Live Simply the Kitchen

I'm so excited to bring you this new series Live Simply. I have found in my short 36 years on this earth that less is more, and cutting out the clutter really does make a difference. Cutting the clutter physically (our STUFF) leads to cutting the clutter mentally. Seriously I sleep better when I have LESS in my home.So I thought it would be fun to tackle different areas with you in my home and life where I choose to Live Simply.First up THE KITCHEN!This is what living simply in the kitchen means to me:

1. I went drawer by drawer and cabinet by cabinet and got rid of ALL the EXTRAS! I mean seriously how many serving dishes does one need? And I entertain A LOT! But I CUT IT OUT friends! I asked myself, "do I love this dish?" If I didn't love it, then out it went. I released myself from the guilt of giving away a dish my grandmother gave me that I was keeping because my grandmother gave it to me. Or a gift from my wedding registry I loved 10 years ago, but let's face it now....I hated it and it was not in style or my style anymore. Drawer by drawer and cabinet by cabinet friends. Nothing is was safe!
2. Go through your pantry! And by that I mean pull EVERYTHING out and put in on the counter. ONLY put back what you need, want, use...etc. Do not organize your pantry with everything still in it. You have to take it ALL out :)
3. Go through your fridge. Take EVERYTHING out. Wipe it down. Throw stuff away. Only put back what you want, use, need.
4. I surveyed items on the counter. I kept ONLY what I used everyday. Everything else...BYE BYE!

Once I did all of this my kitchen felt lighter, almost empty! I was ready to get down to business. I meal planned the week ahead allowing me to only purchase items I needed for the week which led to very little waste. Honestly the amount of food we threw away was ridiculous! When you only buy what you need for the week, SURPRISE it all fits in the fridge and pantry.In this process a funny thing happened....I was more inspired to cook. I was more inspired to eat healthy. I felt on top of my game! Isn't that what we all want anyway as women? To feel on top of it, ahead of the storm. Don't get me wrong there are days the counters are cluttered and dishes fill the sink longer than they should, but not for long, because when there is less stuff your systems magically work better. :)So let's do this! Let's do it together! Let's decide to get rid of the STUFF and only keep what we need giving us the freedom to live simply and intentional as we do this thing called life :)Marianne