Home Organizing Kitchen Organizing 10 Things in Your Kitchen You Should Get Rid of Immediately Trust us, you won't miss them one bit. By Katie Holdefehr Katie Holdefehr Instagram Website Katie Holdefehr is the associate editorial director at Real Simple. Real Simple's Editorial Guidelines Published on December 5, 2018 Share Tweet Pin Email Maintaining an organized kitchen is a seemingly never-ending battle against clutter. There's just something about kitchen counters that make them a magnet for mail, paper pileups, and misplaced items. And kitchen drawers? It's almost impossible to prevent them from all turning into junk drawers. Fixing the situations will require more than a few well-placed organizers—a thorough decluttering is the first step. Letting go of things can be hard, so to make it easier, we've outlined below 10 things you can get rid of in your kitchen right now, and definitely won't miss later. Once you toss out those outdated takeout menus and mismatched plastic food containers, you'll find your kitchen has more counter space, drawer space, and refrigerator room than you ever thought possible. 7 Things to Get Rid of Now—So You'll Have More Storage Space for the Holidays 01 of 10 Duplicate and Triplicate Cooking Tools byHuyen / Unsplash For those who cook a lot, two spatulas will probably come in handy, but trust us, no one needs two can openers. Sort through your cooking tools and get rid of duplicate and triplicate items, keeping the one that works and looks best before donating the rest. 02 of 10 Outdated Takeout Menus If you still have a drawer full of paper menus, it's definitely time to recycle them. When you order takeout, do you typically pull up the menu on your phone? If the answer is yes, you can likely get rid of every single paper menu you have collected. Or hang on to the menus for one or two of your family's go-to spots, then toss the rest. 03 of 10 Salt and Pepper Packets, Napkins, and Utensils From Takeout Ditch the growing collection of chopsticks, sugar packets, and plastic-wrapped utensil bundles collected from every time you've gotten takeout in the past five years. If you really use the honey packets for your morning tea, keep a few, not fifty. And be honest, you're probably not going to use those salt packets if you have a jar of Maldon in the cabinet. 04 of 10 Mismatched Food Containers We probably all have some mismatched and dishwasher-warped plastic food containers lying around the kitchen. Well now's the time to toss them. If you don't have the lids or the lids no longer fit after several (dozen) wash cycles, it's time to let go of the containers. And if you have containers that are stained from storing pasta sauce, follow this simple trick to make them look brand-new. 05 of 10 Chipped or Broken Mugs and Dishware undrey/Getty Images In an overflowing mug collection, it's likely you have one or two that have cracks, chips, or broken handles. Whether you've been meaning to glue them back together for months now or you've been hanging onto them for sentimental reasons, now's a good time to toss them. 06 of 10 Old Dishtowels You're Too Embarrassed to Use If you have stained dishtowels you're too embarrassed to take out of the cabinet but you feel bad tossing them, now's the time to take them to a fabric recycling center. Need more motivation? Just think of all the drawer space you'll gain. 07 of 10 Cookbooks You Never Crack Open Look through your cookbook collection—it's time to donate those you've never made a single recipe from and have never turned to for inspiration. Getting rid of books can be difficult, so try taking a photo of any recipes you may one day want to try, then donate the book itself. 08 of 10 All the Fridge Clutter If your fridge is cluttered with magnets, report cards, and wedding invitations, it could be making your kitchen look messier than it is. Curate what you display, and recycle the rest or move it to a file folder out of sight. 09 of 10 Expired Food Want to double your pantry space in less than an hour? Just throw out everything that's past its expiration date. Then, check the fridge for moldy strawberries and past-its-prime deli meats. By the time you're done, you'll know that all of your food is fresh, and you'll gain storage space you didn't know your kitchen had. 10 of 10 That Gadget You've Only Used Once You thought that the avocado slicer and strawberry huller were going to be food prep game-changers, but now you've owned them for two years and have only used them once. It's time to let go of these unnecessary kitchen gadgets to make room for the paring knives and vegetable peelers you use all the time. Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit