My husband and I are slowly working through the basement clutter together and alone. It’s a big project and is going to take some time. I’m okay with that.
In the meantime, I wanted to tackle something relatively easy that I could do in one decluttering swoop!
I’ve been meaning to clean out our “lazy susan” for a while so I did that this morning. My feminist husband says that’s not the politically correct term anymore so I’m calling it the kitchen corner cabinet turntable thingy. It has a nice ring to it doesn’t it?
Before pictures of the Kitchen corner cabinet turntable
We have our oils, bowls, appliances, flours, oats, and pastas thrown in here.
As in most decluttering projects, I pulled everything out. This was especially needed here so I could give the two shelves a good cleaning.
things to toss
There were a couple of food items in there that I knew I wanted to throw away. At one time we thought we might make handmade tortillas so we bought the flour for it.
We quickly learned that:
- It’s best to have a tortilla maker (which we didn’t own) and
- It’s not worth the effort without #1.
They did taste very yummy, but the effort was not worth the end results. We haven’t used the flour for over a year so it was time to trash it.
The other food item was a container of a strange brand of rice that we bought by mistake. We have attempted to eat it. It is not good. It’s a watery sweet kind of rice that is mushy no matter how long you cook it. Maybe it’s supposed to be for rice pudding? I think hubby bought it at the Asian market and thought it was our normal brand of sticky rice. Luckily, he didn’t buy a large bag!
I have a really hard time throwing food away, even if it was only a few dollars.
My RATIONALIZATIONS kick in:
- “It’s such a waste to throw this food away.”
- “Maybe we will get a tortilla maker someday“
- “Maybe if we mix this rice with the other type of rice it’ll be edible” (what!?!)
Here’s how I talk to those rationalizations:
- “This food has not been touched, and you have already spent the money. It’s probably bad anyway, Angela, since you have ignored it for the past year (maybe more?) each time you spin the kitchen corner cupboard turntable thingy.”
- “You are trying to declutter, Angela, not add to your belongings. A tortilla maker might be nice, but not at this stage of life.”
- “You’ve tried mixing the rice with the other type of rice already, and yes, it was edible – but not enjoyed. If you leave it in the kitchen corner cupboard turntable thingy (aka the KCCTT) then it will just become bad like the aforementioned tortilla flour. At that point you will have to speak to yourself again with the first point. Let’s not go there.”
So, in the trash bag they go. I’m using the containers for the sugar and the sticky rice that IS edible. I’ve even labeled it with my beloved label maker.
After Pictures of the Kitchen Corner Cabinet turntable
I put all of the pantry/food items on the top shelf and the appliances on the bottom shelf. There aren’t wide open spaces in there but it’s not jam-packed like before.
things to donate
I decided I could give up some of my mixing bowls which we store in the kitchen corner cabinet turntable thingy. I think we can survive with 5 ranging in size from small to large. I decided to donate 3 of them. I also pulled our bread maker out of the basement to donate. We used it frequently for a while, but haven’t used it since we started making bread the No Knead way. It came from the thrift store, and back to the thrift store it shall go!
Cleaning the Kitchen Corner Cabinet Turntable
I rarely time myself during the decluttering projects that I do, but I’m going to start. Nony, over at a Slob Comes Clean, does this and it makes sense. Time yourself so that you know how long a task generally takes.
Our minds tend to exaggerate the amount of time it takes to do something and then we rationalize doing it later because “I don’t have the time to do it right now”. In reality however, the task usually just takes 10 or 15 minutes or less!
Cleaning and organizing the kitchen corner cabinet turntable thingy took me 30 minutes total. Cleaning the bottom of the KCCTT took me most of the time. One of the reasons I’m decluttering is to make cleaning easier – the KCCTT gets a good cleaning, if lucky, twice a year. So scrubbing the bottom took a good chunk of that 30 minutes.
But look how much nicer it looks now:
Do you have problems throwing food away – even when it only cost a few dollars?
Linking to these fun and fabulous parties: Monday Madness, Merry Monday, Two Uses Tuesday, Hit Me With Your Best Shot
Great job on the KCCTT!
And also the self talk!
Yeah, I hate throwing away food. If it’s still good, I try reallyl hard to find somebody who wants it.
Me too Melinda! One thing I realized though is that the stuff that lingers for years in my cupboards are things friends have tried to pass onto me (usually when moving) because they didn’t want it to to go to waste!
I accepted your award today, finally!
https://purpleslobinrecovery.wordpress.com/2015/08/17/i-was-nominated-for-a-liebster-award/
I also hate throwing away almost anything! You’d think I was raised in The Great Depression. But I’ve started to learn the joy of a less encumbered life and I talk to myself about the “cost” of having things in my little home world that aren’t being used and won’t be used. There’s so much more to gain by getting rid of it. I’ve learned that I’m only really punishing myself by keeping something that is not wanted, used, etc.
Yes you are so right Liz about there being “so much more to gain by getting rid of it”. I’m happy to say that hubby is ALSO getting the “joy of less” bug
Are those called lazy susans? Or are those only for the things that sit on the table?
Definitely can relate to the not wanting to not throw anything away, my Grandma actually lived through the great depression and kind of gave me that mentality.
Love the new turn table thing and how it looks 🙂
liz @ sundays with sophie
Liz, you could be right! I might never get the name of that thing correct! I think overall it’s a good mentality to have for most things. We tend to throw things away so quickly. Thanks for stopping by and commenting!
Well done! It’s always gratifying to get those quick wins when decluttering. I gives you momentum for the harder work.
Yes Jill! So true. I think I’ll be doing more of these quick wins in the near future!
We had the same experience with the masa harina and the tortilla maker: We loved the taste of fresh tortillas but it’s not worth it. I’ve agonized over throwing food away, too. But then I realized if I was smarter about shopping I could reduce the amount I was wasting.
Your KCTTT looks much more organized now. I’ll bet it felt good when you were finished 🙂
Hi Lydia! You are so right about being a smarter shopper will equal less waste! We are pretty simple in our meal planning and I think it will probably stay that way for awhile.
Oh my goodness, I loved this post! I don’t think I’ve thrown away food that hasn’t gone bad and I definitely have things that hang around because I took them when people were cleaning out for moving. I do try to take things from people that are already part of my regular groceries though. So it is more the things that I bought for one recipe that hang around (especially spices). One of my special joys in life is using things up though rather than “decluttering” food, so this gave me something to think about. Also, I agree with the above commenter about the self talk part of this post. Loved it!
Thanks Susannah! Yes, we are generally a use it up type family as well. We actually ate the rice at least a few times but it was not fun. It stayed in the frig as leftovers until we eventually threw it out!
This looks like an awesome post, thanks for linking it up at this weeks Merry Mondays!
Luckily I have no problems with my pantry, but my craft supplies that’s another story all together….. I really have a hard time throwing any of that stuff away!
I’m not a big crafter Brenda, but we all struggle with some area!
Angela, I finally accepted your award! Thanks!
https://purpleslobinrecovery.wordpress.com/2015/08/17/i-was-nominated-for-a-liebster-award/
Thanks Melinda! You have such a great sense of humor!
My corner cabinet looks exactly like yours. How did you clean under the bottom shelf? Mine has a TON of dust, but it is impossible for me to reach all areas on the bottom of the cabinet (under the bottom rotating shelf). Do you have any tips?
I didn’t! I just wipe the parts you can see when you spin it. I’m afraid that I happily ignore areas that aren’t visible! 🙂