#673 &#8211; The Dishwasher Dilemma: Secrets to a Clutter-Free Kitchen

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Meet Our Co-Host

Tonya Kubo

Tonya Kubo is the illustrious and fearless leader of Kathi Lipp’s Clutter Free Academy Facebook group and the Clutter Free for Life membership program. A professional community strategist, she believes everyone deserves to have a place online where they feel like they belong. Raised by a hoarder, Tonya knows firsthand the pain and isolation that comes from living in conditions others don’t understand. She wants better for her family and her cluttery peeps, which is why she is passionate about the compassionate slow-and-steady approach that makes Clutter Free unique. She lives in the heart of California with her husband, Brian, their two spirited daughters, and one very tolerant cat. Visit tonyakubo.com to find out more about her community work, or email her at tonya@kathilipp.org to discuss the Clutter Free Academy podcast and programs.

Meet Our Guest

Barb Roose

Barb Roose is an established author, a speaker at national women’s conferences, and a regular contributor to (in)courage, Crosswalk, and iBelieve. She has written six Bible studies, including Matthew: Pray Like This, Surrendered: Letting God and Living Like Jesus, and Joshua: Winning the Worry Battle plus Finding Jesus in the Psalms and Three other books. She is the host of Bold, Brave & Beautiful podcast. Barb, also serves as a teaching pastor at her home church, CedarCreek Church, with more than 6,000 in weekly attendance. The proud mother of three adult kids, an Army Captain, preschool teacher and NICU Nurse, Barb loves reading and walking. Whenever possible, she prefers to eat dessert first. You can find what Barb is currently up to here.

Transcript

Kathi Lipp (00:08)

Well, hey friends, welcome to Clutter Free Academy where our goal is to help you take small doable steps every day to live with less clutter and more life. And I am here with my consummate co-host, is Tonya Kubo. Hey, Tonya. ? Now, I know you have four people living at your house. How are dishes for you guys?

Tonya Kubo (00:23)

Hey, Kathi

? like you would expect with four people living in my house, but at least we have a dishwasher. Not everybody does.

Kathi Lipp (00:37)

Right,

isn’t that it is such I I probably spent five years doing Dishes by hand and so I well, I hate doing dishes I am one of those people that is super super grateful for that dishwasher every single day I think part of my problem for so many years was not having a rhythm. It was like, okay, I would

Tonya Kubo (00:45)

Mm-hmm.

Kathi Lipp (01:03)

put off doing dishes as long as possible. I think one of things that I used to think deeply was I couldn’t run the dishwasher until every little bit of it was full. And that would mean, you if we went to bed and there were still spaces for a few glasses, I wouldn’t do the dishes and then we’d have breakfast dishes. And then it always felt like I was behind and I hated that feeling. ?

Tonya Kubo (01:06)

Mm-hmm.

Hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Kathi Lipp (01:31)

I can imagine, now who’s the chief dishwasher in your house?

Tonya Kubo (01:36)

So it has historically always been Brian, but we’ve been, you know, the girls are older. We try to split chores with them. So we had a beautiful system when it was just Brian. We had a pretty good system when it was Brian and Lily, but now it’s Brian, Lily and Abby doing different components. And I really feel like I know that we will be grateful for this later, but right now it just feels like too many cooks in the kitchen. And I mean that pun in every bit.

Kathi Lipp (01:47)

Mm-hmm.

Yes.

Yeah,

it’s painful. And I know a lot of people are like, well, it’s just easier to do it myself. It is easier now, agreed. And there will come a day when you’ll be really, really grateful that you raised competent adults who, even though they may not do things perfectly, know how to do them and know the expectation is them. So good job, mom. Good job, dad Brian. We love it. Okay, so today we want to cover setting

Tonya Kubo (02:11)

Mm-hmm.

Kathi Lipp (02:34)

of a daily dish rhythm, maintaining your dishwasher and getting optimal results because I, for years and years and years, I didn’t know that there was a way to maintain your dishwasher. I thought it was either working or not working. Those were the, you it was very binary. And I now know that there are some things that we can do to make it last longer and make it run more effectively. So I want to talk about that. I

Tonya Kubo (02:36)

Mm-hmm.

Kathi Lipp (03:02)

Our daily dish routine looks a little bit like this. We usually are unloading in the morning and then filling up during the day. And depending on whether I’m cooking or not, we want run it once or twice. Does that look very different from what you guys do?

Tonya Kubo (03:23)

No, I would say ? it’s about the same, but sometimes I would say probably two to three days a week, I’ve got to run it twice in a single day. Just, yeah, well, and there’s more humans here.

Kathi Lipp (03:31)

Yeah, yeah big cooking days. Yeah Yep,

absolutely. my goodness for sure. Yeah, anytime I’m cooking it’s going to be a you know, and sometimes I’m cook sometimes, you know, we have Leftovers from when I cook we have a lot more leftovers than most people because it’s just the two of us. So ? Those are don’t be tend to be heavy dish days, but I I think it’s really really important

to say, okay, dishes are just a part of life. We need to figure out a routine for them. And we need to make sure that everybody in the house is sticking to the ideal. It’s not the perfect, but ideal for what our house can actually do. So unless you are single and eating a lot of takeout, you’re probably going to be needing to do one load a day. ?

I think, for us, we never get away with not doing dishes in the day. That just is not how we run. And so if I just say, OK, dishes have to be there every single day. And then ? do you guys have any rules for people bringing dishes to the sink?

Tonya Kubo (04:35)

Mm-hmm.

Well, sure, doesn’t mean anybody follows them, Kathi, ?

Kathi Lipp (04:51)

Okay, sure, sure, sure, yes. I understand

that deeply too. What? Yeah.

Tonya Kubo (04:56)

Yeah, you know, it’s the teenager thing.

But for us, you’re supposed to bring, the rule is you bring your dish into the sink, you rinse it out and it goes on the left side. Once it’s rinsed out on the right side of the sink, it’s then put on the left side of the sink. I prefer the dishes to go into the sink. Brian prefers them to be on the counter next to the sink.

Kathi Lipp (05:11)

Mm-hmm.

? interesting. Okay. Yeah, I think next to the side of the sink would kill me.

Tonya Kubo (05:26)

Yep, yep, not gonna say you’re wrong there.

Kathi Lipp (05:26)

Yeah. Yeah.

You can always tell when a blood Lipp is living here, whether it’s Roger or one of his kids, because they put drinks unthrown out. Yeah, they don’t drain the cup. They put it next to the sink. And like, why? Why?

Tonya Kubo (05:37)

Yeah

Mm-hmm.

Kathi Lipp (05:52)

Why am I, why are you waiting for somebody else to dump out your Starbucks cup? I don’t understand that. You’re killing me. Now, one thing I have heard is, you know, some people like they load right after each meal or snack. That’s what we tend to do as well. But then I thought this was interesting. One of my friends says that she uses a small bin. I don’t know if it’s on the counter or if it’s

Tonya Kubo (05:58)

hahahaha

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Kathi Lipp (06:21)

suction to the inside of the sink where she puts cutlery ? until it’s ready to go into the dishwasher. So I find that fascinating as well. I don’t necessarily see the advantage, but I’ve heard of a couple of people who are doing that. So ? do you stay in the kitchen while Roger, ? Roger, I’ve now married you off to my husband. Hope that’s okay. ?

Tonya Kubo (06:27)

Mmm.

Yeah.

Brian might have a complaint or two, but you know.

Kathi Lipp (06:51)

You know, if you’re going to be married off, he might have a complaint, but

you know what? You know, if I if I have to give you something of mine, that’s not a bad deal. ? I tend to stay in the kitchen and put things away while Roger’s doing the dishes. Are you guys separate or are you like body doubling by working in there together?

Tonya Kubo (07:08)

Hmm.

Yeah, so Brian doesn’t want anybody in the kitchen when he’s in the kitchen. Absolutely not. He like, no, that’s not okay. But the girls and I will will tag team because I find for them they feel, you know, it feels like less of a chore if we’re all doing something together. Yeah.

Kathi Lipp (07:16)

? okay.

That’s how I feel too. Yeah, like it’s

not woe is me, here I am, know, Cinderella.

Tonya Kubo (07:34)

Yeah, but

like if you came over to my house and I was cooking dinner, I wouldn’t want you to help me cook dinner, but I would want you to sit at the table and chat with me while I cooked. Like that’s fun for me. But Brian is just like, ? I’m sure there’s another room in this house you can be in. And I’m like, okay.

Kathi Lipp (07:42)

That’s all I need. Yes. Yes.

Okay. Good to know, Brian. Okay.

Yeah. So Roger, like he loves to barbecue because people will come out and talk to him. But if somebody makes a suggestion on how to barbecue. No, not okay. ? Okay. Yeah. I love going to bed knowing the dishes are done. Like there’s a clean slate, we’re starting the day off well. And we do a delay setting on our dishwasher. So it’s running at

Tonya Kubo (07:59)

Mm-hmm.

Mm-mm.

Mmm, yeah.

Kathi Lipp (08:18)

like two in the morning because what that does is it’s not using energy during peak hours. So we’re delaying it by like, you know, four hours because we’re probably he’s probably putting the last things in at around 10 o’clock at night. And that seems to really, really help. ? I do believe as kids get older, a couple of different things. One,

Tonya Kubo (08:20)

oooo

you

Kathi Lipp (08:48)

I believe that everybody should at least be responsible for scraping off their plates. I don’t want to scrape off your food when you’re 17 years old.

Tonya Kubo (08:57)

Mm-hmm.

No, and honestly if your kids go to preschool they have to do it there.

Kathi Lipp (09:04)

Right exactly

You have you seen these videos of the japanese preschools? Where my goodness you guys if you haven’t seen it i’ll see if they’re first of all, they’re the cutest kids in the entire world and They are all scraping off their own thing. They’re all using cleaner to wipe down their tables. They’re they’re sweeping the floors i’m like ? Yeah, had I I wish I would have seen that earlier because I don’t think I believe that my kids were capable of that but now

Tonya Kubo (09:11)

Yes.

Those kids are so cute.

Kathi Lipp (09:34)

They are they were they they’ve always been okay guys We’re gonna take a quick break, and then I want to come back and talk about Maintaining your dishwasher just a couple of things you might not have thought about because I didn’t grow up this way So maybe you didn’t grow up this way. I used to always think I didn’t grow up this way I was the only one and I’ve come to find out it’s much more universal than that right So we’re gonna give you a couple of different things that you can think about

Tonya Kubo (09:57)

Yeah.

Kathi Lipp (10:03)

and we will be right back.

Okay, guys, we have talked about loading and unloading your dishwasher. I will say one other thing that has changed our dishwasher unloading, Tonya, is we got a kitchen island. You know, I don’t know, maybe six, eight months ago. Maybe it’s been longer than that. Well, yeah, anyway. And one thing I love about it is when we’re unloading the dishes, we can stack them there and then just go.

Tonya Kubo (10:17)

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Kathi Lipp (10:36)

to where the dishes go, or go to where the plates are. I love it so, so much. ? Okay, but I wanna talk about maintaining your dishwasher. A couple of things to think about. One, ? a weekly quick clean. Now, I don’t necessarily do this weekly, but one thing I do is I peek in there at least once a week and just check the filter.

Tonya Kubo (10:54)

Mm-hmm.

Kathi Lipp (11:00)

Does around the filter start to look gunky? Is there paper on there from like a jar or something like that? So I will pull that out every once in a while. And then I’ll just kind of look at the seals around the door. I check it every week. I don’t clean it every week. I’m not going to clean something that doesn’t look dirty. Life is not that boring for me. But once I’ve done that, it makes me feel so much better about knowing that it’s going to run well.

Tonya Kubo (11:01)

Mmm.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah ?

Kathi Lipp (11:30)

? and then monthly couple of different things one we use ? finish in our our dishwasher just to You know, it’s that final rinse that is really really good in addition do you use anything like that?

Tonya Kubo (11:50)

No, no, we’ll use vinegar in the dishwasher every now and then. We have horrible hard water. And so a lot of times those ? rinse aids and cleaning agents actually just increase the mineral deposits.

Kathi Lipp (11:54)

Okay.

Uhhh, yeah.

Mmm, okay. Yeah, it just doesn’t work for you. Okay. Now I do want to talk about glisten Glisten is a dishwasher cleaner. So look I’m going to try to describe it for our listeners at home It’s just like a plastic bottle, but you take the lid off and it has a wax seal in the in there because you want this for the last cycle that heating cycle of your dishwasher

Tonya Kubo (12:09)

now

Mm-hmm.

Kathi Lipp (12:35)

So that wax melts in there and it’s perfectly safe for your dishwasher. But what it does is it gives a deep clean to your entire dishwasher. So I don’t know that I’ve ever talked about it on here. You’ll remember if I have because you have a much better memory than I do. But Roger and I have a tub that we call the once a month tub. And okay, so I’ve talked about it. These are things we want to do once a month in our house. So this is stuff like

Tonya Kubo (12:47)

Nice.

Mm-hmm.

Kathi Lipp (13:05)

cleaning, deep cleaning that dishwasher, changing out the baking soda in our refrigerator, Moose’s ? tick and flea treatment, water filters, because we have very healthy water, but terrible tasting water. So we put these, ? these glisten bottles, we buy them three at a time, we put them into that box. And when I’m down to the last one, I order some for the next month.

Tonya Kubo (13:27)

Mm-hmm.

Kathi Lipp (13:33)

And we just go around the house and we put our plant fertilizer. So it’s something that we want to do once a month or approximately once a month. And it just, we don’t have to remember to do it. We just do it. And so that’s been really helpful for us. Another thing to think about is yeah, running a cycle of the dishwasher with a dishwasher cleaner or a cup of white vinegar. White vinegar is a miracle, isn’t it? It’s just a miracle. Yeah. Yeah.

Tonya Kubo (13:33)

Hmm.

Mm-hmm.

I feel like it is, I feel like it is.

Kathi Lipp (14:03)

So ? we just have very tough water up here. So that’s why we tend to use this glisten stuff ? You also want to check the spray arms. So again, I’m not like ? it’s once a month. Let’s check our dishwasher I’m much more loosey goosey than that But if things are coming out of the dishwasher and I’m not liking how they’re looking These are the things I do. So I’ll run the I’ll run an extra cycle with some vinegar

Tonya Kubo (14:26)

Mm-hmm.

Kathi Lipp (14:32)

I’ll check the spray arms for debris. I’ll check in the utensil tray and racks as needed. then you can, know, yearly maintenance. If you need to research for your brand, what your brand suggests. If you have some hard water buildup in there, I’m not going to suggest it because I don’t want to know, but also check hoses for leaks and cracks. If you’re not getting the performance that you want to.

And then I want to talk about loading your dishwasher because that can really affect the performance. I will also link ? the episode of ? Wirecutter, yes, to this, their whole dishwasher episode and the brands that I, we just like, we like the ? Cascade Extra.

Tonya Kubo (15:01)

Mm-hmm.

