Tackling My Kitchen Corner

I have a corner in my kitchen.  

Do you?

It's a corner cabinet and corner counter.

It's the perfect place to put things.  Any. Thing.  All.  Things.

I've been trying to clean up the clutter little by little.  I've already cleaned up and organized our laundry closet and our deep freezer.  Now I just need to maintain those areas.  

While our oldest was here, we also went through the foyer coat closet and cleaned it out.  We donated coats, sweaters, maternity clothes, shoes, boots and baby toys.  I didn't take before-and-after photos, but trust me when I say I literally had to push the door to close it.  And you should know me well enough by now, that I don't exaggerate.  Unfortunately, I'm a sentimental clutter-bug.  I truly hate throwing things in the trash, that's why I donated everything I could.  And the best part about the donating was Goodwill put a donation box in the Food Lion parking lot in Newnan, so while we were shopping last week, we dropped everything in there.  

Now back to the chaos of my corner.

See how crazy it can get?  And this is good.  Last week my husband went through all the pharmacy receipts and payroll stubs I had piled up behind the white phone charging station.  I also had 3 cookbooks and a 2" 3-ring binder full of recipes in that corner.  But I put all of them on the book shelf.  It's their "home".

I always tell my kids, "if it doesn't have a 'home', it needs to get donated or trashed."  

Now it's time for me to practice what I preach!

I pulled everything out of the cabinet and put it on the counter.  When I was younger, I used to clean apartments for income.  Out of habit, I was checking for any signs of bugs or mice.  Thankfully, there were none.  Phew!  What a relief! 

Then I sorted through the open bags.  I threw away old pretzels, stale chips and Chex Mix, hard-as-rocks gummy candy and expired dried apricots.  If you're cleaning out your cupboards or pantry, don't forget to clip out the Box Tops for Education.  I had 3 in there! 

I put back bread, cereal, the good chips and dried fruit.  

(In case you are wondering what that sticker says on my shelf, is says "Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels".  I thought it might help me remember not to munch and snack on junk.)

Then I tackled the counter and it looks so much better!

Maybe I'll tackle my bedroom next week.  But no one sees it, but me and Kevin...

Enjoy!

This post has been linked to:

• Tackle it Tuesday at 5 Minutes for Mom
• Decluttering Challenge at Mom's Plan
• 11th Heaven's Homemaker Mondays
• Works For Me Wednesday at We Are That Family
• A Slob Comes Clean End of Year