Well, woman proposes and the universe has other ideas! The washing machine decided to develop a terminal complaint (bearings and /or the spider) which would have cost well over the cost of a new washing machine to fix. So, it was new washing machine time. Long story short, our kitchen is around 20 years old, and today's washing machines are larger, so although it fits vertically and horizontally (thank goodness, as this would be very difficult to sort out!), it's a little too deep for the space.
Fortunately, we dont have integrated appliances, so it's just going to be a case of some alterations to one cupboard. My wonderful handyman MJ is coming on Wednesday to sort my wobbling filing cabinet, so I'm going to pick his brains about the cupboard. At present it's a "magic corner unit", which , quite frankly, is more trouble than it's worth, as the baskets keep collapsing at the slightest in provocation. My plan is to take the baskets out, put a shelf in, and then take the radical step of blocking off the unusable space. ( I see no reason to keep things we dont use, so everything we do keep has to be reasonably accessible. My days of crawling into cupboards are over!) The door also needs to be made a little narrower, and converted into a "normal" hinged door. I need to discuss this with MJ, and get his input - he may have better ideas! Or we may need to replace the door. Fortunately everything is a standard size, the design was very plain, and the colour is still available, so it should be possible to get a good match. If we go down this route, then I'll see if it's also possible to replace the door to the cupboard under the sink - that's the only one that's showing noticeable signs of wear.
So, as I'll have less storage space overall (although, realistically, not much less *easily usable and accessible* space) I need to do serious decluttering.
My pots and pans are currently sitting in crates on the worktop, as it was their cupboard that was affected. As DH cooks too, I had him go through them with me, and we matched lids to pans, and made a decision about which ones we never used. They're now in another crate, ready to go sown to the garage until we have enough for a car load, when DH will rake them to the Hospiscare shop.
Yesterday I decluttered and cleaned three more cupboards. I'm doing each cupboard one at a time, and putting everything I want to keep back in its former place for now, or else we'll end up unable to move. When I've decluttered a bit more, I may be able to reallocate some cupboards. It's going to be more work over all, but doing everything in bite sized chunks means it shouldn't get overwhelming, and I should still be able to use the kitchen!
Kitchen deep cleaning / decluttering project:
Clean ceiling
Clean light fitting
Clean walls
Wash/ wipe paintwork and radiator
Clean clock
Clean string holder
Wipe light switch
Polish door
Declutter items hanging on back of door
Clean tops of cupboards
Oil chopping board, cheese board and bread board
Polish knife block, lazy Susan and hand coffee grinder
Declutter /clean wall cupboards: #1
#2
#3
#4#5#6#7
Declutter / clean under worktop cupboards : #1
#2#3#4#5
Clean /declutter drawers: #1
#2#3#4
Clean/declutter shelves: #1#2#3
Clean oven
Clean /declutter storage compartment under oven
Polish strips of wood with hooks that hold mugs and.utensils
Clean/declutter shelves of tall cupboard: #1#2#3#4
Pull out freezer and clean behind/ underneath
Defrost freezer
Declutter / clean trays stored next to freezer
Clean fridge
Clean bin area
Declutter / clean cubby with my gardening trug, spare cat food and???
Clean/declutter notice board
Wax floor
Declutter tea towels
Declutter tablecloths
My rewards:
Buy new tea towels
Decide which fabric for new tablecloths. (I have several in my basket!
) and purchase
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