Wire cutter.

Kathi Lipp (15:26)

That’s the brand that we really, really, really like for our actual dishwasher. But they also go through with about different kinds that, you know, for your dishwasher might be good. But give dishes spaces so water can get in between there. Use designated areas for specific items. So you want plates where the plates are supposed to go. Bowls, cutlery, glasses.

Tonya Kubo (15:27)

Mm-hmm.

Kathi Lipp (15:53)

Check to see if you have a wine glass arm all those kind of things and then ? powders gels and pods What we were told by a dishwasher repairman is never use a gel I It he says When I am repairing I always see under their sink what they’re using and it tends to be gels that where their dishwasher has run down worse

Tonya Kubo (16:06)

Mm-hmm. Mmm.

Kathi Lipp (16:21)

Now we use the pods, which is a gel powder combo. you know, so far we’ve had great results, but that’s just something I’ve heard about. Do you do anything to mitigate the water hardness or is you just have to live with it?

Tonya Kubo (16:26)

Mm-hmm.

Yeah, we have a magnet thing that goes inside the dishwasher. And so that’s supposed to help the deposits not form. ? But pretty much everybody in my neighborhood replaces their dishwasher every three years. Or they’ve just decided that they don’t need a dishwasher. And yeah, and we can’t use powder because it’ll etch our glasses. Like anything that’s glass gets etched with the powder.

Kathi Lipp (16:47)

Okay.

Really?

Wow, that is serious.

Wow.

Tonya Kubo (17:07)

We can’t use pods because the hard water mineral deposits build up so quickly that the pods won’t dissolve. Every now and then I’m just like, well, maybe we just skip the dishwasher and we’ll just put another cabinet there. And Brian’s like, or maybe we move. And I’ll say, maybe what we need to do is get like a water treatment system because we need something that’s a little bit more than a softener. And he’s like, or how about we move?

Kathi Lipp (17:22)

Yeah!

Tonya Kubo (17:32)

? so I’ve just stopped making suggestions cause Brian seems to think there’s only one solution, which involves me moving and I don’t like.

Kathi Lipp (17:34)

Yeah

No, you’ve pretty much stated you want to die in this house. So can I tell you the most interesting thing I learned from the wire cutter episode on dishwashers?

Tonya Kubo (17:51)

I wanna hear it.

Kathi Lipp (17:52)

You do not want to clean your dish too much before it goes into the dishwasher.

Tonya Kubo (18:02)

Okay, I need to know why, because I do not believe them.

Kathi Lipp (18:03)

don’t really understand

the science behind it, but they said that your dishes need something, your detergent needs something to grab onto. And so you don’t want things that are caked on there. Like you don’t want to put your eggy dish that has been sitting in the sink overnight in there because that’s too much for almost any dishwasher, or detergent.

Tonya Kubo (18:14)

Hmm

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Kathi Lipp (18:32)

It doesn’t want to have to be perfectly clean. So I’ve I have lowered my standards Thank you very much wire cutter and I feel like I’m getting even better results So it may all be psychosomatic. You know what, but don’t don’t yuck my yum. Okay? ? The other thing that’s really important is hot water if you’re not getting the results you need

Tonya Kubo (18:45)

Nice.

Mm-hmm.

Kathi Lipp (18:57)

One of the things you may have to do is run the hot water and again, this may be like well duh, Kathi to everybody else I did not grow up knowing this so now I know right or Maybe this is something my mom did and I didn’t realize it but you have to run the hot water for a while and even we have found even if we run the hot water at 10 o’clock and then we set the dishwasher for two It seems to be fine. So ?

Tonya Kubo (19:12)

Mm-hmm.

Mmm.

Kathi Lipp (19:27)

And then most of us are going to need a rinse aid of some kind, the finish or something like that. ? Create a daily rhythm, Maintain your dishwasher. Don’t overcrowd it. And then check with your manufacturer to see if there are any extra tips. You don’t have to have the user’s manual. You can go online and look and see what that is. ?

Tonya Kubo (19:31)

Mm-hmm.

Kathi Lipp (19:53)

Is there anything you’re going to do differently, Tonya, because of today?

Tonya Kubo (19:58)

you know what? think one thing that I’m going to do differently, aside from making sure that I run the hot water, cause that’s brilliant. But I think that I am going to do more about checking those cleaning arms. Cause I am good about checking the bottom of the dishwasher. That’s where my filter is. But I only think about the cleaning arms when it’s not working.

Kathi Lipp (20:05)

Mm-hmm.

Yeah, great.

Mmm, okay, and I We do have a very sophisticated water filtration system, but I still want to find out about your magnet So we’re gonna we’re gonna put that in the show notes because I think that that might be something that would be really really helpful to us guys I want you to just think through your routine Is there something you could be doing that is going to help you out? And by the way guys, we’re gonna be doing some more

Tonya Kubo (20:26)

Mm-hmm.

Kathi Lipp (20:46)

System spotlights. That’s what we did today system spotlight about your dishes ? in a few weeks We’re gonna be doing laundry. So yeah that I’m excited. That’s a two-parter Tonya It’s too much information to contain in one episode. So You guys are going to love it. Okay guys, we will be back in just a minute We’re gonna take a quick commercial break and then I’m gonna share with you ? this week’s

It has earned a place in my clutter free home. You’re not going to want to miss this episode.

*PART TWO*

Kathi Lipp (00:00)

Hey friends, we are back. We are back. this is, this is my new favorite series. Things that have earned a place in my home. Because as you guys know, not everything that I want actually earns a place in my home.

So in order for it to not become clutter. It has to be something I love I use or would buy again and I’ve got a Three hit I’ve got this one checks all three It’s called Matthew pray like this and it’s by my friend Barb Roose and so I want to discuss it today because we’ve got Barb here and Barb

Welcome back to the program. I’m so glad to have you’re a frequent flyer here on clutter free academy And i’m so grateful to have you back

Barb (00:53)

I love coming back and we’ve only been on here for like 15 seconds and I’m already taking notes on what you just said.

Kathi Lipp (01:02)

my goodness, but it’s so true. Okay, so let me tell you why this is be why I’m saying this like I am because I will tell you my prayer life There’s been a lot of stops and starts recently I’m just in a space where prayer and I’ve been here before and here’s the thing God is so gracious and I know I’m going to get out of that space and it’s going to be okay and

And I have to remember that God doesn’t leave me anywhere for a long time. But prayer has been hard recently, and then I get this book and I’m like, well, all right, OK, so God’s giving me a little tool for this time in my life. So I feel like we’ve all had I don’t want to speak for other people, but I feel like we’ve all had these moments when we’re like prayer isn’t working. I don’t even know what to pray.

I think there’s been a lot going on in my life in my world where I just like kind of hold throw up my hands I’m saying God I don’t even know where to start so I would love to hear from you why why this book why now and What? What do you say to those of us who have been struggling?

Barb (02:24)

Well, I, first of all, what you just shared about where your prayer journey is at right now, it has either created this exhale for listeners who are like, that’s where I felt like I’m at. Cause they have been struggling and they want to pray and know that they should pray. And for a variety of reasons, it just hasn’t looked like how they wanted to. So thank you. Because I think more people are there than not.

Kathi Lipp (02:38)

Hmm.

Barb (02:51)

because prayer is this conversation with God. The barrier always has been that we can’t see God, he’s not showing up, we don’t have like this face-to-face, and so there’s so much in life that can happen. A quote that’s meant a lot to me is a Cory Ten Boom quote. She said, prayer, your steering wheel or your spare tire. And yeah, and so there have been many seasons of my life. This Bible study actually is so wild to me.

Kathi Lipp (03:07)

Mmm.

yeah.

Barb (03:20)

because prayer was mostly a spare tire for me. I grew up as a Christian. I knew something about prayer because of how I was taught, but my mentality, my personality, I was a do first, pray later kind of person, which meant, yep, so I was always busy, had things to do, always kind of felt that guilt in the back of my mind because I was like, okay, I’m going to pray, I’m going to pray and something would come up. The Bible study that you have is a testament

Kathi Lipp (03:24)

Mmm.

Yeah, yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Barb (03:50)

of how God guided me in his gracious love through from a do first, pray later to a pray first, pray often. And that is we all go through these seasons and these spiritual journeys. And he guided me through that in a way that allowed me to get to where I really wanted to be. A woman who prayed every day about everything without guilt or shame.

Kathi Lipp (04:16)

Okay, so I want to pick up on something you just said because this is my first love of this book is that you don’t guilt us into praying more, it guides you into praying more meaningfully. And ? my goodness, it has been, it’s just an invitation. And so yeah, if you’re in that place where you’re feeling like my prayers are hitting the ceiling or I…

I just I don’t even know where to start so I don’t start but here’s here’s just that my moment of honesty because Here’s the problem a lot of Bible studies sound good on the shelf, but they never get opened, right? I mean, it’s we’ve I have been an avid collector of Bible studies for probably the past 30 years my collection abounds But I feel like this one is actually practical practical and doable. So like

What are those things that made it grabbable and why did you, what was your heart behind this? Who is this for?

Barb (05:23)

This Bible study is for everyone at every stage who wants to get to the place where they want to be a woman who prays about everything every day without guilt or shame. So this can be from the woman who is still trying to figure out who God is to the woman who has been following Jesus for a long time. But the heart of the study is that often our problems or our panic drive our prayers.

versus us actually connecting with God. So I wanted to write a Bible study that was about God and not us. And in doing that, it was, let’s start with where Jesus walks us into prayer. And the Bible study itself is framed around walking through the Lord’s prayer as we study the whole book of the Gospel of Matthew. But I wanted it to be where we felt like we had an active role in prayer.

Kathi Lipp (06:05)

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Barb (06:19)

So

my particular Bible study style is very application heavy. I love looking at the scriptures and going, okay, what can we learn about God and how do we apply? So each day of the Bible study is a way to step into prayer actively and creatively because I do not want Bible study to be boring. That would be the kiss of death. God is not boring. His word is not boring. So this Bible study,

Kathi Lipp (06:25)

Mm-hmm.

Right. No.

Barb (06:47)

provides these ways that I wanted to hit all of the senses, the thinking, the feeling, the taste, like hearing all of that.

Kathi Lipp (06:52)

Mm-hmm.

And I think you have, I really, really think you have in this. And I love that it’s just six weeks. I feel like six weeks is so doable, even though it’s kind of a chunky book, I’m not gonna lie. Like when I first picked it up, I’m like, oh, there’s some heft to this. And I also love that I was planning to do the whole study by myself. I’ve already delved into it. And I just had a friend who said,

Need a Bible set. I’m like, you know what? It’s gonna work for the two of us too. So I’m very very excited about that Okay, here’s something I know about you Barb, because I’ve had you on many times You have been here for many a Bible study and I know that God always gives you something like a new revelation a new aha, whatever the light bulb is What was it for writing this book because God changes you in the writing of these books?

I’ve seen it many times.

Barb (07:55)

Well, Kathi, have you ever had something you have been praying for for a long time and you’re like, should I keep praying for it? Why am I still praying for it? What the heck? And that was the journey with this Bible study. I tended to treat God a lot like Amazon Prime. I would have a prayer request and then two days later I would be like, so God, why haven’t you answered this prayer?

Kathi Lipp (08:01)

Yes.

Right.

Yes.

Barb (08:22)

Because

if the Amazon Prime people can deliver my stuff in two days, I believe that God could do it a lot sooner. And so for me, this Bible study was about God kind of working the Amazon Prime mentality out. And other people kind of like God’s a vending machine. have this whole, like vending machines are stocked of all the things we love, the tasty stuff. And so people go to God and go, well, I think I should have this blessing and this blessing and this blessing.

Kathi Lipp (08:29)

Right? Right?

Hmm.

Yeah.

Barb (08:52)

That’s not so much me or other people treat God like customer service where you call God up and you’re like, this is a problem, Lord, you need to fix it. This is a problem. We all have those different mentalities, but mine was learning to trust God’s timing and in allow and allowing prayer to be a part of that journey. So I learned for me, the aha moment was that.

Kathi Lipp (09:01)

Mm-hmm.

Mm.

Barb (09:18)

When I persisted in prayer about the thing that was the hardest for me to hold in my life, what God did every time I brought that matter to him was he was able to give me something I needed more. For this thing that that still is important to me, that I still struggle with to this day, I was feeling guilty as a Christian about

Kathi Lipp (09:35)

Mmm.

Barb (09:46)

continuing to pray about the same thing all of the time. What I learned in how Jesus taught about persisting in prayer is that when we bring it to God, he actually uses that thing as a way to bless us with teaching us more about him. So I have been able to learn more, receive more of God’s grace. I’ve been able to receive more of God’s love. I’ve been able to receive more of God’s strength.

so that I don’t try to take matters in my own control.

Kathi Lipp (10:18)

Yeah.

Barb (10:19)

And so that’s the been the learning blessing, the learning journey for me in this study.

Kathi Lipp (10:26)

You know, I think we all have our prayer peccadillas and what I, yeah, and I, what I know mine is, is prayer tinged with jealousy. Like God, I have seen what you’ve done for others. I want that. And to understand that God knows what is best for me, what is best for his kingdom.

Barb (10:31)

Here, I can deal with

Hmm.

Kathi Lipp (10:55)

Is not always what I have seen others have and so i’m still wrestling with that I still fight with that and I think you know, it’s It’s very interesting Here’s my question. We all have these these prayer struggles. What what does matthew say about that?

Barb (11:14)

Well, this is where coming up a verse that I have focused on. It’s right before Jesus teaches about the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew chapter six, three verses before that, Jesus says, don’t be like the babblers who repeat what they’re praying. And I actually just I want to read it because it has really made such a difference for me. He says when he says that,

Kathi Lipp (11:19)

Yeah.

Barb (11:43)

Let me, okay, when you pray, don’t babble on and on as the Gentiles do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again. This is what I love. Don’t be like them, for your father knows exactly what you need even before you ask. And I was thinking about this because I’m going to tell the very, very small version of this. This story isn’t in the book, but when I was 18, it was my, it was my first semester of college at Christmas break.

And I had been worrying myself sick because I didn’t have the $300 I needed for book money. This was in 1990. My dad called me downstairs and he wanted me to sit down on the couch and he said, Barbara, do you have enough money for books? And my dad was such a loving, kind man, but you did not lie to Bob Neal. And so my eyes dropped to the brass and glass coffee table that my parents had because it was 1990. And I just.

Kathi Lipp (12:19)

Yeah.

Hahaha!

Absolutely.

Barb (12:41)

right? So I shook my head no and my dad pulled out a crisp $100 bill and he laid it on that table. Kathi, dad had lost his long time career six weeks before I left for university. I still had two siblings at home. My parents were trying to make ends meet and my eyes bucked wide open and he said, that not, is that enough money? And I shook my head no because I couldn’t lie. My dad pulled out a second crisp

Kathi Lipp (12:47)

Mm.

Right.

