Simple "Recipe Style Techniques"
for Organizing Your Kitchen

• Create a "To Do" list for any items needed.
  
  
• After you have decided which kitchen organizing tools you will need, and have purchased the product, then setup a target date for this project.
  
  
• "X" out the entire day and I promise -- you will complete this task with some gentle guidance and simple "how to's!"

• First, make sure you have no commitments for the day.
• This day belongs to you and your kitchen.
• Turn on the answering machine because we won't need any excuses to pull you away from the job at hand.
• Put on your favorite kind of music. Why of course! See... I told you this would be FUN!

• From the "Kitchen Organizing Ingredients" above, select one large trash bag and keep it close by. (Feel free to utilize additional garbage bags as needed.)
  
  
• Although you will proceed by sorting all these items initially, please do not be shy about tossing what is really useless, beyond repair or unsalvageable. It's time you lay many of these items to rest in peace.
  
  
• Remember, you can recycle any materials that are beyond identification rather than tossing everything. Let's avoid those landfills whenever possible!
  
  
• Just grab the ol' recycling box from the "Kitchen Organizing Ingredients" and be proud that you are not only cleaning up your immediate environment -- you are creating a better environment for your children's children.

• Do you see any of the kids' stuff here?
  
  
• Create an appropriate pile for each child.
  
  
• Hold up a sec now -- you can run to their rooms later -- with complete piles not just a few items at a time. That would be a dangerous "sidetrack" that you cannot afford today. You are going to "deliver" items in entirety when we are done. Better yet, have the kids come and claim their "stuff" when you are done or it becomes yours to do as you wish by the 11th hour. (Ahaaa! Donation potentials!)
  
  
• Remember to create a pile for your spouse too -- no one is spared in this project!

• Too many magazines all over? Invest in a decorative magazine rack. Place the magazine rack in an appropriate area: living room, home office, or even the bathroom.
  
  
• OK -- I said it! Did you know that the bathroom is the reading station for a vast majority of the population? Makes a lot of sense to me! It can ensure "quiet time" that's for sure.
  
  
• The point is to place the magazine rack in the area that you are most likely to do your reading. Simple!
  
  
• Any catalogs here? Keep the good ones only if you are going to make a catalog purchase within the month.
  
  
• Place the others in your recycling box from the "Kitchen Organizing Ingredients." Never fear! You know there will be plenty more where they came from in no time!
  
  
• At least eliminate keeping duplicates if you feel the need to hold on to some of them.
  Note: one of the things I do, is setup a magazine rack strictly for catalogs. I may not make a purchase now, yet I keep many of them on hand as resources for my clients. I advocate a "one in-one out" method. Anytime an updated catalog arrives in the mail, always discard (recycle) the old one.
  
  
• Keeping these catalogs out in the open to read is not a necessity. The idea is to be able to locate the catalog swiftly when you want to place an order.
  
  
• Get in the habit of putting the catalog in the designated decorative basket as soon as the mail arrives, if it is one you are keeping. Toss/recycle what you will never use!
  Hint: When placing catalog orders you MUST always precede your order with "do not sell or trade my name." This simple little statement will reduce getting on additional junk mail lists that you have no interest in!
  
  
• OK -- there has got to be bunches of junk mail here. Avoid wasting your precious time opening it at this late date.
  
  
• Now, we all know exactly what junk mail looks like from the outside of the envelope. Toss it! You heard me. Just let it go! It won't hurt. I promise.
  
  
• Look, lets face it -- if you haven't opened it up until now -- it really wasn't that important. Trust me, I would not lie to you!
  
  
• Solicitations for donations are not junk mail per se. I do understand that many of you give to many charities, agencies and non-profits. I also understand your good intentions. Once again, trust me -- please! If you have not been able to donate yet, rest assured you are in their database and will be approached again in the near future. At that time you will be in a more organized state to respond.
  
  
• For now, toss it! Unless you are committed to writing your contribution tonight.
  
  
• Did you notice the space you have reclaimed already? WOW! Great job!!!!

• Hmmm, I'm sure the next thing we'll stumble into is a vast array of "loose papers." Phone numbers, recipes, old business cards, last years teachers notes from the kids schools, a 1994 soccer schedule, the Christmas Bizarre that came and went, fund raiser requests -- you name it.
  
  
• Ok. You know what we need to do here. Make decisions!

• do I need it or do I want it ? (big difference)
• is it too late to do this? is this out of date?
• does anybody care if I do this?
• do I have time to read this?
• will I possibly receive this again?
• is there another resource for this if I decide I have time at a later date to do this?
  

• Whatever you do, do not take time to read at this point. Skim the information.
  
  
• If you are going to keep some of those long lost phone numbers and business cards, grab one of your manila envelopes along with your black magic marker from the "Kitchen Organizing Ingredients."
  
  
• Place all of these items in the envelope and label it with the magic marker: "phone numbers." Set it aside for the time being, as we just may run across more.
  
  
• Other items commonly found are bills. So, let's collect them all and place them in a pile to be delivered to our "bill paying center" later.
  
  
• Take another manila envelope from the "Kitchen Organizing Ingredients" and place them all together. Label the outside "current bills." Set this aside for later distribution.
  
