Though this is coming after Christmas, you can still bake and even deliver treats to keep the holidays going! I did do some Christmas baking out of this disaster of a cupboard, not nearly as much as I had planned. But really, who wants to pull anything out of these cupboards…?
OMG, everything is going to topple out! It’s a mess I do NOT want to clean up!
When I give myself time, these small projects are my absolute favourite! The way I love to start is to literally pull EVERYTHING out! I mean really, what other time can you wipe down your shelves and really think about how best to use the space!?
Look at that blank canvas!!
Next, I make a pile of everything that is related to the items I am trying to sort. I even pull items that I have stashed elsewhere (since there was no room anymore to shove anything into my cupboards!).
Now that the cupboards are emptied and cleaned and the floor is full, I can start looking at all that stuff with a new perspective! For sorting food related things I first make a pile of expired items, or items close to expiry. I put those aside because they are not going back into the cupboard. After the cupboard is organized, I will go through it all to figure out what I could still bake with and what needs to be tossed.
Then I decide what type of bins or containers I will use to make my life easier. For my baking supplies, I love the IRIS scrapbooking boxes available at your local craft store. They are easy to use to create categories of baking needs; big enough to hold a single type of baking equipment, and yet small enough that they are easy to pull out of the cupboard, and not too heavy! I pull out all of the bins that I have and lay them within reach so that I can sort and toss. It also helps to have a garbage bag and donate box handy!!
The other thing that I love about not putting things into the cupboards right away, is that I can still easily rearrange everything when I change my mind. No matter how well I plan to organize, it’s still mostly trial and error. Once I have everything sorted into smaller categories I can start to prep the cupboard to put the stuff into its final resting place! The trickiest part, I find, is not to just put the stuff back in because it was in that cupboard before. The trick really, is to put things back in with intention! If you have a cake pan that you have always had, but never use, why put it back in!? Get rid of it! It’s obviously not worth keeping if you don’t use it! Make room for the stuff you want to use, or plan to use, or regularly use!
Pro Tip: Take small packages out of boxes and tie the instructions around the package. It frees up so much more space!
Setting it all back up in the cupboard…then standing back is the best!
I just love that feeling!!
Creating spaces in your house that make you feel proud, and make your shoulders relax is one of the best things you can do to keep your life simple and enjoyable. I used the baking cupboard when it was messy, but given the choice I would not have baked at all while it was messy! Yet, I love to bake! So finally, now that it is organized, I want to bake and can easily bake whenever!
This emptying of the space is essentially my process for no matter what I am organizing and no matter how big the scale of the project is. Decide what kind of stuff you want to organize, empty wherever the stuff is going to go (use this time to clean the space thoroughly) then decide how you will put the stuff that you want to keep away in such a way that makes you want to use it! The goal is not necessarily simply to make it tidier (which does happen anyway), the true goal is to create an easy to use system. That way there is no guess work when you restock your shelves. It’s about being thorough enough to deal with the stuff you have and still anticipate what other stuff you may need.
The last step is to add labels. More on that next week!
Happy baking, for no matter what time of year!
Home Under Clutter 
Especially loved the tip about removing the packaging before storing – saves so much space.
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