A while back, I decluttered a kitchen cabinet. Inside, I discovered some trivets or hotplates or whatever-you-call-them.
I was proud of myself for choosing to keep only two. The two that fit in the drawer next to my stove where I keep such things.
I was practicing my hard-learned Container Concept. Go me.
But evidently, in the moment when I decided they fit, the drawer didn’t have everything in it that it usually does. I’m guessing an oven mitt had been randomly left on the kitchen table.
So once my kitchen was totally clean, I couldn’t shut the drawer. After three or four attempts to get it closed, I realized that my container (the drawer) was overflowing. Something had to go.
I removed the strawberry trivet that I hadn’t used in years anyway. (And that also appears to have something on it that looks a little like bird poo. Even though it’s not.)
If it won’t fit, I can’t keep it.
--Nony
Ti Anderson says
It’s these everyday little decisions that keep a house clean overall! Great reminder, Nony. Thanks!
Shoeaholicnomore says
I’m glad I’m not the only one that tries to jam the drawer shut a few times before realizing that it just won’t close and something has to go 🙂
Nicole says
You make me laugh every single day. Thank you!
Marion says
You do make my days brighter!
Jen says
I bought a mug at Goodwill the other day that I just had to have knowing that I can’t even fit all of my mugs in the cabinet already. I was thinking I needed to just let some of them go so they all fit again. I need to do this with all of my kitchen cabinets at some point, but maybe the mug shelf is just the place to start so I don’t feel overwhelmed. 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
KatieAnn says
Congrats! I broke two of my favorite most used dishes last week, so…. That cupboard is now less cluttered…. 😉
Linda says
The Container Concept is absolutely key. Having a boundary gives me permission to let things go. I still think it’s weird that I have to have permission, and that it is sometimes an inanimate object like a drawer that gives me that permission, but it is so freeing!
Sandy says
everyday in everyway my home gets a little less cluttered thanks to you Nony.
Kristy K. James says
I don’t have any trivets (thought that strawberry one is really cute!), but I had a major problem with utensils. So many, in fact, that my son nagged me to get rid of some every time he had to put dishes away. I finally listened because I realized when each item had to be positioned just so in order for everything to fit, it was silly to keep them all. Just because two ladles were needed ONCE A YEAR for the annual family bonfire didn’t mean I had to supply them both. And seriously…how many knives do I need?
Mary Stephens says
Good for you! I try to do this in some areas of the house. I pretty much did this recently with my card making supplies, and even managed to empty about a drawer’s worth of space! My sewing room needs to be dealt with in particular. I have tried to organize it some, but I need to work more diligently at finishing projects so that my supplies will fit in the containers. Some things need to get inside a container and there are some things that probably need to be eliminated (ouch!).
Jennafer says
I am doing a massive declutter this week… looking forward to no stuff in the way! My house is very small to begin with so one little thing out makes everything look cluttered.
Lots of projects that need to be done… sigh… it’s never ending!
I would love to know where you got your trivet. Something like that would look fabulous on my wall!
Carrie says
Great decision! I have one trivet. I use it rarely. In some cases, I have used a folded up dish towel as a trivet, thus do I really even need one?
Patricia says
I took a day off work Friday to do some decluttering I my bedroom and listened to your podcasts the whole time. Your Container Concept has changed my world. The light bulb went off as I am also a recovering container-buyer. I have told more people about your container concept and since most of them are “normal” they just politely smile and nod. Thanks so much for your blog and podcasts. Seems like my brain works much like yours so it is great to hear that it isn’t just me and that there are ways to work around it. And around it again and again. 🙂
Dana White says
Love this comment, Patricia! And I laughed aloud at the normal people smiling and nodding! Seems fair since I smiled and nodded at the same concept being shared in passing as something everyone automatically knows!
Catherine says
I guess I’m not quite there yet as my immediate thought was for you to find a space on the wall and hang your trivet on a hook there…A trivet is not just a hot pad but decor as well. I probably would have made a grouping out of all of the trivets if there is space and just made that their “exact storage spot”, not a drawer. But glad you made a decision and acted on it and now have a drawer you can close properly (writes the person who does have a kitchen cabinet that DOES NOT close properly).
Jan Weems says
We are moving from a 10 room house to a 2-bedroom apartment. I have condensed everything we own as much as possible, sold or donated a ton of stuff, have a rummage sale planned, and we are STILL wading through stuff. We have been moving into our new place since November, and I am trying to have it all move-in ready once we leave the house for good…. I have owned 6 homes since 1978 and contrary to popular belief, you don’t get rid of your stuff when you move, you just get more and expand to fill a bigger space. So now we are doing it in reverse…. I have sold things recently that I had sworn I would NEVER part with, but when it comes right down to it, it’s amazing what you can do without. We have a nice large laundry room in this apartment, and my husband put up lots of shelves… one side of the room is my pantry, and I am using all my Vintage tin boxes and containers to store food items in, instead of plastic. The laundry is the 2nd area, with more Vintage storage or things like crockpots, etc. up overhead and laundry items in racks that hang onto the top back of the washer and dryer. The third wall is becoming my “sewing/crafts room…. my sewing machine, with shelves above it, sewing and craft items stored in quaint baskets, (many belonged to my mother or my grandmother) and a bookshelf with a curtain over the front next to the sewing machine table (Singer, 1910)
for more storage. Thus, I have condensed 3-4 separate areas in my house into ONE…..
Rachael says
I have been using this week. Since my kiddos are back at school, I have cleaned/decluttered my family room, bedroom, and one counter in my kitchen. This week, I plan to tackle the office and other kitchen counter. If something doesn’t fit and I haven’t used or even seen it in a year, it is going.
Jennifer says
but that strawberry trivet is SO CUTE! if that was at my house, it would get used ALL the time. 😉