Dusty, crusty, rusty, and musty no more.

Dirty little secret in our house: no one ever, ever, cleans out the cupboards. Okay, it’s probably not just our house, and it’s probably not that dirty in the scheme of things, but sometimes for me it ceases to be little. I can only shuffle unsuccessfully through a drawer that’s 90% lids and 10% containers so many times.

I mean, most people, even in our house, usually have more important things to do than painstakingly match every plastic storage unit with a lid and then retain an alternate, or overextend their shoulders to reach into the dark, useless corner next to the dishwasher to grab that bottle opener that somehow fell back there (and take a picture of the vast expanse of Tupperware? I mean come on, really now). I usually have more important things to do. But sometimes a perfect storm of boredom and the need to be organized besieges me (the last time this happened was the year I had in between high school and college). I just know that no one has touched some of these items since I systematically overhauled the kitchen in 2007 (my innovative locations for the dinner plates, coffee cups, and bowls persist to this day). And, when I have the luxury of thinking so, that’s kind of icky.



This cascade of plastic and metal would be the lids that have no corresponding containers. I found more later. I started in on the silverware drawer, just for kicks. I found the cheese slicer I had been looking for last week. Then, I had to do the utensil drawer next to it, since there were so many crossover items. And since I was doing lid recon, I had to go through the glass jar shelf and then the travel mug/water bottle cupboard. The second collection of glass jars in the cup cupboard necessitated my attention as well, so I just sorted the entire thing.

As I was examining the countertops, I noticed that we had multiple sugar containers and multiple less-than-half-filled containers, so I did some sifting and restocking and created a new staple storage system. Sometimes I think that there is nothing prettier than rice in a clear glass jar. Then I realized it would make more sense, and counter space, if I could fit the waffle iron underneath, so I shuffled pie tins and rarely used appliances until I had the requisite rectangle in that cupboard. I also ran white vinegar through the coffee pot, since there's a good chance that hasn't been done since we bought it. I pulled sections of counter items out and stage by stage wiped down everything.

I had to rearrange the stationery cupboard briefly, consolidating boxes and holders to make room for the straws, chopsticks, and skewers that I sorted out of the utensils. After dinner, as I was breaking down greeting card containers to recycle, I realized I could reappropriate a couple for the junk drawer. I was only going to group a couple of random items in it, but it went so quickly that I soon had the entire drawer in neat quadrants. I swept, wiped down the dining table, took out the trash and compost and recyclables, and I was glad.