Declutter Bakeware: 15 Minute Mission

Today's decluttering mission is to declutter bakeware, including baking dishes and sheets.


Often we'll get a new one of these pieces of bakeware and instead of following the "one in, one out" rule, we just don't get rid of the old one.

This may not seem like a big deal at first, but what is means is that over time we accumulate too many of these.

Also, we all have our favorite baking sheets and pans, while the rest get ignored. Seriously consider decluttering anything you consistently choose not to use, over and over again.

Finally, you know it is time to declutter, or at least to reorganize them if you have an avalanche when you try to get one sheet or pan from the bottom of a stack, and they all are in danger of falling out.

What's A Reasonable Amount To Keep?

As usual, there is no clear cut answer to this question because it very much depends on how much and often you bake, what types of things you bake, and finally, how much room you have in or around your kitchen to store these types of items.

Thinks critically of the most recent few times you've used a lot of these items at once. How many can you realistically have in use at once, versus just washing them between uses. We only have so much room in our ovens at one time, after all.

Consider Putting Less Frequently Used Bakeware Somewhere Less Convenient

The other thing you should consider when doing this mission is whether you actually need to store all these items in your kitchen, or at least in a very convenient location.

Perhaps it is your tradition to once a year make a cake, for someone's birthday. Well, don't declutter your only cake pan. You'll need it again soon enough and will regret having got rid of it. Just because you use it infrequently, if you do use it, it isn't clutter.

However, if you use something very infrequently why is it taking up premium space in your kitchen cabinet, such as having to move it aside daily to get to something else also stored there?

Instead, in this example, why not put your cake pan somewhere less convenient? Perhaps in that deep corner cabinet that you never know what else to put in there, or on a high shelf that you need to use a step stool to reach.

Since you just use it once a year save yourself the hassle of moving it daily to get to the baking sheet you use almost every single day.

What Should You Do With The Items You Declutter?

Finally, you need to consider what you'll do with the bakeware that you do decide to declutter.

I'd love to hear from you, saying what you'll be doing with anything you've decided to get rid of. Are you donating? If so, what are some places that would appreciate this kind of donation the most and make good use of it?

Do you think you'll sell it instead? Again, if so, where do you think you could sell it easily and for a good fair price?

Finally, below I've shown some photos provided by readers who've already taken on this mission, showing their results, to get you inspired to tackle this one yourself.

Top photo courtesy of Anthony Crider, from Flickr Creative Commons, and second photo courtesy of a reader, Mary

Dig Back Deep Into Your Deep Cabinets So You Don't Miss Anything!

We all know about those deep cabinets that fit sooo much stuff in them, but the things that get shoved into the back seem to go into the abyss. That's what happened with one reader, Teresa, but she got it decluttered and organized.

She said, "I was just decluttering my baking pans cabinet (this is the before picture), which is very deep, so very dark. I rarely used anything that wasn't right in front of me. I put a tap light in there today so I could see and it's crazy what I found in there, lol.

I have a whole box of things to throw out (old, old pans and pieces I have no idea what they go/went to). AND I found an 8-cup food processor that looks almost brand new! We moved in with my husband's grandmother 2.5yrs ago; she must have bought it or got it as a gift at some point before we moved in and I never noticed it because I didn't pull everything out when I added my pans."

In the after picture she explained, "I had so much space, I could move the casserole dishes in here too (which were in the pantry). And I moved Nana's bread kneader to another cabinet that made more sense."

I love the idea for deep cabinets to add a light, so you can inside them. You can purchase stick on tap lights here:

Don't Forget To Get Anything From Underneath Your Stove

Many people keep baking dishes, cookie sheets and more in the drawer underneath their stove.

When decluttering make sure you clean this spot out if you keep these types of items there.

That's exactly what a reader, Jean, did, and she shared this before and after picture showing what she had left after decluttering. She explained, "My before and after. I moved the muffin tins into a cabinet that now how room thanks to one of last week's missions! I have 2 hutches that have baking things in them, so I need to get to those too, but not today!"

Decluttered Ceramic Baking Dishes

Laura sent in this photo saying, "Purged. Some of these beauties are from 1977!"

Great job Laura!

Removing Just A Little Clutter Can Make A Difference

This photo is from another reader, Kelly, who took on this mission and showed her results.

Kelly said: "We completely reorganized our cabinets this weekend. I moved my favorite bakeware into one cabinet."

It looks great, and with just a little effort and clutter removal it looks great now Kelly!

Decluttered Deep Drawer & Used Old Plate Rack To Organize Baking Trays Left

by Danni

Danni took on this mission, and got some great results. She said, "I had one drawer crammed with baking trays of all shapes and sizes, jammed around two large cooking pots.

I moved the pots to another cupboard above the oven which is just big enough to hold them. The cupboard is rarely used because of its location so it made sense to put the rarely used pots there too.

I then repurposed a plate rack from an old dishwasher, put that in the bottom of the drawer and stacked the stovetop grill plate and flat baking trays on it. Now I can easily access any tray I need without having to empty the entire drawer.

That's a great idea for organizing your bakeware. Once you've finished decluttering it's time to organize the items you've got left. So make sure to check out my article all about bakeware organizer and storage ideas here.

Want To Do More Decluttering Missions? Get Started With Declutter 365 Today!

Once you declutter one type of item in your home I bet you'll want to declutter some more. After all, decluttering gives you a great reward for even a small investment of time and energy.

The Declutter 365 system is designed to help you declutter, over the course of a year, your entire house, with just 15 minutes of decluttering each day!

Hundreds of thousands of people use this proven system to get rid of their clutter, and bring peace and calm back to their homes.

Declutter 365 works to guide you to clear the clutter without overwhelm, focusing on just one small area at a time, and without making a huge mess in the process, so you see consistent forward progress without all that "messy middle" that makes it even harder to function in your home than before you started.

In addition to building a daily decluttering habit, the Declutter 365 program, along with the accompanying 52 Week Organized Home Challenge, teaches you the skills, habits, routines, and mindsets necessary to maintain the clutter free and organized state of your home from now on, so it'll never be as messy and cluttered as it is right now, ever again.

If you haven't already, make sure to get your copy of this year's Declutter 365 annual calendar here (it's FREE!), find today's date, and do 15 minutes of decluttering on the day's mission. Then, repeat again tomorrow, and again and again. Over the course of the next year, if you do this 15 minutes per day, you'll declutter your whole house!

Get This Kitchen Decluttering Checklist + 32 Other Decluttering Checklists For Your Home

Right now you're decluttering your kitchen, and there's a lot of stuff to declutter in this space.

Get your 2 page kitchen decluttering checklist, plus 32 other decluttering checklists, to help you declutter your entire home here.

I've done the hard work of breaking down these tasks into smaller more manageable steps for you, so you don't get overwhelmed or worry you're forgetting a task, and you can go at the pace you want, whether that's fast or slow.

In addition, you can tackle these decluttering tasks in whatever order you want when you use these checklists!

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Related Pages You May Enjoy

Getting Clutter Free 15 Minutes At A Time Hall Of Fame

Getting Rid Of Kitchen Clutter Hall Of Fame

Kitchen Drawer & Cabinet Organization Challenge

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