Look around your kitchen. Are you hanging on to any items that you feel compelled to keep but that you are not using?

For years, I kept the ultimate kitchen essential hidden away in our media cabinet because it was the only space I could find. We have limited counter space and other appliances took up too much room to allow the display of my classic Kitchen Aid Standing Mixer. Often dubbed a kitchen essential by gift guides, I hardly ever used this beautiful appliance. 

In our previous home, I also didn’t have enough counter space so I kept my standing mixer in a cabinet, laying on the side, never being used, and apparently that was the perfect recipe for an oil leak! Yeah… don’t do what I did. About 5 years ago, with the help of YouTube, I took the appliance apart, scraped out all the old grease and replaced it with new. I went through all this trouble because every kitchen needs a standing mixer, right? 

Unpopular opinion right here… my home doesn’t need one. Maybe this seems simple, but it took me years to come to this realization and to have the courage to part with the sacred cow of the kitchen. Maybe it’s because I grew up baking cookies with my mom, sister, and the neighborhood kids using this classic appliance. Or maybe it’s because the standing mixer is always on the gift guides for the cook or baker in your life.  Whatever the reason, I felt like a good kitchen had to have one. So for years I held on to this beautiful piece letting it do nothing but collect dust. 

After the birth of my son in April 2023, my motivation to declutter was strong. As a mom of two, I didn’t have the mental (or physical) space for the “extra” anymore. Every time we would open the media cabinet to turn on the TV, I thought about the standing mixer just sitting there taking up space and felt the mental load of the fact that it was not serving any purpose for our family. When I was considering parting with it, my husband asked me “if we moved houses, would you want to pack up the standing mixer and move it?” My reply was, “I don’t even want to move it 20 feet to the kitchen to use when I’m baking.” Hearing those words come out of my mouth was the push I needed. Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore. I immediately made a plan to give the standing mixer to my cousin.

I probably should have started with the fact that this is not written to bash the standing mixer. It may truly be a kitchen essential for many homes! For most baking in my home, I happen to reach for my hand mixer or my Food processor. Both appliances have served me well since we switched to gluten-free Baking in our home. I know many would say the food processor is absolutely not essential, and that’s ok!

Your kitchen and all the contents of it should work for YOU

It doesn’t matter if an item is thought of as an “essential” or if your family and friends say it’s a “must-have”. If the item is not serving you in your current season of life, it is more than OK to let that item go. If an item is not serving you, it has become clutter and is just taking up space. As a mom, working full-time, with 2 littles, I don’t have the mental space for clutter and as a homeowner, I don’t have the physical space for it either. 

The day my cousin picked up the standing mixer and I knew it was off to a good, new home, I felt immediate relief. I saw the physical space that the removal of this item opened up, and I felt the mental freedom that I gave myself by following what I knew was right for our home. I went against the grain a bit and it gave me the confidence to do it again on this journey to decluttering and simplifying our home. 

I encourage you to look around your kitchen. Are you hanging on to any items that you feel compelled to keep but that you are not using? Could you get by without it or substitute something else? I recently decluttered 2, 9” round cake pans as well. I’d used them once in the 5 years we lived in this home, but I held onto them because of the “what ifs”. What if I needed those? Well, I could use an 8×8” square pan, or make cupcakes instead, or borrow the pans from a family member. Coming up with those alternatives gave me the permission I needed to let those items go.

Holding onto any item in your kitchen or your home solely because you feel like it’s a must-have is not worth the mental load that clutter is causing you. I want you to experience the freedom you can have by letting go of any items not serving your needs.