How to declutter and re-energise the kitchen this diwali

Your kitchen can be your heaven or it can be a dreaded space, if you are a hoarder then the latter is more likely. Diwali is the best time to clean up your kitchen along with the rest of the house, declutter and make it your favourite room in the house.

Lay out old newspapers on the floor of the kitchen or on the table. Open all the cabinets and bring out all the things onto the floor. If you feel doing all the cabinets is too much work then take them one by one. Keep extra-large garbage bags and open cartons handy.The garbage bags get what you do not want and the cartons what you are going to think about. The stuff you do want goes onto the table.

Invest in some see through plastic boxes that fit on top of the shelves. These are excellent storage for small knick knacks like icing syringes, measuring cups, melon ball scooper, extra knives and peelers, rolling pins etc…things you are not likely to use everyday. You could also opt for inbuilt cabinets in available spaces. Pot racks are brilliant too.

This time is also good to re-organise your drawers if you want to. You can arrange your ladles, spoons and spatulas near the gas stove, your masalas in the cupboard away from the heat source and your cleaning products under the sink. If need be, divide drawers with dividers for easy placements of spoons, forks and knives etc.

You might be having some electrical appliances that are just sitting on the counter top not being used daily. So just cover it up with cling film. Throw away the plastic when it is dusty instead of having to wipe the appliance now and then with a cloth.
Similarly if there is space between the cabinets and kitchen ceiling, place a few layers of old newspaper to line the top of the cabinets. Just throw them away when dusty.

Clean off the counters, cupboards, shelves, lights and fans and rearrange the things you have chosen to keep. Make sure none of the clutter finds place above your refrigerator or microwave as these are the most likely places where you keep things and eventualy it kind of becomes their permanent spot. While there's nothing wrong with having decorative pieces in the kitchen, they should not take up valuable counter space or wall space.


Your kitchen will be reverberating with fresh energy once you declutter it! First things first: decide to declutter and then do it with a generous mood.