Any fear that I’d be asked to do a brutal clear-out of my messy kitchen goes away as soon as Cornelia arrives. ‘It’s about finding a home for everything that creates an environment that brings peace,’ he says. She begins by turning her attention to an area that is a magnet for clutter: the worktop. ‘Keeping surfaces clean will make your kitchen feel much calmer.’ In less than a cup of tea, she has relocated the energy monitor, moved around the crockery and moved our radio to a better location. She also removes the random assortment of bits (dog food, coasters and cereal boxes) that find themselves on top of the fridge and in the upper cupboards. All small changes but the effect is transformative: suddenly the kitchen feels less like a battlefield of obstacles and actually more inviting.
Next is the lesson how Organize the closet. Cornelia makes a charity/loft box for anything that isn’t being used and I fill it with surprising ease. Then there is the case of introducing cleverness Collection Solutions and defined zones to make my existing cupboards work a little better. ‘If things are annoying, you have to replace them,’ she says, looking at the tangled cables in the small appliance closet. She points out how Howdens (where the kitchen is from) offers smart slide-out internal drawers, which can be fitted to my cupboards to prevent things from gravitating backwards. Not a boring box (notaboringbox.co.uk) and Heffel (hafele.co.uk) also offers a storage fix; Also you can buy space saving solutions on a budget IKEA. ‘You need an easily accessible home for the things you use often and for less-used items such as high shelves.’
Developing systems is key to creating a clutter-free kitchen. My overflowing Tupperware collection is in desperate need of a plan. Cornelia places them on the table, then proceeds to store them all in the wooden boxes I have, placing the plastic containers inside each other and stacking the lids separately. ‘You get a lot out of something like this,’ she says. Dry goods are also ripe for systems, and can be dispensed in labeled glass or ceramic jars, which are much easier on the eye (and more useful) than a series of semi-finished packets.
I am amazed at how much we have achieved in a few hours. Not only can I find my favorite little milk jug, but I already feel a lot lighter mentally. My only concern now is that this can be rather addictive. theprofessionalorganiser.com
