I’ve moved 11 times in my adult life, and no matter what size place I was vacating, packing the kitchen always seemed to be the most tedious task. Still, I was shocked when I started trying to pack up the kitchen of the house I owned for a decade.
My lower cabinets were like culinary clown cars. I had far too many cake pans for a person who only bakes a couple times a year, and given the nature of my job (reviewing cooking equipment for a national food magazine), my small-appliance situation was completely out of control. I’m also a little embarrassed to admit I had no fewer than six citrus squeezers—though they were all very different sizes and styles.
Because I was moving from a house into an apartment with less cabinet space, no pantry, and no option for auxiliary storage like a basement or garage, I had to be ruthless about what I took with me. Some of the decisions were easy (so long, rusty muffin tins!) and others (specialty vintage drinkware, seasonally appropriate cloth napkins) were a lot harder.
In the end, downsizing forced me to consider what I truly needed for the way I cook today. I also decided that since I was going to have a lot less stuff, I could splurge on a few super-versatile, heirloom-quality items for my new kitchen. Six months in, I can honestly say I don’t miss anything I put in the donate pile or sent with my ex-husband.
So whether you’re an empty nester cutting back on square footage, starting over after divorce, or moving into a smaller space for some other reason, here are some tips that helped me, and can help you, downsize your own kitchen.
Make a list as if you’re starting from scratch
I know, I know; you’re not actually starting with nothing (quite the opposite, in fact), but you are going through some sort of major transition and what you have in your kitchen right now might not necessarily fit into the next phase of your life. So before you start shopping or tossing anything into a donation bin, sit down and make a list of what you would realistically buy for your new kitchen if you were starting from scratch.
It’s not likely you’ll stick to this list exactly, but it’s good to have a rough guide to work from. You can get specific with brands, styles, and colors if that’s your thing, but what’s more important at this stage is utility. Think about the way you cook now—not the way you used to cook or hope to cook someday. What are the items you reach for time and time again? Those should go on your list. And, at least for now, leave off the pieces that collect dust on that ornate pot rack you registered for when you got married and definitely would not purchase if given the choice today.
Assess your current stock (and donate any duplicates)
Depending on how long you’ve lived in your current home, there could be gear and gadgets that you don’t even know you own that are shoved in the back of your cabinets. And you can’t very well decide what to keep, donate, or sell if you don’t even know the true scope of your stuff.
Getting the full picture of what you’re dealing with will require pulling everything out into the open a la Marie Kondo. So prepare a large area on your counter or table and lay out all of your cookware, gadgets, dishes, cookbooks, and anything else that lives in the kitchen. If you have a lot of stuff, you may have to do this category by category, and that’s fine.
As you unearth food storage containers you don’t recall buying (plus that juicer you ordered from the infomercial a decade ago) you’ll likely come across multiples of more than one thing. Be ruthless about getting rid of duplicate items and anything you haven’t touched in years. For example: If you can’t remember the last time you made muffins, you certainly don’t need three muffin tins. You probably don’t even need one—especially if it wasn’t even on the list you just made.
Set aside (but don’t pack) the keepers
When you come across the items you’d like to take with you, put them in a designated place—but don’t pack them for the move just yet. Instead, wait until you’ve gone through everything (cookware, dishes, cutlery, flatware, glassware, gadgets, utensils, cookbooks, kitchen towels, etc.) because there’s a very good chance that when you see all of the “keepers” together, it will still feel like too much.
From here, you can continue cutting down your gear and make a few space-saving swaps to help you cook comfortably in your new kitchen.
Make smart swaps for your smaller kitchen
Less is more, especially when you’re downsizing, and you can save quite a bit of kitchen storage space by swapping a large cookware set for a few super versatile pieces. In fact, most home cooks can get by with only a saucepan, a skillet (stainless steel, cast iron, carbon steel, or nonstick, depending on your preference), and a high-quality enameled cast iron Dutch oven.
A Dutch oven is perhaps the most versatile piece of cookware you can buy because you can use it for simmering, sautéeing, slow-cooking, boiling, browning, braising, deep-frying, and even baking.
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If your current kitchen looks like a small appliance showroom, it’s probably time to ditch your collection of countertop cookers and replace them with a compact convection oven that can do the work of your toaster, slow cooker, dehydrator, and air fryer. Some models, like the Anova Precision Oven even have steam and/or sous vide functions—and the best multi-ovens are more precise and efficient than standard residential ranges too. I’m so in love with my countertop convection oven, I now use my full-size oven exclusively for storage.
Years before I officially downsized due to my divorce, I took more than 60% of my then-family-of-four’s everyday tableware out of rotation and stuck it in a box in the basement. Living with only the pieces we needed was life-changing—mostly because there was no longer a constant pile of dirties on the counter. And if I needed a plate before I was ready to run the dishwasher, I’d just hand-wash it.
Of course, all of that handwashing forced me to notice how scratched-up my cheap IKEA dishes had become. I decided that if I was going to have fewer things, they should at least be nicer things. I swapped out what was left of my dull dinnerware for even fewer pieces I really loved—which, it turned out, made me even more excited to wash my dishes in a timely manner.
After the dishes, I swapped most of my random glassware for a set of incredibly durable and versatile Picardie Duralex glasses, replaced my scratched up silverware with a restaurant-quality set from Made In, and let go of way too many mismatched mugs in favor of a handmade set from Haand.
Supplement your storage if necessary
My apartment kitchen has a lot going for it, but there’s no pantry and none of the cabinets really make sense for food storage. After trying a few different configurations that all ended up being very inconvenient, I bought a standalone locker-style cabinet for my dry goods. It’s easy for my kids and me to access ingredients and snacks, and it helped to fill a space on what would have otherwise been a blank wall.
If your new home doesn’t have the floor space for a freestanding unit, go vertical with stylish wall-mounted storage for your cookware, cookbooks, pots, pans, and prettiest dishes or glassware.