Barb (13:10)

$100 bill. This is a week after Christmas. Me and I’m going, what is happening? Where is this coming from? Dad said, is that enough? And I said, I shook my head no. He pulled out a crisp $100 bill and laid them next to the other two. I never told my parents I needed $300 in books.

I never talked to them. I simply was stressed out, crying all the time. I’d spent all of my Christmas break working temp jobs. And my parents knew what I needed, even though I was at school two and a half hours away. And they had access to resources and understanding beyond what even I knew. And I think that that’s what happens to us when we think about God.

We repeat our prayers over and over again, but our prayers are driven by our panic rather than our trust. Kathi, how many prayers has God answered in your life that you’ve never prayed?

Kathi Lipp (14:14)

Countless. Countless! That’s the only word. Countless.

Barb (14:18)

And so the point of prayer for us isn’t that we need to ask God for things. It’s that we need to be able to see who God is. And so this Bible study, I said it’s about God, not us. So I’ve structured it around four parts of God, who God is, his character, what God has done, his faithfulness, what God can do, his power, and what God will do, his promises.

And that’s what the study is structured around because God knows what we need even before we ask. We can trust him.

Kathi Lipp (14:55)

that’s exactly why this book is staying in my house. Guys, it’s not just pretty, it’s useful. And for someone like me, who’s trying to keep only what matters, I mean, that is everything. Okay, friends, you can grab Matthew Pray Like This wherever books are sold. We’ll have a link in the show notes. Barb, thank you for writing. Thank you for just talking to us about prayer today. And

If you have stumbled in your prayer life or maybe you’ve been hurt by unanswered or delayed prayers, just know that God has you. God sees you. if you need a, I just pray that this conversation has made you feel held when things are not as you hoped for or planned or expected. Friends,

You’ve been listening to ClutterFree Academy. I am Kathi Lipp. Now, go create the clutter free life you’ve always wanted to live.

#674 – Low Buy July: 31 Days to Your Financial Reset

Jun 17, 2025 | Clutter Free, Clutter Free Home, Clutter Free Podcast, Finances, Freedom, Low Buy July, Podcast

In this episode of Clutter Free Academy, Kathi Lipp and Tonya Kubo talk about why they're moving from “No Buy July” to a gentler, grace-filled “Low Buy July.” If you’ve ever felt like buying toilet paper broke the rules or you’re just exhausted by all-or-nothing...

#673 – The Dishwasher Dilemma: Secrets to a Clutter-Free Kitchen

Jun 10, 2025 | Clutter Free, Clutter Free Home, Clutter Free Podcast, Home, Kitchen, Organizing, Podcast, tips and ideas

In this engaging episode of Clutter Free Academy, hosts Kathi Lipp and Tonya Kubo dive into the dynamic world of dishwashing, sharing secrets to establish a daily rhythm that keeps kitchen chaos at bay. Listen in as Kathi reveals her tried-and-true methods for...

#672 – From Pantry to Plate: The Secret to Smart Food Storage

Jun 3, 2025 | Clutter Free, Clutter Free Home, Clutter Free Podcast, Foodie Friday, Home, Kitchen, Organizing, Overwhelmed, Podcast

Join Kathi Lipp and Tonya Kubo in this episode of Clutter-Free Academy as they tackle the often overwhelming world of food storage. Whether you’re struggling with long-term pantry organization, fridge chaos, containers for on the go or finding the right containers for...

#670 – Emotional Decluttering: A Journey Through Sentimental Keepsakes

by Clutter Free Academy Team | May 20, 2025 | Clutter Free, Clutter Free Home, Clutter Free Podcast, Home, Mental Load, Organizing, Overwhelmed, Podcast, tips and ideas | 2 comments

#670 – Emotional Decluttering: A Journey Through Sentimental Keepsakes

Listen Now

In this episode of Clutter Free Academy, Kathi Lipp is joined by clutter experts Tonya Kubo and Tenneil Register for the second part of their heartfelt discussion on sentimental items. Discover the emotions that often lead us to hold onto things we neither love nor use, and learn how to navigate these feelings with grace. Whether it’s figuring out what to do with your prom memorabilia or repurposing your grandmother’s teacup, our hosts share practical steps and innovative ideas to help you cherish the memories without clinging to items out of guilt or fear. Tune in to learn how to display the items you love and let go of those you don’t. Plus, dive into Tenneil’s incredible tips on repurposing for a clutter-free home filled with joyful memories. As an added bonus, Kathi cointinues her new segment: “Things That Have Earned A Place in My Clutter Free Home” where she chats with Tenneil about a simple gadget that made a huge difference in storage space in the kitchen!

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Sabbath Soup: Weekly Menus and Rhythms to Make Space for a Day of Rest

Kathi Lipp gives readers an easy-to-follow process for meal planning and prep, so that they can enjoy a full day each week of real rest and refreshment.

Could you use a break from cooking (and everything else) once a week? Not only is rest vital for your mind and body, it’s good for your soul too. God designed us to enter into Sabbath rest one day per week, but as you know, meals still need to be made. Your family still needs to be fed.

Sabbath Soup includes convenient, seasonal meal plans that take the guesswork out of shopping and cooking. More than just a collection of delicious recipes—including main dishes, breads, breakfasts, desserts, salads, sides, and yes, soups—this is your guide to establishing a weekly rhythm and routine of meal planning and prep that allows you to have a true day off.

Do something good for your soul and experience the peace that comes with a full day dedicated to spending time with God, family, and friends. Savor your Sabbath as you proudly proclaim, “Soup’s on!”

Order your copy of Sabbath Soup: Weekly Menus and Rhythms to Make Space for a Day of Rest here.

Links Mentioned:

MUDEELA Pot & Pan Organizer

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Meet Our Co-Host

Tonya Kubo

Tonya Kubo is the illustrious and fearless leader of Kathi Lipp’s Clutter Free Academy Facebook group and the Clutter Free for Life membership program. A professional community strategist, she believes everyone deserves to have a place online where they feel like they belong. Raised by a hoarder, Tonya knows firsthand the pain and isolation that comes from living in conditions others don’t understand. She wants better for her family and her cluttery peeps, which is why she is passionate about the compassionate slow-and-steady approach that makes Clutter Free unique. She lives in the heart of California with her husband, Brian, their two spirited daughters, and one very tolerant cat. Visit tonyakubo.com to find out more about her community work, or email her at tonya@kathilipp.org to discuss the Clutter Free Academy podcast and programs.

Meet Our Co-Host

Tenneil Register

Tenneil Register can be found creating, repurposing, decorating, gardening and welcoming guests to their reclaimed barn storefront. She and her husband, Cowboy, established rural roots for their blended family of 7 in their DIY ranch home in Iowa. Connect with her on Instagram for practical ideas to reclaim your home.

Transcript

Kathi Lipp (00:08)

Well, hey friends, welcome to Clutter Free Academy, where our goal is to help you take small, doable steps to live every day with less clutter and more life. And we are back. We have a three-part series here on sentimental items, how hard they are to declutter, what do we do with them, and maybe just a couple of pieces of advice to say it’s okay to get rid of it and prove that you don’t hate.

the other person who gave it to you or your own life. And I’ve got two of my favorite cluttery experts here. We’ve got Tonya Kubo and Tenneil Register. Hey guys, welcome back to the program.

Tonya Kubo (00:48)

Hey, Kathi, .

Tenneil (00:49)

Hey there!

Kathi Lipp (00:51)

Okay, so Here’s what I want to talk about today Because you guys are such geniuses Tonya about making the hard decisions about getting rid of to Tenneil once you’ve made the decision to keep it What do you actually do with it? And Last week we talked about your kids stuff, which has so much emotional attachment next week We’re to talk about the stuff from people who have passed on

I mean, like we’re just bringing out all the hard hitting subjects right now. But today I want to talk about our own stuff. And I want to talk about why do we hang on to things that is that maybe we know we’re never going to use them. We know that we maybe we don’t even really love them, but we feel such an obligation to keep them.

I’ve had that for a couple of different items in my life I feel like Through a lot of growth and let me be honest from a couple of people passing on I’ve been able to get rid of some things But I just wonder do any either of you have any insight to this? Why do we hang on to stuff even? Sometimes I don’t even think it brings back great memories, but we just can’t seem to let it go

Tenneil (02:16)

Letting go is scary because we’re wondering what that means about us and what that means about that relationship.

Kathi Lipp (02:25)

Tell me more about that.

Tenneil (02:28)

So when we’re walking through it and we are still holding on to a physical object, we’re still giving ourselves time to figure it out, figure out the relationship, figure out what it meant, figure out how to grieve, figure out how to hold on. And we find something significant about doing the physical let go. And so we kind of want to know for sure that we’ve done the emotional part correctly if we do the

Kathi Lipp (02:42)

Yeah.

Tenneil (02:56)

physical part correctly. We’re like looking for affirmation.

Kathi Lipp (03:01)

Okay, okay, I totally get that. I have a question for both of you. Are you guys hanger on-ers to your own stuff? We’re not not stuff you’ve been given necessarily, or are you letter goers?

Tonya Kubo (03:14)

It takes me a while. Like I am in general, my cluttery problem is not that I acquire a lot. I am not a big shopper. I just don’t know what to do with stuff once I have it. So I tend to be a keeper. So like what we have been, you we talk about this all the time. It has taken Brian and I have been married now 16 years and it’s just this year that we’re getting rid of the wedding pictures from our first marriages.

Kathi Lipp (03:25)

? yeah.

Yeah, that’s a hard one. It’s a hard one.

Tonya Kubo (03:41)

Well, and it’s back to what Tenneil said, because I’m thinking like where I keep those photos is also where all of the prom stuff is. And I don’t know if so this is the thing is this does not hit home with current teens at all because this is not how they do prom. But prom in the 90s was a whole thing of a thing. You paid your money. You got your photo album with the theme on the cover. You got your champagne flutes. Why did they give us champagne flutes? It’s not like we could drink at that age, but they did.

Kathi Lipp (03:59)

Absolutely.

Tonya Kubo (04:10)

And we got a key chain, got all these things that matched the theme. And I remember thinking it was so important to have that stuff back then. And now I look at it and I’m like, what am I supposed to do with this? Like all I can think about is we had one year where the theme was from dusk till dawn. And that’s when the Quentin Tarantino movie came out. So every time I look at it, I go, I remember how excited I was to see that movie and how horrible that movie was.

Kathi Lipp (04:36)

Okay, there we go. I love that that’s the memory that pops up for you.

Tonya Kubo (04:38)

So as, right,

why am I still keeping that stuff if that’s the memory that pops up? I’m keeping that stuff because I go, well, when I go to my high school reunion, are other people gonna have it? Are other people gonna talk about keeping it? What does it say about me and my high school years and what I think about all the people I went into prom with if I get rid of this, which is what I really want to do?

Kathi Lipp (05:04)

Yeah, ? really interesting. How about you, Tenneil? Are you a hangar oner or a letter goer?

Tenneil (05:10)

So I’m somewhere in the middle. I’ve become much better letting it go. think transitions of life. I do still have first wedding pictures also because I thought that my child would want them, but he doesn’t. So I’m really close on that one too. Tonya, have to tell you though, let go of the prom stuff. I’ve had my reunion. There was one really great thing that somebody brought from the reunion.

Tonya Kubo (05:23)

Mm-hmm.

Kathi Lipp (05:25)

Nope, they

don’t.

Tenneil (05:38)

It was the school handbook for our very conservative parochial school. And that makes for excellent conversation. So if your key chain’s not gonna make for good conversation, let it go.

Tonya Kubo (05:51)

Fair enough.

Kathi Lipp (05:51)

Hmm

really interesting. Yeah, I want to talk about the emotional drivers that sit behind our inability to let things go so Tonya you and I have talked about this for years fear what if I need it someday or the other version of that is what if I regret letting this go and Guilt this was from somebody that was important in my life whether I’m no longer in touch with them or maybe they’ve passed on something like that

And then I think there’s a third one here, identity. Guys, again, I’m bringing up old stories, but I only have one life to live. And so I only have so many stories. But I was a sales rep for years and years and years. And I invested in these leather cases for catalogs. And this was important in my job.

We did not have a laptop to bring around. These were leather cases that we put, you know, the A &A plush and the Carolina candles and all those catalogs in. I would take them into a store and somebody would order something and I’d go home and write up the order. It feels very archaic now. I could not get rid of those leather cases for the longest time because they were expensive. And you know, the year I bought them, I bought them because I was salesperson of the year.

And that was important to me. That meant something to me. And so that was, it was an identity. I didn’t recognize it at the time, but it was an identity thing saying, you know what, because then I went home and I was homeschooling my kids and then I went through a divorce and I was working at a job that wasn’t my favorite. And I could look at those cases and say, okay, but I had it going on

like and maybe I’ll have it going on again. You know, sometimes we keep things not out of love but out of guilt, fear or the need to remember who we were. And I just think it’s so important to really recognize why are we hanging on to things that make no sense. By the way, I no longer have those leather cases. It’s probably been 20 years now. I’m good. But at the time, and I think we all have those things like that.

Tonya Kubo (07:48)

Mm-hmm.

Kathi Lipp (08:16)

We have somebody in our life who says or maybe it’s media. You’ll regret getting rid of that You’ll regret it. So One of the things that Tonya and I have talked about a lot in our group Clutter free for life that if you love it show it so if you if you say that you love this purse But you have it in a box in your garage. I question your love

And so I wanna talk about some ways that we can display things. And one of my favorites is I have a friend, Robin Neal, who we’ve been friends for a really long time. And her father-in-law had passed away earlier the year of this story. And he was famous for his chili recipe. And so she had a butcher block inscribed.

with her father-in-law’s handwriting with the chili recipe. And there’s a great picture that went around TikTok. And I think it had something like six million views. It was crazy. It went crazy of her husband opening up this package and seeing that and what it meant to him. But it wasn’t just keeping the recipe and even just framing a recipe could have been cool, but this took it a step beyond. And when we wanna talk about the step beyond

Tonya Kubo (09:24)

wow.

Mm-hmm.

Kathi Lipp (09:42)

We come to Tenneil Register. We’d love some ideas for things that maybe they’re not super useful day to day, but can give us some ideas of, I don’t want to get rid of it because it’s important to me. I’ve discovered I’m not keeping out of fear or guilt or false sense of identity. No, it really brings back happy memories and I want it.

Tenneil (10:05)

Yeah, I want to share a recipe idea too, because it’s always such a favorite. And that is at Christmas time, have a small tree in your kitchen and hang the recipe cards for family recipes like this all over the tree. And if you have grandma’s old utensils or something like that, you can hang it on the tree. Then the rest of the year, you can pack that down into a small little tote and you have

Kathi Lipp (10:09)

Yeah.

Tenneil (10:34)

At the time of year that you’re gathering with your family in your kitchen, you can pull out these recipes and these little utensils and do a kitchen tree. It is usually everyone’s favorite idea of how to remember grandma.

Kathi Lipp (10:46)

Okay, I want to spin off on this for just a second because I think we think if we want to put something up it has to be up all year round and I am a very seasonal girl like every spring summer fall winter I’ve got a little tote where I’m pulling things out not just the fall decor. It’s not that it’s the Native American dolls that my friend Susie gave to me that I put in the fall decor. It’s the

Tonya Kubo (10:55)

Mm-hmm.

Kathi Lipp (11:14)

picture that my grandmother passed down to me that I have out in the spring. But I don’t have it out year round because my house would be an antique store. But it’s I love the idea of switching things out. Okay, what are some other ideas to Tenneil?

Tenneil (11:30)

Yeah, so another one is make sure you’re using the things you can use. like sometimes, you know, that’s like a vase and we’re afraid to use it because it might get broken or something like that. If like you said, if we love it, use it. But also like maybe you don’t put fresh flowers in vases. I use a lot of like sentimental items. I think you might even be able to see one on the video behind me as bookends. So like a vase from China is

Kathi Lipp (11:36)

Mm.

Yes.

Tenneil (11:59)

holding up as a book in for my actual books that I need to use throughout the day. And so incorporating those so that if it’s functional, then we’re not setting up a museum, right? And that’s what we want to avoid is having a museum of things. We want to have a home that’s been built over time that’s functional. And so I think asking yourself, how can I use it is really, really the most important question if you

Kathi Lipp (12:04)

Mm-hmm.

Right.

? I love that so much. And I think that displaying something, being surrounded by things you love is such a gift to yourself. And it shows the life you have and the hopes and dreams you’ve had. know, Tonya, do you have any ideas that you could share with us on this topic?

Tonya Kubo (12:50)

Well, mean, I second what Tenneil says. It’s like, if you can create something functional out of it, I think that’s brilliant. know, the recipe cards. I knew a woman who had her mom’s recipes all framed in the kitchen. And it was such an easy way to decorate an apartment and make an apartment feel homey. And part of it was that her mom’s handwriting in and of itself was a beautiful decor in addition to the recipes.

And I think, you know, I think we need to give ourselves permission to not be connected to the items. Like it is okay that that meant a lot to you 15 years ago, and it can have meant a lot 15 years ago and not mean as much today. And that doesn’t make you a bad person.

Kathi Lipp (13:31)

Mm hmm. Right.

Mm-hmm.

I love it. Yeah, you know, what I’ve had to discover is that having, using what I can or have it when I can’t use something, but it’s still precious to me. I was just visiting my friend Sherry, our friend Sherry, and she gave me a little framed sunflower. And that was her daughter who had passed away, her favorite flower.

Like there’s no practical use for it, but I’m not getting rid of it because I love it. And so it has yellows in it. So I put it with some blue little vases that I really like. And sometimes the vases have flowers in them and sometimes they don’t, but a little vignette is, a fun thing. And you can, you can make a vignette out of the weirdest stuff. I, I came in second place in a baby contest when, you know,

56 years ago. I’ve got the little trophy. I it means nothing to anybody But I just like having it on display because I’m like what a weird thing and I love it so, know and sometimes we don’t want to use things because We don’t want them to get broken. We don’t want them to get chipped So we keep them away, but when something feels too precious to use or display I think we have to ask ourselves. Am I protecting it or

Tonya Kubo (14:44)

Mm-hmm.

Kathi Lipp (15:00)

Is it protecting me from dealing with letting it go? Like, am I too afraid to unpack those emotions? And maybe you can’t unpack the emotions right now, but it’s okay. We’re gonna take a quick commercial break and then we’re gonna come back and we’re gonna talk about Tenneil’s favorite subject, repurposing. Okay, so we’re gonna, we’ll be right back. Okay, we are back with Tonya and Tenneil. Tenneil, how do you?

I want you to talk about more ideas for repurposing. Give us some more ideas because you’re such a genius at this. And I want you to give us your weirdest and wackiest ideas.

Tenneil (15:39)

Oh boy. Well, I was going to start with the plain ones, Kathi, , but we’ll start with the plain ones. So your plain ones is right, like a teacup. If you don’t drink tea from it, but it’s grandma’s teacup, can it hold your rings? Can it hold soap? Right? And even like your little sunflower picture, is it something that should be out all the time or should it come out just during the month of May that you get out the tea

Kathi Lipp (15:44)

Go f- start there and then build our way up, yes.

you

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Tenneil (16:09)

for the soap, know, like that

Kathi Lipp (16:10)

Yeah.

Tenneil (16:10)

kind of thing, so that you’re going through a process. Wackier ideas is like the things you can hang on the wall. So when you were talking about your leather suitcases, I actually have a bag from my corporate days too that I still love, but I don’t carry it. So it hangs on the coat rack by my front door for like your everyday clutter that you need to hide in a hurry. And it’s just like a hiding place, right? It looks like a bag I carry in and out, but I actually…

don’t, right? And so, grandpa’s, you know, hand rake, if grandpa was a gardener, right, hang that on the wall and use that to hang your necklaces off next to your closet or hang the dog leash on next to the door where you head out, just to turn the object upside down, inside out, spin it round and round until you can find some other form.

Kathi Lipp (16:40)

Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

?

? I need to be thinking about this. Okay, so I’m gonna throw a couple objects at you. This is our game show. And I want you to tell me, okay, so not only do I have one spoon that is precious to me, I have two. One that we found buried on the property here, and it’s from a company called Rogers Brothers.

and we looked it up, it’s from the 1920s. And then I have one of my grandmother’s serving spoons. Like, what do I do with those?

Tenneil (17:41)

Well, I mean, first of all, are they usable? Like, can you stir your coffee with it? The rogers spoon?

Kathi Lipp (17:46)

just that

they’re giant and I’m worried would I get poisoning from them but maybe that could use them yeah yeah I would need to figure that out yes

Tonya Kubo (17:52)

I was gonna say, this lead poisoning? I don’t know.

Tenneil (17:58)

So a big spoon, one of the ideas we’ve done in the store and people usually love because they usually have one like an old spoon or ladle or something. If you’re able to hang it on the wall and it makes a cup, you can put like a little plant or succulent or something like that. Or you could have your kitchen keys, your keys or whatever, if you need it to be functional.

Kathi Lipp (18:09)

Mm-hmm.

I love that idea. And I love the idea what you were talking about the rake where you could put a dog leash or something like that. I love that idea. Okay, I’m trying to think. I have lots of cards that people have sent me and I get rid of most of them. But what’s an idea for the ones that you want to keep?

Tenneil (18:39)

Yeah, this one’s not overly creative, but it looks a little better than a bulletin board. I have a screen in my office. It’s like a wood frame that’s a screen. It’s industrial off the farm. And I have clothes pins on it where I can rotate out cards or inspirational sayings. I’ve got a couple of pictures of my grandparents. Just my own kind of teenager pin board in my office. But to keep up with looking bulletin board, it’s actually like an industrial primitive screen.

Kathi Lipp (18:43)

I’ll take it.

Mm-hmm.

Mmm.

Tenneil (19:09)

you could do it with an old window screen too.

Kathi Lipp (19:09)

?

okay, I love that. Tonya, I’m gonna ask you for one in just a second. But, Tenneil, another thing I would be interesting to get some ideas from, if you have somebody in your family, they wore a uniform, you know, like I’m thinking like, you know, firefighter, police officer, they have a badge, they have a hat, like, what are your ideas for that?

Tenneil (19:34)

Yeah, so some people go full out, right? Like shadow box on the wall, it’s that important. You mentioned last time we were talking about kids, like sometimes it works to get it out seasonally, you know, for that moment of memorial. But I think it’s kind of choosing an item from it, right? The hat, can it be worked into your mantle decor, that kind of thing? Or like I think of a fireman’s jacket. I could see some semblance to leaving that on your coat rack next to the door.

Kathi Lipp (19:46)

Mm-hmm, yeah.

Right.

Tenneil (20:04)

just there as a statement kind of thing.

Kathi Lipp (20:07)

Yeah,

and guys don’t be afraid to look at something like Etsy if you’re not the crafty person because they can take grandma’s china that was broken and turn that into a necklace or something along those lines Tonya jump in here play the game. What’s something that you would throw it to Tenneil?

Tonya Kubo (20:26)

Something that I would throw at Tenneil, baby teeth.

Tenneil (20:29)

yeah.

Okay. I’m going to say first of all that I’m pro getting rid of the baby teeth. And I believe there should be a tradition when the truth comes out about the tooth fairy that we give those babies back and the kid can decide like, we want to bury them or what do we want to do?

one for you all that is still a thing in our house and that is a first pacifier. I think at 17 my kids still finds a little joy from knowing it’s in the top drawer of my jewelry.

Kathi Lipp (21:07)

Oh my gosh. You guys, anything that somebody has sucked on? I don’t know. I don’t know.

Tonya Kubo (21:15)

I didn’t

have a pacifier, my children never had pacifiers, so I have no pacifiers in my home.

Kathi Lipp (21:19)

? my-

Okay, we went to the hospital in the middle of the night to get Justin his pacifier that he was going to die without apparently. Like, because he didn’t know the difference between, you know, not having a pacifier and me dumping him off at the orphanage. Like they were on the same plane. Okay. Yeah, I love the idea of like,

Tonya Kubo (21:32)

?

Mm-hmm.

Tenneil (21:41)

Thank

Kathi Lipp (21:48)

burying the teeth for the tooth fairy to recycle or something. I love that idea. Guys, I love this so much because our memories shouldn’t live in an attic, they should be in our lives. They should be incorporated into our lives. And Tenneil is so good at this. Tenneil, would love, you you said at the store, what people may not know is you own a beautiful store. What’s it called?

Tenneil (21:52)

Right?

Yeah, R7 reclaimed and it’s a vintage barn and so we specialize in how to recycle and, you know, reclaim the unexpected.

Kathi Lipp (22:17)

Yeah.

Yeah, okay at some point what I’m gonna do if you’re a listener and you’re like I have this weird item that I would like to know how to incorporate I’m gonna book another show and what we’re gonna do is we’re gonna bring these ladies back and We’re gonna come up with those weird items. I’m gonna read them off. I’m not gonna give to Tenneil any prep Because she is so creative. She is seen and done everything No

Tonya Kubo (22:45)

Ooh.

Tenneil (22:49)

Are you gonna save me at all?

Tonya Kubo (22:53)

I will prep, I will do homework for you, Tenneil, because I’m the person who threw baby teeth at you, okay?

Kathi Lipp (22:59)

Yeah

my goodness, I love this so much. Okay, guys, just remember, you deserve to enjoy your sentimental items, not be overwhelmed by them. Okay, thank you ladies so much for being here. Guys, we’re gonna be back in just a moment with my new favorite segment, Stuff That Has Earned A Place In My House. We will be right back.

PART 2

Kathi Lipp (00:00)

Well, welcome back to ClutterFree Academy. ?

Today in our third segment is another episode of things that have earned a place in my clutter free home. And I’ve got my friend, Tenneil Register. Tenneil’s part of my team, but also my friend. And if you need your house redecorated, just invite her over and let her sit amongst your house and she will not be able to help herself. That’s just the kind, but she’ll only do it with your permission. Hey Tenneil.

Tenneil (00:27)

Yeah.

such

an accurate version of me. I’ll be switching, but I’ll wait for permission.

Kathi Lipp (00:36)

Well

You were you were not rooted at all. I’m like, please please please because here’s the thing I think other people can sometimes see things that you know, you just live with all the time, right? And you think you don’t think about things being in a different way and we were literally moving dressers upstairs from downstairs and You know when I bought this house man, you know things were where they were and I changed a ton of stuff

but some of the stuff I left just where it was because I thought it was cute. But then your house moves and things like that and you just have to figure out new solutions. And that’s one of the things we’re gonna talk about today is figuring out new solutions. there’s very little that I get to influence Tenneil about, but I influenced you and that makes me very happy. And it was so funny. I’ll tell you this Tenneil and then we’ll actually talk about the item.

You know Roger and I were going to a church and we have since left this church so I’m not telling any tales out of school but ? one of the pastors did a whole sermon on like the worst thing that your child could grow up to be is an influencer and I’m like well, okay, first of all, thanks ? But I also think isn’t that what everybody does? We’re trying if you’re a politician, you’re an influencer if you’re on TV, you’re an

Like we’re all influenced and I want to influence people one to not buy things that they don’t need but two if something works for me I want to share about it because it’s made my life better, right?

Tenneil (02:16)

Yes, and for most of us, at least listening to this podcast in America, we’re probably gonna spend our money on something. So if it’s something that makes your life easier and makes you happy, I love when people share what’s working for them. It just gives me new ideas.

Kathi Lipp (02:29)

Right. And that’s the thing. I don’t want to spend my money on stuff that doesn’t work. And so, so let me tell you how I influenced Tenneil. Now, some of you have listened to the podcast where I was talking about organizing your pots and pans and ? Tenneil I, the day that podcast came out, she’s like, I’m getting that pan organizer. And okay, so I’m going to tell you my experience with it. then

Tenneil (02:34)

Yeah.

Kathi Lipp (02:55)

I want to hear yours. And I don’t know what her experience is. I just told her, Hey, we’re recording this episode. I’ll find out if you liked it or not. But I’m going to tell you what my experience was. my, have a corner cabinet in the kitchen and pots and pans. They were such a pain that my husband who everybody I know, you know, I, everybody knows I, I, I don’t worship him. only worship God, but

Tenneil (03:24)

Admire.

Kathi Lipp (03:25)

I admire greatly, but it got to the point where he was setting out to dry the pots and pans on a pretty regular basis because there’s such a pain in the rear to put away. And so he also, he still does this with our, our, ? not Tupperware. I can you tell I’m a child of the eighties. I call it Tupperware, but, yeah, he doesn’t like that either, but that’s very easy to put away. So I bought,

this it’s called ? Muddella eight tier heavy duty adjustable pan organizing rack for kitchen cabinet storage and organization. So I mean, that is a mouthful. But what it does is it’s so you don’t put your pans or your pots inside of each other. They’re each on their own level. And I have to say the amount of people who now put away their pots and pans in my household.

or even people who are visiting ? without being harangued has gone up 100%. Including me, by the way, including me, because I used to avoid it too. Okay, so now I don’t know, this is honest reaction, not that we’re gonna ever lie to you guys, but ? Tenneil, what is your unbiased reaction about this pot and pan organizer?

Tenneil (04:49)

I love it. So I was so excited because our pot in pan one, I’m like the only one who can do it correctly, right?

Kathi Lipp (04:55)

Yes,

nobody can do it like mom does it.

Tenneil (05:00)

And similarly, we tend to leave them out like on the stove kind of ready to reuse because it’s irritating and we cook a lot. So I was super excited about this pot and pan holder and I ordered it and it was super late at night when it was delivered from Amazon. Everyone was like, who’s at the door? And so I start putting it together. So it was a whole family activity of watching me, you know, put this together. Me explaining that I’d ordered it off the podcast. I just, I don’t usually do that kind of

Kathi Lipp (05:04)

Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Tenneil (05:29)

And so they were super intrigued. The guys in my house were really impressed with the design. And I got down on the floor to put it in my cabinet and it didn’t fit because I didn’t measure first. And I was like so bummed. But I was like, this thing though, it makes sense. This thing makes sense. And so I scooted my little rear over to the next cabinet, to my corner cabinet, where I also have like

Kathi Lipp (05:30)

Yeah, yeah.

Ooh!

? no.

Yes.

Yeah.

Tenneil (05:57)

piles of things, but they’re a little bit different. They’re like containers that I take cookies in, deviled eggs, tray, strainers stuff like that. And it worked brilliantly in there to stack all that stuff up and each have its own, it’s almost like a slot, its own shelf, right? And I ordered a second one to do under there. And then ? we’re still gonna order another one. We can make it fit our pan cabinet, but our pan cabinet has a

Kathi Lipp (05:58)

Mm-hmm.

Yeah,

Yes, right.

Tenneil (06:26)

like a top shelf in it, half shelf.

Kathi Lipp (06:29)

That’s mine does too. Yes.

Tenneil (06:30)

And so you

need to remove that for this to really do its job, which is okay. I would prefer it be gone in this baby work.

Kathi Lipp (06:38)

Yes.

So for some reason, this works with my half shelf. It just, mean, yeah, it’s a little, it loses a little space. But what I’ve done is I’ve put my turkey roasting pan behind that, which I only need to get to once a year. And I only need to get to it when my 30 year olds are in the house and one of them can do the crawling. So I’m fine with that. So yeah. So, ? okay. I, I’ve never given, you know, a

a ranking on this portion of the podcast. But for me, this is a 10 out of 10. It solves a huge problem. It isn’t crazy expensive. It’s not cheap, but I also don’t want cheap because I want this to last for a long time. It’s $31 and ? I just got it off of Amazon. We will put the link in the notes ? and you don’t have to give it a 10 out of 10, but what is your ranking for it?

Tenneil (07:32)

Yeah, for sure for what it did for me, I would give it a 9 out of 10 for the space that it fixed for me and I’d give it a 10 out of 10 if it measured correctly, but that’s on me, not on the product, right?

Kathi Lipp (07:37)

Yeah.

Okay,

but you know what this is really good to know that you should take that extra three minutes and Measure that space and guys, you know, I’ve talked about how I’ve ordered and I’ll put a link to these two I’ve ordered ? Those a dozen of the tiny measuring tape. So I have one in every room of the house because I That saves me a trip into town to return something

Tenneil (07:49)

Yeah!

Kathi Lipp (08:08)

And yeah, so many times I wish it worked better on clothes because like I still end up returning clothes because I don’t know what size I am anymore. But for things in your house, it’s always good to just take that extra second to measure. I bet nine times out of 10 Tenneil, you can eyeball stuff. I bet you.

Tenneil (08:29)

Yeah,

and when it comes to like furniture and other spaces, I pretty well have nailed that and I measure a lot of stuff. I just didn’t think through. I was so excited about it on the podcast. So, yeah.

Kathi Lipp (08:33)

Go.

No, of course not. Yeah, exactly.

Okay, friends. So this is called the Mudella eight tier heavy duty adjustable pan organizer rack for kitchen cabinet storage and organization. And so ? I, like I said, love this thing. If you are struggling with what to do with your pots and pans, this is worth trying. As you know, Amazon, you can always return things.

But yeah, this works for us. And I noticed like it’s saying free delivery today, 5 to 10 PM. Yeah, and here’s the thing guys, it doesn’t do free delivery to my house. It does free delivery to my mom’s house. But if I really needed it, we could do it. So I’ve ordered the second one.

Tenneil (09:19)

No.

Kathi Lipp (09:26)

And yeah, we’re gonna be so organized. It’s gonna make cooking a dream. I’m so excited. Tenneil thanks for sharing my love of pot and pan organization. It makes me super happy.

Tenneil (09:37)

Yes, it’s the little things.

Kathi Lipp (09:39)

It’s the little things, that’s true. Anytime you can remove an obstacle from something you have to do is huge. Well friends, you have been listening to ClutterFree Academy, I’m Kathi Lipp, now go create the clutter free life you’ve always wanted to live.

#674 – Low Buy July: 31 Days to Your Financial Reset

Jun 17, 2025 | Clutter Free, Clutter Free Home, Clutter Free Podcast, Finances, Freedom, Low Buy July, Podcast

In this episode of Clutter Free Academy, Kathi Lipp and Tonya Kubo talk about why they're moving from “No Buy July” to a gentler, grace-filled “Low Buy July.” If you’ve ever felt like buying toilet paper broke the rules or you’re just exhausted by all-or-nothing...

#673 – The Dishwasher Dilemma: Secrets to a Clutter-Free Kitchen

Jun 10, 2025 | Clutter Free, Clutter Free Home, Clutter Free Podcast, Home, Kitchen, Organizing, Podcast, tips and ideas

In this engaging episode of Clutter Free Academy, hosts Kathi Lipp and Tonya Kubo dive into the dynamic world of dishwashing, sharing secrets to establish a daily rhythm that keeps kitchen chaos at bay. Listen in as Kathi reveals her tried-and-true methods for...

#672 – From Pantry to Plate: The Secret to Smart Food Storage

Jun 3, 2025 | Clutter Free, Clutter Free Home, Clutter Free Podcast, Foodie Friday, Home, Kitchen, Organizing, Overwhelmed, Podcast

Join Kathi Lipp and Tonya Kubo in this episode of Clutter-Free Academy as they tackle the often overwhelming world of food storage. Whether you’re struggling with long-term pantry organization, fridge chaos, containers for on the go or finding the right containers for...

#669 – From Macaroni Necklaces to Masterpieces: A Guide to Decluttering and Organizing Kid Memorabilia

by Clutter Free Academy Team | May 13, 2025 | Clutter Free, Clutter Free Home, Clutter Free Podcast, Home, Organizing, Podcast, tips and ideas | 0 comments

#669 – From Macaroni Necklaces to Masterpieces: A Guide to Decluttering and Organizing Kid Memorabilia

Listen Now

In this episode of Clutter Free Academy, Kathi Lipp teams up with decluttering experts Tonya Kubo and Tenille Register to tackle one of the toughest challenges for parents—letting go of kids’ sentimental items. Whether it’s a macaroni necklace or a monumental art project, sentimental clutter can be overwhelming. This trio of brilliant ladies share personal stories and practical strategies for managing this emotional baggage. Learn how to curate your children’s treasures thoughtfully and set healthy boundaries with blended families’ keepsakes. Plus, discover special tools like the School Year’s Memory Kit! Tune in for relatable advice and humor-infused wisdom to clear cluttered spaces without guilt. As an added bonus, Kathi introduces us to her new segment: “Things That Have Earned A Place in My Clutter Free Home” where she chats with Dorina Lazo Gilmore-Young about her new bible study on the book of Ruth!

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Sabbath Soup: Weekly Menus and Rhythms to Make Space for a Day of Rest

Kathi Lipp gives readers an easy-to-follow process for meal planning and prep, so that they can enjoy a full day each week of real rest and refreshment.

Could you use a break from cooking (and everything else) once a week? Not only is rest vital for your mind and body, it’s good for your soul too. God designed us to enter into Sabbath rest one day per week, but as you know, meals still need to be made. Your family still needs to be fed.

Sabbath Soup includes convenient, seasonal meal plans that take the guesswork out of shopping and cooking. More than just a collection of delicious recipes—including main dishes, breads, breakfasts, desserts, salads, sides, and yes, soups—this is your guide to establishing a weekly rhythm and routine of meal planning and prep that allows you to have a true day off.

Do something good for your soul and experience the peace that comes with a full day dedicated to spending time with God, family, and friends. Savor your Sabbath as you proudly proclaim, “Soup’s on!”

Order your copy of Sabbath Soup: Weekly Menus and Rhythms to Make Space for a Day of Rest here.

Links Mentioned:

School Years Memory Kit (use the code CLUTTERFREE10 for a discount!)
Redeemer: God’s Loving Kindness in the Book of Ruth (study by Dorina Lazo Gilmore-Young!)

FYI: Some product links may be affiliate links. If you buy, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thanks for your support!

Clutter Free Resources:

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Meet Our Co-Host

Tonya Kubo

Tonya Kubo is the illustrious and fearless leader of Kathi Lipp’s Clutter Free Academy Facebook group and the Clutter Free for Life membership program. A professional community strategist, she believes everyone deserves to have a place online where they feel like they belong. Raised by a hoarder, Tonya knows firsthand the pain and isolation that comes from living in conditions others don’t understand. She wants better for her family and her cluttery peeps, which is why she is passionate about the compassionate slow-and-steady approach that makes Clutter Free unique. She lives in the heart of California with her husband, Brian, their two spirited daughters, and one very tolerant cat. Visit tonyakubo.com to find out more about her community work, or email her at tonya@kathilipp.org to discuss the Clutter Free Academy podcast and programs.

Meet Our Co-Host

Tenneil Register

Tenneil Register can be found creating, repurposing, decorating, gardening and welcoming guests to their reclaimed barn storefront. She and her husband, Cowboy, established rural roots for their blended family of 7 in their DIY ranch home in Iowa. Connect with her on Instagram for practical ideas to reclaim your home.

Meet Our Guest

Dorina Lazo Gilmore-Young

Dorina Lazo Gilmore-Young is an author, speaker, Bible teacher, and spoken word artist.

Her passion is helping people discover God’s glory in unexpected places and flourish in their God-given callings. She wants you to become a glory chaser with her, running after God’s glory rather than your own. This has made a world of difference in every facet of Dorina’s life.

Her happy place is near the ocean with her people or running on a trail in the mountains near her home. A foodie, Dorina loves trying new recipes and restaurants. Tears, laughter, and good food are always welcome at her table. Guests are invited to come as they are.

Dorina’s Website

Transcript

Kathi Lipp (00:10)

Hey friends, welcome to clutter free Academy where our goal is to help you take small doable steps to live every day with less clutter and more life and I am here with the queen of decluttering Tonya Kubo and The queen of making things cute. I Tonya. I’m sorry. That does not feel fair like Okay, okay Yeah, you know, I I mean because if I had to choose one, I’m not gonna lie

Tonya Kubo (00:30)

It’s totally fair. It’s totally fair. I own it. I own my role.

Kathi Lipp (00:39)

Making things cute Feels like a bigger superpower But hey, we know why our people are here and they are here to be able to declutter But we’re gonna have some purpose with our declutter So it’s Tonya Kubo and Tenille Register and I I am going to start with the softest of softball questions for you Tenille how many kids do you have?

Tenneil (01:04)

Five? Not a small question for me.

Kathi Lipp (01:05)

Okay, Tonya. well,

Tonya Kubo (01:09)

was gonna say!

Kathi Lipp (01:11)

you know what? And here’s the thing, depending on who’s asking the question, it could mean two different things because people will ask Roger often how many kids he has and he says two. And it’s like, he goes, ? wait, no, I have four. And like, because blended families, right? So you have a blended family, I have a blended family. What are their ages, Tenille?

Tonya Kubo (01:17)

Mm-hmm.

Kathi Lipp (01:35)

That’s the hard question.

Tenneil (01:36)

They are 17 to 28, so in some ways we like to pretend we have none now.

Kathi Lipp (01:42)

Right, exactly. Okay, and Tonya, how many kids? Okay. Okay, so for the purposes of this, I’m calling it a teen and a tween. Does that feel accurate? Okay, good, good, good. Okay, because what we are talking about today is kids’ sentimental items. Tonya, you’ve been leading our Clutterfree Bible study, and how big of a deal are sentimental items in

Tonya Kubo (01:46)

Two, 10 and 15.

It works for me. Totally feels accurate.

Mm-hmm.

Kathi Lipp (02:11)

that Bible study. Yeah.

Tonya Kubo (02:13)

Huge, huge.

mean, honestly, it’s because the emotions are so intertwined with the things. Like a candle is not just a candle. It’s a whole relationship.

Kathi Lipp (02:24)

Right.

Yeah. Can I tell you the most interesting thing that you guys know, I’ve been on the show, Dr. Nurse Mama, which is a nationally syndicated show. And they’ve had me come back in 2025 once a month to be on the program. And we were talking about Dr. Jessica’s, she has a stuff problem. Her husband does not have a stuff problem.

Tonya Kubo (02:34)

Mm-hmm.

Kathi Lipp (02:52)

but they have a stuff problem together. And she said, and we were talking about why it’s hard for her to let go of her adult kids stuff and her kids are still living there. She goes, when I see all of the stuff, it proves to me I was a good mom. And I’m like, that is deep, right?

Tonya Kubo (02:54)

Mm-hmm.

Mmm.

That

is deep and I’ve never heard anybody say that before.

Kathi Lipp (03:19)

It’s so honest though. If you can look at your kids’ trophies and you say, was there for every practice, or you see, let’s be honest, in my kids’ cases, their participation certificates, okay? Because we were not a trophy family, but we were a, you know what, we were behind the scenes, we did all the things. But you showed up for all of that. And I know that there are a lot of parents who don’t feel

Tonya Kubo (03:21)

Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Hahaha!

Kathi Lipp (03:46)

super confident in their parenting because what works for one kid doesn’t work for another. But you can say, hey, look at this. I really tried. I really tried. And when Roger and I got married and we moved in together, we realized we both had a kid stuff problem because, you know, he wanted to be a good dad. I wanted to be a good mom. And I was drowning in all of the stuff.

Tonya Kubo (03:51)

Mm-hmm.

Kathi Lipp (04:14)

And Tenille, I don’t know if this resonates with you at all, but I didn’t feel like I could get rid of any of my stepkids stuff. Like I would just, I would be a wicked stepmom. That like would be the official sticker that would be on my shirt. Does that resonate?

Tenneil (04:31)

Absolutely. Not only can you not get rid of it, but you probably didn’t form their thinking about stuff. And so like with my bio kid, we had these like little seasonal habits of decluttering some things and reviewing the wardrobe and I didn’t have that process. And so that means their stuff just like stays forever even after it doesn’t fit or how do I establish that with them?

Kathi Lipp (04:38)

Yeah.

Right.

Right and I remember going through stuff and trying to have conversations and I’m like Roger I just need you to be the bio parent we we had two different roles We had the bio parent or the parent in charge So like if I left the house, I would say hey Kimber Roger’s the parent in charge if you need something talk to him

And then bioparent, when it was emotional stuff, when it was the slamming the doors, I hate my life, that went to the bioparent. And Tonya, you are past the macaroni necklace stage, but you’re in the teen stage that brings a different kind of sentimental chaos. What are your kids bringing into the house right now?

Tonya Kubo (05:39)

Well, part of our challenge is different kids, different personalities. So for Lily, Lily has very few items, but everything she has is very, very precious. So the few things she has, she values a lot. Abby has a lot of stuff that is precious. And Abby is in an art phase. So I’ve got canvases and paintings and quite honestly paint everywhere in my house.

