7-Day Purge Challenge {Day 1-Kitchen}

Welcome to the first day of the purge challenge! I’m super pumped for this challenge, and ready to kick some clutter to the curb. I decided to start with the kitchen because it’s typically one of the most used rooms in the home. Or at least in our home it is. I’m pretty good about keeping the counters and dining table cleared, but there’s always a few spots that tend to slowly collect things. I also plan to tackle the drawers and pantry because we all know how quickly those can get cluttered.

Here are the areas to focus on:

Kitchen counters and visible surfaces-

For today’s challenge, I want you to start with the areas that are visible. Why? Because seeing immediate results will motivate you to keep going. Although I keep my counters fairly clear, I do tend to place things on top of my refrigerator. Here’s a few tips to help you get started:

• Evaluate each item and only keep out the things that you use daily.
• If you have space for it elsewhere, put it away.
• If incoming mail is an issue, create a designated space for it.

Kitchen cupboards and drawers

Next, tackle the kitchen cupboards and drawers. This is my downfall because I have a hard time parting with food. I also have two small kitchen drawers that get cluttered quickly, and need purged on a regular basis. Here’s how I plan to tackle these spaces:

• Get rid of expired food, or opened food that no one eats.
• Donate canned goods and dry food that won’t be used.
• Wipe down all cupboards and drawers.

Kitchen pantry

The pantry is another problem area in our kitchen. The kids tend to grab snacks and leave the empty boxes. Or they’ll empty a cereal box and leave the box in the pantry. Seriously, why??! In order to get my pantry back to normal, here’s my plan for this space:

• Toss out empty boxes, and expired food.
• Get rid of anything that doesn’t belong (this happens a lot).
• Organize the shelves and bins.

I’ll be working on this task today, and updating this post with my progress and photos. I also plan to scope today after I make a trip to the grocery store. So you might get to see the video version as well.

If you think this is too overwhelming for one day, spread it out over several days. What’s important is that you make progress. My space is small, so it’s easier for me to get it all done. But don’t feel the need to keep up with my to-do list.

I hope you’ll join me later on, and share how you did with today’s challenge! 🙂

**UPDATE**

I almost didn’t get the challenge done because we headed out to complete several errands including a trip to Costco. No bueno, considering it’s only the first day. So basically I started way later than I hoped for, but at least I got most of it done. I just need a drawer to tackle tomorrow, but nothing major.

Here’s a few pics of my progress. I didn’t include the pantry or counters because I really didn’t have much to tackle in those two areas.

EEK! I couldn’t believe how much stuff I had to get rid of. I was surprised because I’m always purging, but clearly not enough.

How did you do? I’d love to hear about your progress!