De-crappifying the Kitchen Sink

Something about rainy weather and the start of the new year that makes me want to get things in order.  Ideally, I'd love to waive a magic FLY wand and have it all done, but i know it doesn't work that way (either that, or my wand is perpetually on the blink). 

Small steps work for me.  Little areas I can do in under 30 minutes so that I feel accomplished and don't get overwhelmed. 

Today's project literally hit me.  Seriously, I opened the sink cabinet and a bottle of cleaning spray hit me in the foot.  Oh, I tried to ignore what needed to be done at first.  After all, I figured I could just shove things back in and slam the door shut.  No one would be the wiser, right?    Unfortunately, that has been my m.o. for a little too long and is the reason the sink is in the condition it is in. 

So my lovlies, I am going to show you one of my secret shames.  My messy sink cabinet.

Now, decrappifying is more than just organizing and putting things into pretyy containers. It's about really gettting in there and throwing out what you don't need/use/love.  For instance, in that little mess I found 4 pairs of cleaning gloves (3 of them still in the boxes)  2 half empty bottles of orange oil spray. 

A fish net, even though we haven't had any fish in over 2 years.

Car wax.  Even though the car is in the garage...

And all kinds of unrelated crud that didn't belong under the kitchen sink.

So I tossed duplicates, put things that belonged in other rooms where they belonged.  And tossed, tossed, tossed the extra junk.

I cleaned out the bottom of the sink well and I wanted to put some contact paper down.  But then an idea struck me.  If something spills (like sticky dish soap) I will still have to get all wet and sudsy trying to clean it up.  Instead, I cut lengths of wax paper and laid it down so that the edges over lapped.  A few pieces of tape on the seams hold it together.  Now, the next time something spills, all I will have to do is grab the paper and toss it in the trash.

Now it's time to start putting things back.  Try and and figure out what order makes sense for your kitchen.  For instance, in my case, the dishwasher is to the left of the sink.  So the dish tablets go there.  The trash can is to the right, so that's where the trash bags ended up.  If it wasn't something that I used exclusively at the sink, it found another home.  The bags for the vaccuum ended up in the laundry room, since that's where I store the vaccuum.  The extra, unopened cleaning supplies found their way to a shelf in the garage.  Bathroom cleaner went right under the bathroom sink.

Now that you are putting things back, it's a great time to check your fire extinguisher.  Is it still sealed?  Does it have a full charge?  If so, put it back in on the side closet to your stove.  If not, go get another one.  RIGHT. NOW.

Tay Ya....  De crappified for now.  The sliding baskets on the right hold things that can go from counter to counter while I am cleaning.  No more than one open container of any supply.  Makes it easy to reach and grab.  And nothing falls out on my toes.  :)

Now head on over to THRIFTY DECOR CHICK for more de-crappifying ideas.