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
Consolidate your cookware
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.
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 and Breville’s Joule Oven Air Fryer Pro 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.
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