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How To Declutter Your Kitchen Tools, According To Experts
If you’ve browsed a housewares store or scrolled past an Instagram ad, you’ve likely encountered an ultra-specific kitchen gadget. Think banana slicers, corn peelers and the like—small tools designed to save time and effort on singular, menial tasks. Over the years, this category has grown, with cutting and prep tools earning the highest revenue among kitchen accessories. But with more clunky gadgets piling up, some collectors have realized these tools are causing more trouble than they’re worth.
Decluttering the unused gadgets in your kitchen can decrease stress and improve mental health.
ILLUSTRATION: FORBES / PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES
“The most common source of kitchen clutter I encounter is definitely single-use gadgets,” says organizing expert Shira Gill. “Those ‘unitaskers’ that promise to revolutionize one specific task but end up buried in the back of a drawer.” She points to gadgets like avocado slicers, garlic presses and egg separators—most of which go months without use and take up precious space.
Adding tools like this to an already overflowing collection can overwhelm not only your limited kitchen storage, but also your headspace. “Clutter keeps us anxious and distracted, disrupting not only how we get things done but how we feel,” says minimalist and author Courtney Carver. “An overfilled closet or kitchen drawer that you use every day is a constant reminder of overwhelm.”
Not all single-use gadgets are necessarily useless, but mindfulness is key when adding new tools to your kitchen. Below, we share guidance from experts on streamlining your kitchen tools, investing in the best pieces and weeding through marketing noise to invest in the smartest pieces for you.
Determine Which Kitchen Gadgets Are Worth It
Avoid The Single-Click Purchase
With products being constantly marketed to us through personalized algorithmic feeds, it can be difficult to resist a single-tap purchase—especially for a product designed to help you save time. But experts say hitting pause on purchasing is the best way forward. “The dopamine hit of discovering a ‘perfect’ gadget fades quickly, but the clutter lingers,” says Gill.
“Don’t rush out to buy it right away,” agrees author of The Zero-Waste Chef, Anne-Marie Bonneau. “Tell yourself, ‘Okay, I’m going to sleep on this’ and then probably within a week, you will have forgotten about it.”
“Before clicking ‘buy,’ pause and ask: Do I already own something that does this job? Where will I store this? Will I realistically use this next week, next month, next year? What problem am I actually trying to solve—and is this purchase the best solution?” Gill says.
Be Honest About Your Habits And Needs
Instead of buying items for a life you want to have, buy them for the life you already live. “Think about what you want and like to be cooking in the kitchen, and work backwards,” says the author of The Encyclopedia of Kitchen Tools, Elinor Hutton. She advises against making aspirational purchases of products that will likely collect dust.
There are certainly situations where unitaskers can improve quality of life—like from an accessibility perspective. “My mom is 93…she’s addicted to Diet Pepsi and she has trouble opening cans now,” says Bonneau. Though not for everyone, something like a soda can opener would be a highly used, worthy investment for her.
“I would encourage people to prioritize the ‘things’ that make their life better, especially with accessibility issues,” Carver says.
Consider Cleanup—And Invest In Multipurpose Tools Instead
Most often, the allure of these gadgets is their time-saving qualities. But in the case of things like avocado mashers and garlic choppers, the time you may have saved during cooking can be lost during cleanup. With several individual pieces or tedious grooves, these gadgets could be more time-consuming to clean when compared to knives and cutting boards.
For that reason, all the experts we spoke with agree that investing in multipurpose, durable kitchen tools is at least preferable to single-use gadgets. “Unless you use it on a daily basis, most [unitaskers] collect dust,” says Hutton. “They are also usually pretty low quality, and bulky to fit in a drawer.” To streamline storage space, here are some multipurpose tools to replace several gadgets.
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The Best Single-Purpose Kitchen Tools, According To Experts
Most single-use kitchen tools do become clutter, but some may actually be worth carving out space for. Of course, the “right tool” varies vastly for everyone. “I recommend the ‘love it or use it daily’ rule,” says Gill. “If something doesn’t bring you genuine joy or get used at least three to four times per week, it shouldn’t occupy prime real estate.”
My Drawer Is Full Of Gadgets I Don’t Use—Now What?
A great way to determine which kitchen tools to purge is to first figure out which tools you value most.
“Put a box on your counter and every time you use an item, put it in the box. After a week or two, you’ll see what’s left behind in the drawer,” says Carver. “With that information, you can properly store seasonal items [like holiday cookie cutters] and donate the rest.”
Donating your items to local organizations, Buy Nothing groups or friends and family is a great way to declutter your space without contributing to a landfill. “The most sustainable option is always to extend the life of an item by passing it to someone who will actually use it,” Gill says. “For broken or worn items, check if parts are metal or plastic that can be recycled properly—many municipalities have specific guidelines for kitchen items.”
Going forward, keep the “less is more” mantra top of mind. “One of the reasons we are so easily overwhelmed is because we have so much to deal with,” Carver says. “By turning your focus…to living with less, you can create more margin so when bigger things happen, they don’t completely upend your life.”
Why Trust Forbes Vetted
The home and kitchen team at Forbes Vetted has tested and evaluated hundreds of kitchen products and consistently shares guidance on cleaning and decluttering the home.
- Monica Petrucci is the home and kitchen editor at Forbes Vetted. She has been writing about kitchen products for the past five years, researching and testing the products that consumers are most interested in to help guide them toward smart purchasing decisions.
