I Tried “Reverse Decluttering” My Disastrous Kitchen Cabinets and Cleared Them Out in No Time (It Was So Easy!)

At some point, my lower kitchen cabinets turned into a graveyard of forgotten gadgets and plastic food storage containers. Lids with no bottoms. Bottoms with no lids. A waffle maker I haven’t touched since … well, ever. It was giving chaos!

I knew I had to do something, but I wasn’t mentally prepared for a full Marie Kondo-style purge. Enter: “reverse decluttering” — a trick that flips the script. Instead of deciding what to get rid of, you pull everything out and only put back what you truly want or use. It’s a yes-only zone.

I’ll be the first to admit that the “before” picture above is definitely embarrassing. One shelf was stuffed with Pyrex, measuring cups, and more plastic storage containers than any one person should own. The other had sugar, oven mitts, and a wild mix of lids, mixing bowls, and a bulky hard-boiled egg maker I completely forgot I had. Everything was wedged in like a Tetris game gone wrong.

I emptied both cabinets and spread everything across my kitchen table. It looked like my cabinets had exploded — I even broke a glass in the process. After things calmed down a bit, I grouped similar things together (plastic containers here, cutting boards there, mystery items in their own pile), and it became very clear how much I’d been holding onto sheerly out of habit.

The biggest challenge? Fighting the “but what if I need this someday?” urge. Spoiler: If I hadn’t touched it in a year and didn’t even remember owning it, it was time to let go.

Putting things back felt like a fresh start. I kept only what I actually use: my go-to pots and pans, a handful of storage containers with both lids and bases (revolutionary, I know), a single cutting board, one set of kitchen knives, Pyrex measuring cups, and some colanders. Everything else went to the donate or trash pile. 

I felt guilty getting rid of everything at first, but once I saw how much more space I had, I realized this decluttering method was exactly what my kitchen needed. My cabinets now close without me having to shove things in — and I can see what I have; it’s no longer a guessing game! It’s not perfectly styled, but it works. It’s sustainable and actually makes cooking feel a little easier. And the whole point of this method is to take the guilt out of the process. By focusing on the joy surrounding the items, you actually use and not the guilt of letting go of what you spent money on or got as a gift, it takes the stress out of the process.

This method forces you to really look at what you’re holding onto and why. It’s weirdly therapeutic. And it’s definitely a mess before it gets better. Power through! You do not need nine different types of mismatched plastic storage containers. You just don’t. 

Would you try this decluttering method? Let us know in the comments below!

This post originally appeared on The Kitchn. See it there: I Tried “Reverse Decluttering” My Disastrous Kitchen Cabinets, and Cleared Them Out in No Time (It Was So Easy!)