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Oh my goodness.....kitchen cupboard clear out ?

(77 Posts)
loopylou Sat 09-Apr-16 11:56:53

I'm having a new kitchen next week so have to completely clean everything out. It's very evident that I have far too many casserole dishes, Pyrex bowls/baking containers and heaven knows what else 11casseroles?
How many does one realistically need when only two of us plus dcs occasionally and sometimes invite friends for a meal? At the moment I reckon I could easily feed 50 at one meal, oven permitting ?
And how should I organise the cupboards in my new kitchen? Just how many bowls/baking trays/plates etc do you need?

I'm putting off about to tackle the food cupboard god knows what I'll find in the back of it?

HELP!!!

ninathenana Sat 09-Apr-16 12:08:34

Been there, done that grin
After I had my new kitchen fitted about 3 yrs ago I devided it into zones.
Pans in the cupboard next to oven/ hob.
Spices, and things used whilst cooking in cupboard above.
Kettle, cups, tea, coffee etc. in an area next to fridge.
Crockery in cupboard above large area of worktop for "dishing up"
Cleaning stuff under the sink.
Basically think where you will do things and what you'll need to do it and arrange things so they're to hand.
I hope your pleased with your kitchen, it's great when it's all shiny new isn't it smile

Alima Sat 09-Apr-16 12:40:50

That will be lovely arranging your new kitchen when it is finished. Ours sounds much like ninathenana's with the exception of all foodstuffs in the built-in larder at the end. (We only have about 4 Pyrex bowls, one set which we noticed was on show at the Beamish museum, lasts well! ) We did find that we ended up with more cupboard space with the new kitchen, did not take long to fill the spaces though. Hope it goes well for you.

jinglbellsfrocks Sat 09-Apr-16 12:48:36

I've got a "chuck it in" kitchen cupboard. Hasn't everyone? DD's got one too.

Jane10 Sat 09-Apr-16 13:39:02

Was horrified last weekend when I got the bottle of tomato ketchup out for visiting GS and out of idle interest checked the 'sell by' date and it was Oct 2013!

loopylou Sat 09-Apr-16 13:53:56

I've never had a new kitchen so ridiculously excited aged 62 and a quarter!
We're generally sprucing up the whole house so I'm having great fun (DH less so!) choosing colours etc. I am even looking for a new settee (not had one of those new either!) and living room carpet, so it'll be like a new house really ?

The record so far Jane10 is a packet of stuffing January 2012 ?

Lona Sat 09-Apr-16 13:58:02

Time flies when you're having fun loopy! grin

shysal Sat 09-Apr-16 13:58:10

Jingl, my kitchen is tiny and I am a hoarder, so all my food cupboards are 'chuck it in', plus extra storage containers for dry goods. Even bags full in spare bedroom and shed when I have shopped for a special baking session.
Loopylou, I hope you enjoy your new kitchen. As you can see, I am unable to offer any tips on organisation! blush

Bubbe Sat 09-Apr-16 14:11:37

Apologies if this is at a tangent but I had a dear aunt who had really old foodstuff in her kitchen. She would never throw anything out. I was eventually able to get her to agree that if it was older than 8 years out of date she would allow me to chuck it ~ but only having separated the contents and the packaging into the appropriate recycling bins. A lot of her foodstuff was still in the shopping bags she had brought it home in.

I did have a new kitchen when we first married, but that was almost 40 years ago. I would really love a brand new nice and bright one.

aggie Sat 09-Apr-16 14:21:53

One tip I got from washing up in the Hall where we Bowl was to have drawers next to the dishwasher for the crockery , the drawers under the oven are where my cups and crockery now reside , so handy , I just open them and unload the dishwasher into them . I am no good at stretching up to over the counter cupboards so they are used for "spares" and the kids can get stuff out for me

merlotgran Sat 09-Apr-16 14:32:22

It'll be worth it, loopylou. I love my new kitchen and so far the cupboards are still organised but it's only been three months so not long until I start shoving stuff to the back of the shelves again.

tanith Sat 09-Apr-16 14:38:10

I'd be in heaven if I could have a new kitchen..sad

Enjoy playing loopylou wink

loopylou Sat 09-Apr-16 15:24:11

Thank you everyone! It's like playing 'Houses' as a child at the moment ??
DH is muttering about colours - yellow kitchen is verboten and I'd like a lime green wall.... The floor's dark slate, units white, work surfaces black. It's North facing so tends to be a bit gloomy so I think needs a bright colour on one wall, white on the rest.

He's begrudgingly admitting that the duck egg/white and light grey in the living room might actually be 'quite nice'....faint praise indeed!