Kathi Lipp (05:43)

Mm-hmm.

Okay, now.

This

Okay.

you

Tonya Kubo (06:09)

and she wants it all displayed and she you know she wants to visit her artwork that she has given me regularly. It’s a thing.

Kathi Lipp (06:20)

Can we just say Abby is an intense human being? Yes.

Tonya Kubo (06:24)

She is, and she

is, she’s a big personality and she has so much joy. And also there is just a lot that goes on with the whirlwind that she is.

Kathi Lipp (06:28)

guess.

Yes. Okay. So I’m going to tell you guys one thing that helped me, but then I want to hear a lot of your different ideas. And when it, when we blended our families and we had this overabundance of stuff and we had, we had a lot of cardboard boxes, like the bankers boxes of art and stuff. And it wasn’t precious enough to be in their room, but it was too precious to get rid of. And so.

Tonya Kubo (06:51)

Mm.

you

Kathi Lipp (07:04)

I finally, we lived in a 1300 square foot townhouse. There was not enough room for that much precious. So finally I got it down, we did a one tub rule. Now I started this earlier with my kids where we had a tub and of course kindergarten, everything that came home was, this, I’m gonna frame this, we’re going to have a gallery wall. Everything was precious. And then you get to about fourth grade and you’re like, why do they send all this stuff home?

And it’s like, because the teachers don’t want that stuff. I get it. I get it now. I feel deeply for teacher. Tenneil’s a teacher. She gets it.

Tenneil (07:36)

you

They’re proving they’re good teacher just like we’re proving we’re a good mom.

Kathi Lipp (07:43)

That’s

right. my goodness. You are so correct the more stuff that comes home the more of a good teacher thing that’s deep insight. I love that Deep insight so we did a one-tub rule like we’ll keep one tub in the garage But then you have to decide what is precious and what is not precious And then we also had to have the when they move out. We finally Tonya knows this story

Tonya Kubo (07:48)

Mm-hmm.

Deep, deep.

Kathi Lipp (08:12)

I think it was July 30th one year. I said, if your stuff is not out of our garage, and by the way, we gave them like six weeks, but if you’re, they were in there, they were firmly in their twenties, not living at our house. And so Jeremy showed up at our house at 1130, the day of to get what he wanted. And I’m like, guys, I’ll,

Tonya Kubo (08:21)

And how old were they, Kathi? You have to include their ages.

Tenneil (08:35)

haha

Kathi Lipp (08:37)

This is the last time I’ll be happy to throw things away for you. I’ll be happy to recycle all those, but I cannot deal with this stuff anymore unless you want to start paying rent for your stuff. Well, that cleared it up real fast. So that one tub was super helpful. Tonya, how do you keep track of what is Abby’s and what is Lily’s?

Tonya Kubo (08:51)

Mm-hmm.

So I have a rainbow organizer and they get assigned colors. So there’s the drawers and I know, you know, this pink drawer is for Abby and the blue drawer is for Lily. And like, I love the one tub rule. That’s a good one. What we started early on is because when Lily was in kindergarten, because you’re right, it’s like, that’s when the stuff starts really coming in. In preschool, we didn’t get stuff all the time.

Kathi Lipp (09:06)

Mmm.

Tonya Kubo (09:28)

They would just give us like a packet during conference. And by the way, parent teacher conference for a three year old. That just blew my mind. I was not prepared for that.

Kathi Lipp (09:30)

Hmm.

There are lots of parents who they live or die by that conference.

Tonya Kubo (09:41)

Right, so we would have a conference twice a year. They would hand me a stack of stuff. So that felt very easy to manage compared to kindergarten when it’s all coming home every Friday. And at that time, the house we lived in, I just had a drawer for Lily in the laundry room and I would just shove everything in the drawer and then once a month go through it and decide what to keep.

Kathi Lipp (10:00)

Okay.

Nice. Yeah. I think that one of the things that we have to figure out is curation with our kids, right? Because they get to determine what is important, what is it. Tenille, do you have any tips for that?

Tonya Kubo (10:10)

Mm-hmm.

Tenneil (10:18)

Yes, I love the one tub kind of sets you up for that mindset. And I remember to Tonya that big packet from preschool appreciating it. And I would say, what is your favorite one and why, and then pick that one to hold on to. So I started with my bio kid at a very young age saying like, let’s pick our favorite thing that we want to remember and then have something really special that happens with that one.

Tonya Kubo (10:26)

Mm-hmm.

Tenneil (10:46)

So you’ve probably seen online like having a frame on the wall for each kid and you can rotate which one’s up front. As my number of kids multiplied, the idea of going over and changing the photo on the wall like was not happening, right? And so what I did is I put up, if you picture like a laundry rope, right? Like you were getting your clothes out to dry with little clips there.

Tonya Kubo (11:10)

Mm-hmm.

Tenneil (11:14)

and then they could switch out their art on their little segment. And for those who really loved art, they had one of those in their room that they could be in charge. And then I had one in the hallway that I could put their little prize picture on. So that was a great one for us. And then as we got into the digital world, I started saying, like, hey, tell me about it. And I would just video record them with their art and their little story behind it.

Kathi Lipp (11:15)

Yeah.

Tenneil (11:45)

And then I have that to put on their graduation video instead of this big stack of stuff. So by the time we got to kid number five who’s graduating in May, I have one basket of school artifacts. That’s it. And I’m really excited about that because I inherited from my parents like a dozen boxes. They kept all of it and it created stress for me as an adult. how many objects from those boxes

Tonya Kubo (11:57)

Yeah.

Kathi Lipp (12:00)

Nice.

Right.

Tenneil (12:14)

my five kids want.

Kathi Lipp (12:16)

How many? Yep, exactly.

Tenneil (12:18)

Zero, you guys. Zero.

Tonya Kubo (12:20)

Mm-hmm.

Tenneil (12:20)

There’s not one object from that box from all five kids that they’re interested in.

Kathi Lipp (12:26)

Yeah, it’s so true. You know, we have to understand these kids live lighter than the our generations before us. And, know, you mentioned the clothes line. One thing. So Kimberly’s first Christmas outfit, it was a little red and green checked dress and pantaloons. She’s never going to want that. You know, that’s not her thing. But what I did was I put it on a piece of rope with some clips and I pull that out every Christmas.

Tonya Kubo (12:31)

Mm-hmm.

Kathi Lipp (12:55)

and I use it as a decoration and I just love it and she has no interest but she’s like, yeah, I wore that. But for me, it was like, ? my god, my mom made it, it has a little bit, the whole thing. So I did wanna mention Tonya has a relationship with this company that produces school years memory kits. Tonya, can you just tell us a little bit about them?

Tonya Kubo (13:00)

Mm-hmm.

Yeah, well, it’s like perfect alignment with this one tub rule. And so the the owner, it’s owned by a husband and wife company, and they have an app that works for baby books. But what I love about the school year’s memory kit is it’s simple. It’s a box about and you can buy the box or not buy the box totally up to you. But it’s a box that’s about a foot wide, about 18 inches deep, and a little less than a foot tall.

So just think it’s like one nice sized tub fits in most closets. And it comes with 11 by 14 file folders. And it’s one folder for each grade, preschool all the way up to 12th grade. And it’s printed on the outside. And this is what I love about it. I mean, it’s one of those things, you could totally DIY this yourself. I’m just not crafty like Tenille, so I have to buy the craftiness.

But it’s printed so you can put their school, their teacher, and then what do they wanna be when they grow up? Who are their closest friends? What are they really good at? Paste a picture on the front, and then in that folder, you just put all the mementos from that school year.

Kathi Lipp (14:29)

I love it. And if you’ve been meaning to do something like that for seven years, buy the kit if you can. But if you can DIY it, that’s great. I know that Tenille would come up with cute fonts and everything. So we’ll have a link to that in our show notes. And we have a 10 % off because every little bit helps. love a mom and pop store. So the code is clutterfree10. And so we’ve got that for you.

Tonya Kubo (14:45)

Mm-hmm.

Kathi Lipp (14:58)

Guys, we’re gonna take a quick commercial break and then we’re gonna be back and we’re gonna talk about when it’s time to transfer ownership. I cannot wait.

Okay guys, we are back. Okay, at some point some of this stuff needs to leave the house. Here’s the deal, if you, but here’s what I had to learn and it’s very hard for me. I’m not gonna lie. If you hand it over, it’s theirs and you no longer get a say about what they do with it. If they light it on fire, that’s okay because it’s theirs. I think that strikes people very differently.

Because I do have a relative who tries to give me stuff and then checks up on it at my house. And I’m like, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. If it’s important to you, please keep it. But if you’re giving it to me, I get to decide what happens to it. And that’s a really hard, I don’t know. It feels very guilt inducing. And so here’s my question. Tonya, have you talked about this at all with your kids about like,

Tonya Kubo (15:59)

Mm-hmm.

Kathi Lipp (16:05)

What will happen when they I I know you are it feels like a lifetime from now But have you had any conversations about what happens with their stuff?

Tonya Kubo (16:09)

Mm-hmm.

like what happens with their stuff later? No, because I don’t know that they ever will leave, honestly. mean, like Lily would have her own apartment right now. She would, but it would just be like her and her bed and a cat and nothing else. She would just wear the same thing every day that she thrifted, right? Because she’s the big thrifty person. But all…

Kathi Lipp (16:17)

Yeah, when they move out.

Ha

You’re right.

Right. Yeah.

Tonya Kubo (16:39)

ever really talk about is just like what do we have space for right now because those girls share a room.

Kathi Lipp (16:43)

Yeah,

yeah, it’s so true.

Tonya Kubo (16:47)

So our

big conversation in the house right now is books. It’s like going to Abby going, you’re 10, you’re reading chapter books. I think we can get rid of the picture books now.

Kathi Lipp (16:57)

Mm, yeah.

Tonya Kubo (16:59)

And I will give you a little tip on what we’re doing. And Kathi you know that this is big for me. Listeners know that this is big for me. I agreed to a yard sale.

Because Abby is my collector, so we agreed to a yard sale and they get to split the money. Whatever we make, they’re gonna split it in half. And so Abby is very gung-ho about getting rid of those toys and the clothes and everything that she has outgrown. And we’re not having to fight about it. It’s beautiful.

Kathi Lipp (17:13)

Yeah.

Okay?

Yes!

Ooh,

ooh, could they still get like $1 if they give, if something’s given away for free? I’m just, thinking about you, Tonya. I’m thinking about you.

Tonya Kubo (17:38)

Right,

well, so the thing is, is they get half of even the stuff we’re putting out for sale. Like I am done pretending, so I’ve lived in this house since 2018, I am done pretending I’m gonna put the stuff on the walls that was on the walls at the last house. I keep thinking it’s gonna happen, it’s not gonna happen. The stuff’s gonna go to a different home. So we’re getting rid of a bunch of home decor stuff and they get to keep that too.

Kathi Lipp (17:43)

Okay, okay.

Yeah, yeah, it’s not gonna happen.

Yeah.

It makes the transition to adulthood so much easier if there’s not all that stuff. Tenille, how about in your house? How did that all work out for you? Or is it still?

Tonya Kubo (18:06)

Yeah.

Tenneil (18:09)

Yeah, so it’s something,

I love that we’re having this conversation, right? Because it’s something you don’t think about when your kids are growing up until that first one’s gone and you kind of like need the space and you’re not sure how to handle it, right? And so for me, it was, I’m going to keep this one chest of things for you because I know that you live in transition in a small space. And so I will keep this one box for you. And then there was a separate category of stuff. That’s like a bigger like,

Kathi Lipp (18:20)

Right. Mm-hmm.

Tenneil (18:39)

heirloom piece of furniture, right? Like a really nice dresser, like I love it better than my dresser. Am I willing, how long am I willing to hold on to that one, right? So for me, the valuable things like that, I said, I will hold on to until you own your own home. And that’s undated, right? 25 or 45 until you own your own home. Because I don’t want to pressure them into settling down if they’re content with like a little bit more nomad. But all the

Kathi Lipp (18:49)

Hmm.

Mm, okay. Yeah.

Tenneil (19:09)

stuff is like a one box rule and even that is like as they’re all getting older I need to adjust one more time and so I recently came across an idea and did it with my oldest daughter who’s not in her own home but she is in like she doesn’t own it but she’s there and she’s settling in and I did a kit for her house and I combined it with like new items that I knew she wanted to have right like some new kitchen linens and some things like that

one or two pieces of childhood that I knew she could put directly like onto her wall or on her bathroom counter and she would want and I said she was so excited to have them and I said Everything else it’s out there. Do you want me to just get rid of it? And she was like absolutely Right. I did the think work for her and that’s what she needed. So I think you have to play it kid by kid, but I

Kathi Lipp (19:57)

good.

Yeah.

Right.

Tenneil (20:05)

I definitely think you setting the boundary of how much you’re willing to hold on to and then partnering with their personality to navigate it is really great.

Kathi Lipp (20:15)

Tonya, what were you going to say? Yeah.

Tonya Kubo (20:17)

Question so

because this comes up in clutter free Academy a lot what happens if they never buy a home?

Tenneil (20:26)

Yeah, so for me at that point, I would say like, do you want me to sell it and you can have the money or are you giving it to me? Right? Because my daughter’s sister, she would give it to me. I would use that dresser, right?

Tonya Kubo (20:35)

Yeah!

Kathi Lipp (20:38)

Right?

Tonya Kubo (20:39)

curious, at what age? Cause like we’ve got members that I have been walking this path with and one of them, it’s like the kid is 40. And she was like, and I didn’t realize this for a long time. I thought we were talking about 20 somethings, but it’s like, okay, well, if at 40, they don’t live in a home that can accommodate the big China cabinet or whatever it is, I think we have to make peace with the fact that they may not.

and come up with an alternative plan.

Tenneil (21:10)

And I should put a clarifier on it. Like this is only on furniture that I have a space and a use for in my home. This is a dresser that is in my guest room that she comes home to and it serves a purpose in our home. If that was in my living room or in my way or did not fit, then I, like Kathi, would put that expiration date on there. I might even offer like, you can pay for storage for it, right? Like I have a vehicle.

Tonya Kubo (21:17)

Mm-hmm. Mm.

Mm-hmm. Yeah, okay.

Kathi Lipp (21:37)

Yeah.

Tenneil (21:39)

from my father that I pay storage on because someday I’m going to fix it up. That’s my choice, right? But nobody else is responsible for my hoarding that.

Tonya Kubo (21:39)

Mm-hmm.

Kathi Lipp (21:48)

Right. Okay. I love all this you guys and you know, we’re we’re coming to the end here. Tenille, I would love just a couple of creative ideas from you of things for our kids, whether they are littles or they are grown adults. But you know, those things that we don’t want to get rid of, but they don’t necessarily have a purpose is do you have a couple of ideas for us?

