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

We've just been to visit our lovely DD's in laws who have just had a fabulous new kitchen. The only thing I would like is a fridge at waist height to stop bending down but there's nowhere for it to go
Just found 3 THREE unopened bags of rice, oldest a mere youngster at Oct 2014. Why, why?
And I really do need somewhere to store crisp packets; they're in a carrier bag that hits you on the head every time you open that cupboard-of what a larf!

Saw my kitchen in York museum too! The trim kept falling off the doors so eventually we replaced it.

Jamila get a black bin bag, pick up the tupperware lids, hover over the bag, close your eyes and let go. Then follow with the roasting tin. Keep going and only keep items that are either useful or beautiful. If your OH doesn't come into these catagories, let him off this time. (I do the same with my DS).

I can't throw any of them out just in case their other halves turn up one day.
(like the odd socks in the airing cupboard)

Jalima it is one of the wonders of the world as to why the pile of tupperware lids do not fit on the available boxes.

I know when I need to do more batch cooking - when I can't get anymore boxes in the cupboard.

I had a new kitchen just over a year ago and I was in a similar state to you i.e. far too many of everything really. I think it comes from having had a family, now all grown-up, then just the two of us. I've sorted things so there's one of each size of dish immediately to hand, then 'spares' i.e. those I couldn't bring myself to get rid of, put to the back of the cupboard. I know... I know ... that's not sorting, that's just re-arranging, but .... you never know.
I was horrified when I sorted the food cupboard though and had to throw a lot of stuff away - a great waste, but when something is dated 1990 something, there's not a lot of choice. This was mostly baking stuff - that essential ingredient that I only used once sort of thing. Also, why do plastic container lids breed?
Sorry, not much help, I know, but it'll be lovely when you're all done. I still keep opening cupboards just to have a quick look!

Any advice on storing sodding very useful Tupperware-type containers?
Mine are stored in two large plastic boxes from Wilko, one in the awkward-to reach- back of the L shaped bit of a corner cupboard, the other box next to it (easy to reach bit). However, one is mainly full of lids, none of which fit the boxes in the other one.
Must have a sort out.

? of course Skullduggery!
Currently it's a completely empty shell.....dust everywhere and I'm sorting through my hoards of dishes etc so there will be a trip to the dump and the charity shop.

Apparently the plumbing was 'unique' (rubbish) and the wiring 'intriguing' (and wouldn't meet current standards)....good start!

loopy will you post an after picture please?
That looks a bit like my kitchen at the moment but mine won't be fitted for weeks yet...!

Yay, can I join this thread? It's fun having a good sort out occasionally. My DH is a right hoarder but I really try to blitz the place periodically.

I'm sans kitchen at the moment as we're extending the old one so the builder has gutted the old kitchen but left me with the old metal sink with under cupboard moved to the wall where the larder cupboard will eventually go. The old electric cooker is sat a couple of feet from the wall and most of the cupboards contents are spread over several cardboard boxes in the spare bedrooms.

We're hoping to be completed by the end of May. There is a lot of building work happening, not just the kitchen, so the whole house is in disarray. I'm trying not to notice too much.

I'm also getting a fancy pants new induction hob so I've been working through my old pans to check which ones don't look pretty <i.e. manky> and/or attract a magnet to the base. I'm planning on keeping my naice Le Creuset casserole dishes as I rarely used them on the hob and it seems a shame to chuck them as they look lovely as serving dishes.

Anyone know if you can get colourful cast iron/stoneware type pots that can be used on an induction hob?

Chaos reigneth!
They started at 7.30 this morning ? I'm told it's going well.........
With the kitchen's contents in the living room I'm literally boxed into a corner; just texted DH to come back via the chip shop, no electricity or running water at the moment!

Midge Snap! I use small lightweight see through plastic baskets and keep 'like' things in them so that all I need to do is pull out the basket and everything is there at a glance. No more toppling of things on to the floor. All the fishy things like sardines, pilchards and tuna go in one. I have another for my fruit teas so I no longer have to shuffle to find what I want. I have to say that am surprised at just how many baskets I am using but it does mean that I can fit so much more into a small space.
I only keep food in my built in larder and also my herbs and spices as it is cool and dark. I found some white picture shelves in Homebase which are just wide enough to take a standard spice jar so DH has mounted those on the wall in the larder and put all my jars in alphabetical order which makes them easy to find. The little shelves are wipe clean and look made for the job.
I have 'le mons' slide out trays in the base corners and drawers in all the base units which have made such a difference to ease of use.
We had a plethora of everything and found it to be very cathartic downsizing to the necessities although we have kept a few extras for entertaining.

Sounds like there are quite a few new kitchens going in! Enjoy everyone!

Hummingbird
I have a 'Quooker' tap, and wondered whether to keep my kettle, just in case, but as it's so fast to boil up a pan of water on an induction hob, I didn't bother. It feels very weird at first, but it's nice not having a kettle cluttering uo the work surfaces.

I was going to throw out two deep roasting pans as I have a new one, but then thought that the DGD could make little gardens in them .....

In my new kitchen, after chucking out bin bags full of junk, plus a trip to the charity shop with unwanted casserole dishes and the like,I feel unburdened. I have put tins in clear plastic boxes so nothing gets left at the back of cupboards. I just pull the box out to find the soup or can of beans I want. Small items like herbs and oxo cubes go on a 'lazy susan'. Have fun with your new kitchen.

hummingbird I would keep the kettle, just in case!

Have you got a local charity shop for your small electrical items as well as baking equipment?

I'm having a new kitchen too. It's coming next month, and I keep peering into the cupboards wondering how on earth I'm going to tackle the horrors, and not actually doing anything. I have masses of cooking and baking equipment, but I'm going 'minimalist', so I have to be ruthless and chuck it out. I even have the pressure cooker my auntie Dot gave us for a wedding present in 1974! It's in perfect working order, but I won't be able to use it on my smart induction hob! I'm getting one of those boiling water taps, so won't even need a kettle. Please tell me I'll survive... ?

Thank you Elegran - I will try it out on DH

Isn't the story of Worcestershire sauce one of neglect? It was something like the original product tasted gross so it was abandoned but not thrown out until ages after someone found it, tasted it and a fortune was made. You may do the same with Branston ( which we love).

Probably. The whole point of preserves is that the sugar or vinegar preserves the fruit in jam or the veg etc in pickle. Open it and see - if the vinegar has affected the lid and eaten into the tin, then perhaps not! Not because of the pickle going off, but because of contamination from the wrecked lid.

Do you think a jar of Branston pickle from 2013 would still be OK to eat?

It is vinegar after all (stored in the back of the overflow cupboard in the utility room)

mine's the same shysal, it's nice to meet a kindred spirit!
While delving into the horrors of the food cupboard I have excavated enough out of date stuff to nearly half fill a bin ?

My new kitchen is going to have to reform my shopping habits, that's clear!

An elf would find my kitchen small, and as an avid cook have masses of 'stuff' the cupboard under stairs is now extra storage space, and also of course has coats, hoover, ironing board etc etc etc!!

petra, I don't always remember whether I have a reserve of something so buy too often. I have spares, spare spares and spare spare spares of lots of things! The spray oil containers are slim, so they get squeezed into small spaces any old where. I don't even use the other canned goods very often, so they sit in the cupboard going out of date.

I put my spices in a drawer, so easy to see what you have.

My range cooker has a slow oven which I use every day as a plate warmer, also for keeping meat warm whilst it rests. My OH is currently using it to ensure his cartridge cases are dry before he loads them (target shooting only).