The One Month Cardboard Box Test from Peter Walsh’s book It’s All Too Much

In his book, It’s All Too Much, Peter Walsh offers a simple test to determine what kitchen utensils you are using and what can go:

Not sure what you use and what you don’t?  Here is a tried and true way to find out.  Empty the contents of your kitchen utensil drawers into a cardboard box.  For one month, only put a utensil back into the drawer if you take it out of the box to use it.  At the end of the month seriously consider discarding everything that’s still in the cardboard box.  Face it: If it’s still in the box after four weeks, you don’t need it!

This is a great tip for helping reduce the number of stirring spoons and spatuals that may accumulate.  I will admit that there are items such as an apple slicer that I do not use monthly, but I will keep as it is immensely helpful when making apple pies.  You will likely have items along those lines.  Just be honest about the likelihood of you using the utensil in the future.

About Hillary Adams Case

Hillary believes you should never have to question where your keys are; everything has a home. After helping friends and family to get organized for years, they finally encouraged her to make professional organizing her career. Committed to always learning new skills and techniques, Hillary is constantly expanding the ideas she brings to working with her clients. With a joy and passion for finding “Green” solutions, Hillary is delighted to help clients find ways to dispose of items through recycling and donation in order to live lighter on our planet. When not working as an organizer, Hillary enjoys being at the ocean and “using her green thumb” with houseplants. Hillary is also an animal-lover and advocates the need to create healthy space in our homes for ourselves and our four-legged friends.

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