Many people think of the kitchen as the heart of the home, and it’s definitely true that many of us make our kitchens work hard. The kitchen obviously gets used for cooking, but is also often a space for entertaining friends or where the family likes to hang out. If all the action means your kitchen is overflowing, a good declutter can make it a much nicer place to be. 

1. Sort through your cupboards. The best way to start is to get everything out of kitchen cupboards and cabinets and go through everything. Are you hoarding hundreds of tupperware tubs that you’ve lost the lids for? Do you have enough plates to feed more people than you ever host? Is the cupboard full of novelty mugs that nobody uses? Clear out anything that you don’t need. If you want to hold onto extra items, for occasions when you might host a larger group than usual or if you want to hold onto things for your children to use when they move out, you could store extra items in self storage in Crawley to stop them cluttering up your cupboards. 
2. Add storage space. Clever storage means you can make the best use of your cupboards. For example, add plate racks to fit more dishware into the cabinets. A Lazy Susan is a handy trick for storing spices, as you can spin it to get at the jars at the back without rummaging in the cupboards. Hanging space under the sink is useful too for items like the dustpan and brush, or the bag of carrier bags that we all stash. 
3. Remove things that don’t belong. Are there toys all over the kitchen? Is the dining table buried under a stack of unopened mail and the kids homework? Clear out anything that shouldn’t be in the kitchen and find it a proper home elsewhere in the house. 
4. Set a timer. If you find decluttering a chore, work in short bursts. Grab the kitchen egg timer, and set it for twenty minutes. Get as much sorting done as you can before the timer rings. When it does, take a short break, then set the timer for another tidying session. 
5. Tidy at the end of the night. Family life can clutter up your kitchen a fair bit. Before you go to bed at night, take a few minutes to reset the kitchen. Do any washing up, put away anything left in the drying rack and clear out those items that don’t belong. When you wake up, your kitchen will be clean and tidy for a new day. 
6. Make the kitchen work for you. What do you use your kitchen for besides cooking? Make a space for those activities. If the children do their homework in the kitchen while you’re preparing dinner, perhaps put in a breakfast bar that they can sit at, so you can cook and help them at the same time. If you like dinner parties, put in a large table. Make your space work well for the way that you want to use it.