Tenneil (22:17)

I do. So one of them is the box of like little trinkets is to have like a glass jar, right? You have their like matchbox or you know, their favorite little makeup purse or these little things. Create a glass jar. It’s got your movie tickets and your concert tickets from high school and let that just be a decorative jar that you give them as a Christmas gift. And they have that in their house and you’ve gone through and

Kathi Lipp (22:40)

?

Tenneil (22:44)

you’ve decluttered it and you’ve got these little objects. So I think that’s a super fun one. And it’s something that when you walk by it and you kind of see your first little magic matchbox car or your little things, it’s kind of fun collected memory. Another one, I think another great one is to take that like first piece of artwork and have it put up onto a canvas. You can do that so inexpensively now, like just through Walgreens photo or whatever.

Kathi Lipp (22:56)

Yeah.

Tonya Kubo (22:59)

Mm-hmm.

Kathi Lipp (22:59)

I love that.

Tenneil (23:12)

for art for their apartment or their bathroom or something like that. I think that’s also like give a couple of meaningful pieces and let the rest.

Kathi Lipp (23:15)

Hmm.

Tonya Kubo (23:20)

Mm-hmm.

Kathi Lipp (23:21)

It’s so much about the presentation, isn’t it? The curation and presentation. I’m not giving you every Sunday school paper that you scribbled on, but I understand that this was an important time in your life. Like, you know, I kept the pictures of Thomas the Tank Engine that were so important to my son.

Tonya Kubo (23:27)

Yeah.

Kathi Lipp (23:41)

But the where he was scribbled on Jesus, we didn’t keep those necessarily. But it’s okay. He loves Jesus in his heart. And so I think just recognizing that curation makes things more precious. It makes them be things that we care about and that we love. And then we say, even if you don’t remember this, this was important to you.

And here’s the story that goes with it. And I think that that is such a great encouragement. And it gives them context for their lives, which I absolutely love. So I’m just gonna encourage you listener, start small, one box, one folder, one school year. It’s not about getting it all done today. It’s about making intentional choices. Okay, hang out with us for just another moment.

We have a new segment I’m so excited about Stuff that has earned a place in my house and I’m gonna share some really fun and exciting Things that you might want to consider bringing into your house as well

SECOND AD BREAK HERE

Kathi Lipp (00:01)

Well, hey friends, welcome back and we are starting a new series here on the podcast, Clutterfree Academy. I tell you all the time to get stuff out of your home.

Get it out, you don’t need it. You don’t need those birthday napkins from six years ago. You don’t need the Dora the Explorer backpack that you’ve been hanging on to for just the right child. But I wanna tell you some of the things that have earned a place in my home. And sometimes it’s gonna be something that I found at the store. Sometimes it’s gonna be a book and today it’s actually gonna be a Bible study.

I am I’m just gonna admit it up front you guys. This is one of my friends I love her so much her name is Dorina Lazo Gilmore Young and She has a Bible study. It’s called Redeemer God’s Loving-Kindness in the Book of Ruth and Let me just tell you I’ve been obsessed with the book of Ruth ever since I started Like reading the Bible and so I am so excited to talk to her today Dorina welcome back to the podcast

Dorina Lazo Gilmore-Young (01:24)

Thanks, Kathi. I always feel so welcome at your table. So thanks for inviting me.

Kathi Lipp (01:27)

Oh,

thank you. Well, and we were just talking about you baking sourdough and I’m making soup and that’s how we’re getting through this winter and spring. And but you are also in, you know, as you spend your time lovingly watching your sourdough rise, you also have completed this book, Ruth. And I love what you say that sometimes Ruth is kind of put in a hallmark movie tinted lens.

And so what do you mean by that? If somebody’s not familiar with the book of Ruth and the story of Ruth and Naomi, can you give us the reader’s digest version?

Dorina Lazo Gilmore-Young (02:08)

Yeah, thanks for asking. Now, I just want to make clear that I do love my Hallmark movies and the predictability is something that is actually sometimes a balm to the soul.

Kathi Lipp (02:12)

? yes, there’s… Yeah.

And Dorina, should say that

we both work in some, we’re both contractors with Hallmark. So like we are not disparaging the Hallmark name. So please go ahead, yes.

Dorina Lazo Gilmore-Young (02:25)

Yeah.

Absolutely not. But when I say that the Book of Ruth is usually viewed through this kind of hallmark tinted lens, I say that because oftentimes people connect to this story with kind of a, you know, girl suffers hardship, girl overcomes the hardship, boy meets girl, they fall in love and then they live happily ever after. And what I have discovered through the Book of Ruth is that it is so much deeper than that.

And it’s not just this predictable kind of like romance story. It’s actually a description for us of a real life situation that was messy and unexpected and colored by grief. And so just to kind of quickly summarize, asked, you know,

Kathi Lipp (03:11)

Mm-hmm.

Dorina Lazo Gilmore-Young (03:18)

What’s the Reader’s Digest version or, you know, I think about Cliff Notes. We used to use Cliff Notes, right? So what’s the quick way to kind of talk about the Book of Ruth? I would say what it starts with actually is tragedy. So Ruth is a woman who was married and her husband actually dies. In fact, her brother-in-law and her father-in-law also passed away. And so here we have Ruth.

Naomi, her mother-in-law and her sister-in-law, Orpa, and they are in a dire situation where they are widows. They don’t have their providers. They don’t seem to have a way forward. And that’s where the book of Ruth starts. And then what we see is we see these women on this dusty road back to Bethlehem. And yes, we are supposed to recognize the name of that city. They are headed back to Naomi’s home where there’s a promise of provision.

And when they go there, they find God’s provision, but in a very unexpected way through a landowner named Boaz. And that’s kind of the gist of the story. And I don’t want us to hurry past all of that richness just to get to the happily ever after.

Kathi Lipp (04:24)

Right.

It you know, the happily ever after only comes after we recognize the pain in our lives. boy, you know, I didn’t really when you said that you had written this Bible study on Ruth and I thought, that’s so cool. I always love your takes on stuff. It didn’t occur to me later that this mirrors your own story so much.

And you don’t have to be a widow to appreciate the depth of this story, but this does mirror some of your own experience, doesn’t it?

Dorina Lazo Gilmore-Young (05:16)

Absolutely. This is a book that I was in love with for years before, like you said, since I fell in love with the Bible. You know, this has been a book that I’ve studied, that I’ve taught, that I’ve mulled over, but it completely changed when I was widowed 10 years ago. And here I was on the road to Bethlehem, so to speak, and trying to figure out what my life was. And God, the Redeemer met me on that dusty road. And so he used

reading and studying of this book actually to bring the real life redemption that he had in store for me and for my daughters.

Kathi Lipp (05:52)

And you know, you think about this, the book of Ruth is really about God’s love for the disenfranchised, isn’t it? For the widow, for the orphan, for the immigrant, for the refugee and the poor. What in your perspective has changed since you did this Bible study? Has your perspective on any of…

how we as Christians interact with widows or with orphans or with the poor. Has any of that changed for you through your lens of Ruth?

Dorina Lazo Gilmore-Young (06:34)

You know, I definitely feel like going through the process of creating this study and then even, you know, we did video teaching. So teaching this study, writing it, editing all of it, it has deepened my understanding that we serve a God who cares about the vulnerable. And so that is really actually the invitation here. Part of it is for us to understand that God cares about us.

in our unexpected circumstances, whether you’re a widow or not. But then part of it is an invitation for us to see that, hey, there are people all around us who are vulnerable, who are disenfranchised, who are grieving, that actually God the Redeemer calls us to reach out to, to feed, to come alongside. so for me, that’s where the story then became not just this description of what happened to this one woman,

Kathi Lipp (07:04)

Yeah.

Dorina Lazo Gilmore-Young (07:32)

but also a call to all of us as believers.

Kathi Lipp (07:37)

You know, one of the things that I found so fascinating about this is that you’ve really incorporated some artistic elements into this study. There are visual arts and journaling prompts. And I just thought I would so love to do this with a group of women where we can be sharing those experiences and seeing into each other’s study and their history.

because I think that that is something that sometimes we’re missing. I’ve been to Bible studies before where you are just filling in blanks and writing in answers. And that can be helpful, but it can be so much more. What caused you to take this really kind of multimedia approach to this Bible study?

Dorina Lazo Gilmore-Young (08:31)

Well, you I wanted to do something that was a little bit more creative and recognizing that a lot of people have studied the Book of Ruth. It’s popular for women’s studies. And so I thought to myself, well, what’s something I could do that’s unique, that’s experiential, that invites people to go a little bit deeper? And so we incorporated things like Vizio Divina, which is original art pieces that were created for my Bible study. And then

Kathi Lipp (08:40)

Yeah, right.

Dorina Lazo Gilmore-Young (08:57)

It allows people who are reading the study to look at that art piece, to be reflective, to pray, to contemplate, and then to enter in with the Holy Spirit to see, okay, well, what can I learn from this portion of scripture? And a lot of times, visual arts and different forms of art can help us to go there. And so that’s why I wanted to incorporate something a little bit different. I do believe in verse by verse exposition, and that’s there.

But I do want people to own this in their heart, to have a takeaway that this is a book that not just knowledge is gained, but actually that their lives are changed.

Kathi Lipp (09:39)

I love it. What group of women do you feel like would most benefit from going through this study? Do you think it would be better, you know, one-on-one with just a couple of people, a large group or I know we think every Bible study is for everybody, is, you know, but I also feel I love this. And like I said, I would want to do it with a group of my friends, even if we were online together, but

Who did you have in mind when you were creating this Bible study? I guess that’s the question.

Dorina Lazo Gilmore-Young (10:14)

Well, I’ll be honest and say kind of that bullseye target is for women who are suffering or who are grieving. And I’m having the privilege of actually going through the study right now with a small group of widow moms. And it is so rich to just see how this ministers to them. But I do believe that it can appeal to different groups. And so that’s why I would really encourage people to think about whether it’s through online Zoom or even in person in someone’s living room.

Kathi Lipp (10:41)

Mm-hmm.

Dorina Lazo Gilmore-Young (10:42)

that you go through it with a small group where you can process some of those things. some of the reflection questions that I have for people also are to look around and to see who’s in your community, who’s in your church or your circle, your neighborhood, who really needs that ministry of presence. And I think if we do it in a small group, we can even brainstorm some of those things together.

Kathi Lipp (10:59)

Yeah.

I love it. Yeah, because there’s a real practical element to all of this as well, which I absolutely love. Dorina, it is Redeemer, God’s loving kindness in the Book of Ruth. Guys, it’s available anywhere you love to buy books, but of course, we’ll have the link in there for you as well. And we’ll also have Dorina’s website so you can find out more about it. Thanks so much for being on with me today.

Dorina Lazo Gilmore-Young (11:30)

Thanks for making my Bible study something that you keep in your home.

Kathi Lipp (11:33)

Yes, absolutely in a place of honor

friend in a place of honor. Well friends you’ve been listening to the writing. ? no, you haven’t Well friends, you’ve been listening to the clutter free academy podcast. I’m Kathi Lipp now go create the clutter free life You’ve always wanted to live

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#668 – Let’s Get Under the Sink

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In this episode of the Clutter Free Academy Podcast, host Kathi Lipp, joined by Tonya Kubo, demystifies one of the most daunting household areas: under the kitchen sink. The duo shares practical tips on decluttering, cleaning, and organizing this often-neglected space. Listeners will learn how to inspect for leaks, utilize vertical storage, and develop a system to avoid overstocking on cleaning products. With Kathi’s relatable anecdotes and step-by-step guidance, tackle your under-the-sink chaos and reclaim a clutter-free life. Tune in for a sprinkle of humor, insightful advice, and strategies for enjoying your home anew.

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Sabbath Soup: Weekly Menus and Rhythms to Make Space for a Day of Rest

Kathi Lipp gives readers an easy-to-follow process for meal planning and prep, so that they can enjoy a full day each week of real rest and refreshment.

Could you use a break from cooking (and everything else) once a week? Not only is rest vital for your mind and body, it’s good for your soul too. God designed us to enter into Sabbath rest one day per week, but as you know, meals still need to be made. Your family still needs to be fed.

Sabbath Soup includes convenient, seasonal meal plans that take the guesswork out of shopping and cooking. More than just a collection of delicious recipes—including main dishes, breads, breakfasts, desserts, salads, sides, and yes, soups—this is your guide to establishing a weekly rhythm and routine of meal planning and prep that allows you to have a true day off.

Do something good for your soul and experience the peace that comes with a full day dedicated to spending time with God, family, and friends. Savor your Sabbath as you proudly proclaim, “Soup’s on!”

Order your copy of Sabbath Soup: Weekly Menus and Rhythms to Make Space for a Day of Rest here.

Links Mentioned:

Products & Amazon Links

Below are suggested products for organizing under the sink,

2-Tier Sliding Drawer

Example: SimpleHouseware 2-Tier Under Sink Organizer

Link: https://amzn.to/4kQ0rdL

Stackable Bins

Example: Hudgan Set Of 8 Stackable Organizer Bins, Straight Sides Plastic Storage Containers?

https://amzn.to/3FtUDqd

Door-Mounted Rack or Hooks

Example: Command Wire Hooks 16-Pack

Link: https://amzn.to/4kP2PkX

(Great for hanging towels, brushes, or gloves on the inside of the cabinet door.)

Tension Rod for Spray Bottles

Example: AIZESI Spring Tension Rod 16-28 inch – 2Pcs

Link: https://amzn.to/3DGgDxA

(Pick a length that fits your cabinet width.)

Non-Slip Shelf Liner

Example: Gorilla Grip powerGRIP Drawer Shelf and CabinetLiner

Link: https://amzn.to/3FEt9y8

Moisture-Proof Bins for Towels/Rags

Example: IRIS USA WeatherPro 6 Qt Storage Bins with Lids, 6 Pack,

Link: https://amzn.to/41GHzoM

(Keeps moisture out and is easy to wipe clean.)

Label Maker (Optional)

Example: DYMO LabelManager 160 Portable Label Maker Bundle

Link: https://amzn.to/3Ra9FE4

General Tools MMD4E Digital Moisture Meter, Water Leak Detector, Moisture Tester,?

Link: https://amzn.to/4hA1ZWq

Clorox Free & Clear Disinfecting Mist, Household Essentials, 1 Spray Bottle and 1 Refill, 14 Fl Oz Each

Link: https://amzn.to/4bNEuba

FYI: Some product links may be affiliate links. If you buy, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thanks for your support!

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Meet Our Co-Host

Tonya Kubo

Tonya Kubo is the illustrious and fearless leader of Kathi Lipp’s Clutter Free Academy Facebook group and the Clutter Free for Life membership program. A professional community strategist, she believes everyone deserves to have a place online where they feel like they belong. Raised by a hoarder, Tonya knows firsthand the pain and isolation that comes from living in conditions others don’t understand. She wants better for her family and her cluttery peeps, which is why she is passionate about the compassionate slow-and-steady approach that makes Clutter Free unique. She lives in the heart of California with her husband, Brian, their two spirited daughters, and one very tolerant cat. Visit tonyakubo.com to find out more about her community work, or email her at tonya@kathilipp.org to discuss the Clutter Free Academy podcast and programs.

