week. If it will be awhile before you can child-proof those cabinets, move your cleaners to a higher cabinet.

Allow children to do for themselves. This promotes independence and builds self-esteem. Put their non-breakable cups, bowls, plates, and silverware in a cabinet at their level.

Children love helping out in the kitchen. Consider safe ways of allowing them to help you. One great product is the Kitchen Helper. Made of wood, it allows a safe way for children to reach the counters. It also folds up flat for storage.

2. Pets

Take a look at your animal’s feeding situation. Do you have a dedicated space for feeding them? If you do, clean their area well.

Put their food/water bowls in the dishwasher.

Store canned food on a dedicated shelf. For bagged food, consider getting an airtight plastic container (on wheels, would be best for large bags) for bagged food.

3. Spiffy the Kitchen Up!

If you didn’t do it last week (it wasn’t on the task list), wipe down the front of your cabinets.

Be sure to wipe any door handles, light switches, and electrical plugs you have.

Replace any light bulbs needed. Clean lights & fan blades. The hood over the stove? Don’t forget that, too.

Wash down your windows and sills. If you have curtains, throw them in the laundry. Wipe down blinds.

Clean your stove and inside of your oven.

Let’s scrub your sink really good. If it is a stainless steel sink, take a steel wool pad and scrub it down. If your sink is porcelain, use a soft scrubber as well as a non-abrasive cleaner. Once you are done, cut up a lemon and put it in your sink disposal. Turn it on. Allow the disposal to grind up the lemon. It will freshen up your sink!

Wash any kitchen rugs. Sweep your kitchen floor. Then mop it.

3. Meal Planning and Grocery Shopping

Meal planning and grocery shopping are highly individual efforts. You need to find what works for you best, whether it is weekly or monthly planning. For this task, I’d like you to set up a system that will work for you best! Here are some ideas and tips:

Keep an ongoing grocery list. Post it where everyone in the family can add to it. Add to the list as you plan meals and as you run out of essential items.

Set time aside on a weekly or monthly basis to plan meals for the week/month. Put this on your calendar to do on a routine and consistent basis.

When you sit down to plan meals and make your grocery list, have your calendar, the weekly sales paper, and your cookbooks nearby to aid in planning. Label on paper the days of the week with space to write your menu down and necessary ingredients you need.

Organize your grocery list by aisle (dairy, meat, produce, canned goods, etc.). One thorough and free grocery list can be obtained from The Grocery List Collection. (You can also view1,800+ common and unusual grocery lists from all around the world.

Go shopping with your list!

Each evening, review what the menu holds for the next day. Get out and put in the fridge any items that needs thawing or preparation.

4. Communication/Mail Center

Many busy families need to establish a communication and mail center. This often is in the kitchen, hallway, or a mudroom. Here are some tips for setting up and using a communication center:

It only needs to be a small area for mail, keys, and similar items. My communication center also contains a basket for library books and borrowed items that need to be returned to owners.

Put up a white or chalk board for messages between family members. Add a calendar with color-coded notes for each family member’s activities. Put up a key ring holder as well to round up those keys. No more searching for an hour for lost keys or forgetting events!

Have a small basket for mail. Open mail immediately and toss evelopes and junk mail right away. Take catalogs/magazines to reading areas.

If you have room, add a small table to hold a basket for library books, pen and paper for notes, the phone, etc.

5. Establishing Habits

Remember, it takes 21 consecutive days to establish a habit and up to 6 months if you have ADHD.

Every item in the kitchen now has a designated home. Label shelves & drawers to help family learn what goes where.

Establish a maintenance routine. It needs to be consistent. Visit FlyLady or Motivated Moms to gather ideas of cleaning schedules that may work for you.

Wash dishes rather than leaving them in the sink dirty. Put clean dishes away immediately. Empty dishwasher as soon as it is done.

Wipe counters after each use.

Take out the garbage once a day.

REMEMBER, maintaining takes as much time as maintaining chaos. But maintaining an organized, clean kitchen promotes a feeling of accomplishment, not despair.

6. Donate, Sell, Trash

Last but not least, if you haven’t done so already, it is time to dump all the stuff you purged from your kitchen this month.

Everything that needs to be trashed should at the curb THIS WEEK for the trash people to take.

If you have anything that needs to be donated, take it to your favorite charity and give it to them THIS WEEK. If you are in the metro Detroit area, I encourage you to submit your donations to Grace Centers of Hope, Oakland County’s oldest shelter.

If you have anything you want to sell, take photos of each item, prepare descriptions for them, and post the items for sell THIS WEEK. Some great resources include Craigslist, the local newspaper, and Ebay.

(Notice the common theme here? THIS WEEK? Yea, we want this stuff out of here!! )

Next month, we’ll be going to the home office (even if all you have is a tiny desk in a corner of a room, you can still participate!) and tackling our paperwork (can anyone say tax time?), cleaning up our computers, and more!

Don’t forget to check back next Saturday for the random prize drawing announcement!!

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