  
• Almost always I run across a conglomeration of pens that don't write; stubs for pencils, markers that are dried up a long time ago; name tags from a conference attended way back when; "pieces" of items that need to be fixed (which we forgot we owned by the way!); loose change; rusted old paper clips; twisties; rubber bands; maybe a screwdriver; old tops to pens; mascara (so that's where it went!); keys that we have no idea what they belong to; etc... I believe you get the point.
  
  
• Now I want you to grab a HEAPING cup of honesty from your "Kitchen Organizing Ingredients" and decide to "decide." Let the stuff go that no longer serves you.
  
  
• In all honesty from me to you, there is very little left in the pile that now sits in front of you that can serve you or anyone else. Please feel quite free to discard it! Let it go! Release yourself! Toss it into the garbage bag from the "Kitchen Organizing Ingredients" immediately! ... Aaaaaaaahhhhhh! Didn't that feel GREAT!! ??
  
  
• At this point you want to avoid thinking "Who would want this?" How could I use this some other way? In all honesty if you have to ask the question, most likely the item is worthless.
  
  
• If you say "I could use this for something else" and you don't know WHAT the "something else" is -- the odds just increased to 80% that it won't ever be used.
  
  
• You do NOT need this item! You may want it. There is a huge difference. How many other things are you holding onto that you wanted ...yet have never found a use for? Believe me, they are eating up valuable space! This space is precious and your success in this project is too important. Just let it go. It IS quite OK!
  
  
• Is Johnny's toy car in the pile? Mickey's CD? Sally's doll clothes? Hubby's pocket change? Spare set of keys? Old golf tees? Sunglasses? Fanny pack? (WOW! I guess he was a purr-ty big violator of kitchen counter space, ehhh?)
  
  
• OK. Lets sort all family members "stuff" into their own piles. No need to become distraught in having to put their stuff away. All you need to do is create piles for each of them at this time.
  
  
• When all the counters are clear and the sorting process appears to be completed -- then go to each of their rooms and deliver the full piles for them to deal with (more on this later in the Kid Organizing section).
• GREAT JOB!!!

• A few words about knickknacks here. "How many do you want to clean or have time to clean?" Believe me -- I am not a "sterile" type of person by a long shot! I definitely believe in creating a space that has my signature, energy and heart in it! I also know that no one has tons of spare time to clean bunches of "little things."
  
  
• Personally, I love wicker and pottery. These are some of my favorite things. (Hmmm, wasn't that a song?) What I do is strategically place them in areas where I can always appreciate them. I have a pottery spoon rest, wicker tissue holder, wicker baskets, pottery utensil holder and bud vase in my kitchen.
  
  
• What I'm suggesting is incorporating the design and functionality of your favorite materials into the decoration of your kitchen.

• I have been in many kitchens where someone has looked me straight in the eye and said: "So what do I do with this thing? So and so gave it to me and I'll never use it. Besides the fact, it's not even my taste!!" Or "I can't throw this out -- Mickey made it for me when he was in kindergarten."
  
  
• Okie-dokie folks...you need to grab a full pound of honesty here from our "Kitchen Organizing Ingredients." Let's see how we can solve this scenario.
  
  
• My clients feel free to be really honest with me by the time we reach this part of the process. They truly are searching for a way to make everyone happy. Although admirable, this is a very idealistic way of thinking. The reality is you have lost tons of space in your kitchen by attempting to make too many people happy already. Is your space a premium? Does your happiness count? Yup, you bet it does!
  
  
• Hmmm, that brings to mind the infamous words of Bill Cosby: "I can't give you the formula of success, I can for failure: "try to please everyone."
  
  
• With that in mind let's approach the "gift we'll never use."
  
  
• I ask you: are you wasting the use of this item and the money invested in it by stuffing it into the back of a cabinet? Are you going to let it continue to take up space because you haven't had the heart to get rid of it in the past? Or is it better to donate it to someone you know may like it and use it?
  
  
• Did a friend or relative give you a gift and you fear they may one day visit, expecting it to be displayed? Check with one of the kids and see if they want it as a keepsake or for later use when they leave for school or get a place of their own.
  
  
• Wouldn't it be nice to say: "Gee, Susan, that gift was so special that Sally decided that she wants to keep it in a safe space until she leaves for college in a few years. Thank you so much for your thoughtfulness."
  
  
• If you doubt you will ever be asked of its whereabouts and no one in the house wants the item, donate it to a church bazaar, Salvation Army or any local charitable agency in your community.
  
  
• Do not hang on to the item for "A Tag Sale -- Someday" unless you have one scheduled in the immediate future.
  
  
• Alright now, can you use the vase or mug Mickey made for you when he was in kindergarten (10 years ago), as a pencil holder near the phone? Does this item have the capacity to hold anything? Can you make use of it's duality? For show and storage?
  
  
• Many times kids are happy to know it is being used. We are the ones that demand of ourselves: "It must be in a sacred spot for show." Give it a shot! My experience in this arena is -- kids will exude beams of pride when they see the item being used in some capacity!

• All you have to do now is clean the counters and setup your new found space.
  
  
• Grab your heavy duty cleaner from our "Kitchen Organizing Ingredients" and let's make like a white tornado. Move everything off the counter tops. We are going to clean spaces we forgot existed!
  
  
• Wow! Get the sunshades! It's so bright in here! It looks FANTABULOUS!!!
  
  
• Yes! Now we are ready to organize the kitchen maximizing our newly reclaimed space! OK now, what items do you use all the time? Coffee maker? Toaster? Cutting board? Cuisinart?