Blue_Bird, your diligence is inspiring!

Reading this article helped me clean out my fridge:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/23/ga...rie-kondo.html

I like the idea that if something doesn't 'spark joy,' you should toss it.

I also am experimenting in my kitchen with clutter free surfaces. I took everything off the microwave and put it in the cabinets. I cleared off the junk on the sink leaving just the soap and sponge (putting away the scrubbies and stuff we just use occasionally). I am actually interested to see how much this makes me want to put away everything.

There is a huge psychological difference for me -- if I see a completely empty surface with one thing on it, I put that one thing away. If I see a surface that has some stuff that 'lives' there and one piece of clutter, it's easy to just keep adding junk.

I have noticed that people whose homes seem clean to me do not have anything out-- it's all packed away in a cupboard. I am going to try to set up the kitchen completely like this and see what happens. It will be hard to find room for things, I guess...