Indinana Sat 09-Apr-16 16:19:03

I have a tall larder cupboard which is largely of the chuck it in variety. Wouldn't be able to fit everything in otherwise blush.
loopy I have a bottom corner cupboard, L-shaped, which is really awkward to access properly because the dishwasher next to it prevents one of the doors from opening back to its fullest extent. This is the cupboard where I keep all my casseroles, bowls, basins, cake tins, baking trays, dishes, wire racks, loaf tins, etc. It is so stuffed with stuff and I know I would be totally embarrassed if I got it all out so I could actually see how much I've got blush.
I think I need a new kitchen, if only to force me to sort all the detritus acquired over the 20 odd years since the kitchen was last replaced.

whitewave Sat 09-Apr-16 16:35:25

Saving and hoping to have a new kitchen this time next year with new appliances. So looking forward to it, as we are getting ancient we will have all the necessaries at eye level.

Jalima Sat 09-Apr-16 16:54:52

DH has decreed that if we get a new kitchen (not that likely smile) then I shall have drawers hmm. Apparently it is easier to take crockery, pans etc out of deep drawers than cupboards.

I have a surfeit of casserole dishes too, but each seems to have its own purpose so I'm loath to get rid of any.
The tall food cupboard has been fitted with some drawers (part is shelves) so that I can pull them out and see what's what and discover lost stock cubes etc.
There is a sort of drawer under the oven where the pans go (other pans in a cupboard - too many pans obviously!).
Large plastic boxes in the awkward 'L' shaped cupboards so that I can pull them out and discover what's behind more easily.

Jalima Sat 09-Apr-16 16:57:25

Spices in two racks screwed onto the inside of the tall food cupboard door. Quite handy and keeps them tidy.
Some are very out of date blush

Jalima Sat 09-Apr-16 16:59:51

ps the large plastic boxes are filled with small plastic boxes, another with cake tins etc and the one under the sink with cleaning stuff to keep it together and tidy.

tanith Sat 09-Apr-16 17:38:17

My son has one of these in his kitchen and I would love one, they can put so much into it and it looks lovely too....

www.paintsandinteriors.co.uk/?p=larder.cupboards

Indinana Sat 09-Apr-16 17:46:33

Spices in two racks screwed onto the inside of the tall food cupboard door.
That's what I have too. Also same sort of rack on the inside of the under-sink cupboard to hold all those small bits and pieces - baby bio, roll of string, spare scouring pads etc.
I also have a pull out wire drawer on runners fixed just under one of the shelves in the tall larder cupboard. It's perfect for all those small food items - packet mixes, stock cubes, packet soups, etc. And on the shelf above I have a huge square plastic lidded box containing all my baking stuff - dried fruit, brown sugar, colourings/flavourings, icing sugar, chopped nuts, baking powder, cake papers, and so on and so on. So much easier just to get the box out when I'm baking than scrabbling round for all these bits and pieces.

loopylou Sat 09-Apr-16 17:54:15

I'm getting some very useful ideas, thank you!
Any advice on storing sodding very useful Tupperware-type containers? Mine are currently wedged into a small cupboard that won't be in the new kitchen - and just how many do I realistically actually need/use?
I'm having a tall, pull-out larder cupboard so the rummaging on my hands and knees will hopefully be over!

petra Sat 09-Apr-16 17:56:28

Shysal I'm just itching to get my hands on those cupboards. I'm a minimalist so that really hurts my eye. By the way, why have you got 4 cans of Fry light?

Parsleywin Sat 09-Apr-16 18:17:25

Tanith, those larders are my idea of very heaven! Wrap, and deliver! envy

Charleygirl Sat 09-Apr-16 18:23:29

Replacing my kitchen cupboard doors and adding 3 new cupboards recently has helped a lot. I can now see what I have in the cupboards so I can slowly eat my way through the variety of food that is there and in the freezer. In around 6 months I will no longer end up with eg 3 jars of marmalade because the other jars are hidden so I have restocked, just in case I run out or cannot find which is more likely.

I am storing casserole dishes and slow cookers in the cupboard under the sink so of course I have nowhere for my cleaning materials. A long shelf in my wardrobe is their resting place now but that has to change.

Soon I will be less embarrassed for anybody to open a cupboard or drawer but Rome was not built in a day and a minimalist cannot be made overnight.

jinglbellsfrocks Sat 09-Apr-16 18:34:07

Shysal they ate not chuck-it-in cupboards. They are tidily and neatly sacked cupboards.

I am nor putting a pic of my chuck-it-in cupboard up. blush (hardware, not food)