Transcript

Kathi Lipp (00:08)
Well, hey friend, welcome to Clutter Free Academy where our goal is to help you take small doable steps every day to live with less clutter and more life. I’m Kathi Lipp. Today I am here with Tonya Kubo. Hey Tonya. And we are tackling another project. I think this may rank as one of my least favorite areas to declutter and clean. It is

Tonya Kubo (00:22)
Hey, Kathi.

Kathi Lipp (00:38)
Under the kitchen sink. How do you feel about under? I anything where I have to squat down Is going to go pretty low on the list

Tonya Kubo (00:47)
Yeah,

and my house is old, so underneath the sink smells funny. Not gonna lie. Just smells weird. I just don’t want to go down there.

Kathi Lipp (00:52)
Yeah, okay.

Yeah, you know, several years ago, we we noticed that the outside of our house had a big spot on it. And we’re like, what is that? And it we had a leak under our sink we didn’t know about, and ended up replacing part of our house, you know, the side on the house having to

Tonya Kubo (01:04)
Mmm.

Kathi Lipp (01:19)
cut that all out, repaint it. Fortunately, we hired somebody who knew what they were doing because that’s not mine and Roger’s giftedness. But it’s important that you’re down there pretty regularly and inspecting things because…

Tonya Kubo (01:34)
for that

exact reason, which is also why I avoid it.

Kathi Lipp (01:38)
Yeah, I

know, right? There’s a show that Roger and I love, it’s called Mom, and somebody was at Bonnie’s house and they moved the bookcase and she says, you have mold, you you have a wet spot. And she goes, I know, and I paint it and it goes away for six months. And it’s like…

Why do you think we have the desk where we have it? It’s not because we want it there. Yeah, but you know, this stuff can be serious and it’s also annoying. Tonya, let’s talk under the sink.

Tonya Kubo (02:15)
All right, so it’s a catch-all, which you’ve established. We avoid it, which we’ve also established. So how do we get started if we want to doom clean under the sink?

Kathi Lipp (02:19)
Yeah, yes.

Hahaha

Yeah, so first of all, we have to declutter and it was so interesting just the other day. We had our windshield replaced on our car because Giant Boulder came at my face. I was like, it was was not fun, but we got it. And the people who replaced it, they had a big old can. They gave us a big old can of auto window cleaner. And I said, as I was.

Tonya Kubo (02:40)
Mm-hmm.

Kathi Lipp (02:57)
Like, where do we put this? And I said, Roger, where would you first think to look when you needed auto window cleaner? And he said, under the sink. I’m like.

Tonya Kubo (03:06)
Hahaha!

Kathi Lipp (03:09)
Really?

Tonya Kubo (03:10)
But it’s true because you’re like, I mean, this was in my house two weeks ago. Lily was looking for something random and it’s like, it’s so random. Where would you put that? I bet I would put that under the sink. And she went and it was there.

Kathi Lipp (03:23)
Really?

My good. Okay. Well see I cannot argue when I say I’m going to ask you the question Where would you first look for this and I was thinking our auto supplies. nene It’s under the sink. Okay, apparently Roger has been affirmed in this so Yeah, we’re gonna pull everything out. We’re gonna empty that cabinet and You just need to see everything sponges have to empty cleaners

And there’s nothing wrong with a half empty cleaner, but if you have the half empty cleaner plus the full cleaner plus another half empty cleaner, et cetera, et cetera, you’re gonna have stuff down there you forgot and you have. So we’re gonna, yes please.

Tonya Kubo (04:08)
Yes. Do you want to hear my story? Six.

So I keep the white vinegar underneath the sink too in a big jug because old house stinky disposal. Right. So we had been buying a hand wash like dish, Dawn dish soap. I pulled out the vinegar. I had six dish soaps behind it, but they’re short. They’re short. The vinegar was tall.

Kathi Lipp (04:14)
Okay, uh-huh. Right, yeah.

Yeah.

I’m not gonna fault you. Yes, I know. And

right, I totally get that. Apparently I was deathly afraid that the world was gonna run out of Dawn Powerwash.

Tonya Kubo (04:45)
I’m definitely afraid of that. That has changed our life since we discovered it at your house.

Kathi Lipp (04:49)
Right? It’s so great. And so it feels like every time I went to Costco, I bought the three pack. We’re good. We are so good. Yeah, as one does. Okay.

Tonya Kubo (05:00)
as one does. All right.

So you pull everything out so that you can be like me and discover that you actually have six dishwashing detergent things.

Kathi Lipp (05:08)
Yeah,

so you’re gonna either put that all on your counter on the kitchen table whatever makes sense to you Yeah, you’re gonna keep the products you actually use I don’t care if it’s full full You know a quarter full if you use it and if you can combine things now be very careful with combining things You’re not gonna come buying Bleach and other things right? We’re not gonna be that’s I couldn’t think of the word. Yes We’re not gonna do that because we want everybody to stay alive

Tonya Kubo (05:31)
No bleach and ammonia. Please do not do that.

Yes.

Kathi Lipp (05:38)
So you’re only going to combine like with like. Donate or give away. If you have, you know, maybe 20 Dawn Power washes, maybe it’s time to donate a few of those to your local food pantry. But, you know, don’t, we’re never donating junk guys. And then we’re going to toss things like expired chemicals, moldy sponges, broken tools. Now, when I say we’re going to toss expired chemicals, you’re going to check

Tonya Kubo (05:56)
Mm-hmm.

Kathi Lipp (06:08)
with your local municipality about how you get rid of chemicals. You know what, can I just say there have been hostage negotiations that take less back and forth than us getting rid of chemicals in the greater Sacramento area. But you know what, we’re gonna do it right. and you know, dried paint, things like that. We’re just, we’re gonna do all the right things. You’re going to…

Tonya Kubo (06:24)
Hahaha

Mm-hmm.

Kathi Lipp (06:35)
Check for duplicates and safety. So first you’re gonna pull everything out. Second, you’re gonna sort items. Check for duplicates and safety. So if you have three bottles, same cleaner, like we said, combine or let some go. There are some chemicals that can be hazardous, so we’re going to dispose of those properly. But also make sure, check expiration dates. If something is a chemical and it’s out of date,

It’s probably time to dispose of it properly. And then four, you’re gonna decide how many backups can I, six may be too much of maybe. how many backup cleaners do you realistically need? The more backups you hold, the more clutter you risk. So keep a small stash, not an entire store’s worth. So what I’ve done is I have put those Dawn containers

Tonya Kubo (07:11)
Maybe.

Mm-hmm.

Kathi Lipp (07:32)
into we have a very high shelf in our garage, but I checked that before I go to Costco and I don’t think I’ve bought any Dawn Power Wash in the last year. So this is a victory. So you have to be able to see it friends.

Tonya Kubo (07:48)
I think that’s the big lesson through this whole series too, right? Is what you can’t see tends to pile up, right? No matter what your daily habits are. And you know, like before the dishwasher soap incident, I would have said that making me pull everything out of underneath my sink would have made me super nervous because honestly, I’m just afraid every time I pull stuff out that I’m gonna find a leak of some sort. That’s really my fear.

Kathi Lipp (07:55)
Great.

Yes, I get

it. Right.

Tonya Kubo (08:16)
is that I’m gonna go

push something through and my hand’s gonna go through the floor. I’ve seen that movie. That doesn’t work out, right? But to your point, it’s the only way to see what’s down there. It’s the only way to figure out if it makes sense. And it’s the only way to really get it clean, which brings me to the next segment of this particular episode.

Kathi Lipp (08:19)
Yes. Yes.

Yeah,

but Tonya, I’m also going to talk about the fear of the drip here for a second. We want a drip, not a demo. OK? I want you to catch the drip before we have to go to power tools, which is what Roger and I had to do. So I’m speaking out. I’m laying myself bare for this experience. So yes, let’s talk about cleaning.

Tonya Kubo (08:51)
Right.

Kathi Lipp (09:08)
Let’s get started with this is that you’re you’re gonna pull everything out and this is the time to disinfect Okay, so that’s before you do anything else and I know we’re gonna be talking a lot about how to clean all this but use I want you to use something that has a disinfecting spray because like you said water mold crusty residue soap

Tonya Kubo (09:23)
Mm-hmm.

Kathi Lipp (09:37)
Leaked liquids. I I want you to wipe down and disavow. know this is such an exciting thing, right? I mean I see your face

Tonya Kubo (09:44)
Super exciting.

Yeah, I’m making my poo face as my kids call it. But the wiping down and disinfecting is really important and it is an important first step. I would love for us to tackle the rest of the steps after our commercial break. So we are gonna just take a quick break, pay a few bills, and then we’re gonna come back and talk more about what cleaning looks like underneath the sink.

Kathi Lipp (09:49)
Okay.

Tonya Kubo (10:14)
Welcome back, Kathi you have helped us declutter. You talked to us about wiping down, disinfecting, especially because there’s spills, there’s leaks. We talked about maybe some mildew and yucky stuff. Now take us to the rest of the steps.

Kathi Lipp (10:18)
Yes.

Okay, so one, wipe down the disinfect, two, address those leaks or dampness. Now, I will find this little tool. I didn’t think about it until we were talking right now, but one of my nephews is a building, like he knows everything. He’s a world expert on concrete, which is, know, but an interesting, and I learned from him that concrete,

Either has no Wait either has cracks or is going to crack so that’s good information to know I didn’t know that but also he told me about a tool that you can get on Amazon that Detects leaks and dampness so I yeah, so if that is something that is a problem for you I’ll find the one that he recommends

Because I think that that’s important for us to have but check things check to see if things are wet Check the garbage disposal and seals if you see moisture or mildew fix it before putting anything back Okay, and then I’m gonna ask you to vacuum and sweep you may want to do this before you wipe things down But you know there’s floor under the sink if you need to get under their crayon crumbs and dust pile up quick vacuum

Tonya Kubo (11:27)
Okay.

Kathi Lipp (11:55)
or sweep ensures a fresh start. We love a fresh start. We love a clean sleep. And then I want you to let it dry thoroughly. Leave the doors open. If you need to stick a fan there to let everything, you don’t want to put moisture on top of moisture. So we’re gonna spend a little time just letting everything dry out. Bone dry cabinets prevent further musty smells, mold issues.

Tonya Kubo (11:58)
We do.

Kathi Lipp (12:23)
And I’m also gonna come back and say, wipe down the sides of the walls, okay? And this is where, you know, I just, want you to have a fresh start in that space. I use, there is a great misting spray. It’s a Clorox disinfecting spray that I have that I really like for those kind of different areas that can tend to have.

Tonya Kubo (12:29)
Mmm.

Kathi Lipp (12:53)
You know, you can have some issues build up there. So we’ll be sure to put that in there as well. But I really want to spend the bulk of our time here today, Tonya, talking about how do you organize for longevity? How do you organize so that you can go to that space? And Tonya, I want to take away the fear of under the sink. So that’s where I want to spend most of our time.

Tonya Kubo (13:23)
Okay, okay. So I think we should just take a quick break so that you can have that uninterrupted at this point. So please just stick with us because Kathi’s gonna come back and walk us through quite a few steps and some detail when it comes to organizing the under the sink area because it is so problematic. We’ll be right back.

Kathi Lipp (13:30)
Yeah.

Tonya Kubo (13:46)
All right, Kathi, take us home. How do we organize under the sink so that it stays neat?

Kathi Lipp (13:49)
Yes.

Let me tell you my goal here. When it comes to the area under the sink, we’re aiming for solutions, not storage of unresolved stuff. Let’s reclaim that space, friend. Let’s reclaim that space, okay? Because it’s very easy to just shove things that you don’t know what to do with them under the sink and just say, okay, well, that’s the place I would look for them. No, I want better for you, my friend. Okay.

So here are a few options of things that have really helped me with some of my, and by the way, this could be under your bathroom sink, this could be your kitchen sink, this could be utility room, all these places. first thing I wanna talk about are these two-tiered sliding drawers or caddies. They are perfect, they’re two-tier, so you get double space because,

That under the sink area can be pretty tall. It’s gonna be, for most modern homes, about the height of your dishwasher. And our dishwashers have two to three tiers on them. So let’s use that vertical space as much as we can. Now you’re under the sink. It was built in the 1950s. What does yours look like?

Tonya Kubo (15:12)
Well, so our garbage disposal takes up most of the under the sink space. So we’ve just got the space on either side of it. It’s weird. Super weird. ?

Kathi Lipp (15:15)
Yeah, okay.

Yeah, okay. So I may have a solution for you though.

I may have something for you. There are these slide out caddies that fit around your pipes, including, it might be wide enough to fit around your garbage disposal and your pipe under the sink. so those, you build them in, you screw them into the floor and they can pull out and give you a lot more storage space. So I don’t know, you…

Here’s what I’m gonna say every single episode. You’re gonna get so sick of me saying this, Tonya, but you have to.

Tonya Kubo (15:54)
Wait, let me guess, let

me guess. Should I measure it first?

Kathi Lipp (15:57)
You should measure it which can I just guys I am the most unmeasured person like That looks like it would work No more. I am now a measuring tape full I want you you have to measure how deep it is how wide your stuff is and then we’ll put a link in there to see if that could fit another Solution might be stackable bits

So if your sink pipes are in the way using shorter bins that fit on either side, that may be have to, you know, what the most that you could do, Tonya. And then we talked about this last time and I know you haven’t had a chance to implement it yet, but I’m going to tempt you again with door mounted racks or hooks. Yes. You do. Okay. A strip.

Tonya Kubo (16:45)
I do have that underneath my sink. have, what do you call it? Like a, it’s a rod,

a rod, you know, to hang the towels or your rubber gloves or anything like that.

Kathi Lipp (16:52)
? okay. ? nice. Yes. Okay.

That I love that. Okay. My next thing I’m going to talk about is also rod related. And that is a tension rod. Now, why would you think why would you put a tension rod there for you can put spray bottles, you can hang those by their handles, or yes.

Tonya Kubo (17:05)
Mmm.

Yeah.

I could hang

spray bottles on mine. It is the perfect size because it’s not too thick. It’s not too thick.

Kathi Lipp (17:24)
Okay, so we’re gonna need to make sure that we see your you know You can give us a link to what you’ve used so I think this is such a small space But I want you to maximize it as much as possible because as we’ve determined It’s really really valuable, and I I’ll be honest with you. I have maximized many of my spaces

Tonya Kubo (17:38)
Mm-hmm.

Kathi Lipp (17:47)
I haven’t maximized all of my, we have a weird bathroom upstairs that I need to, it needs to be more maximized. So we’ve got these ideas for you. gonna, we have a download with all of these links that you can use. But then I want you to think back to how can you group these by categories? So are there things you use every day? I remember when I had my apartment in Japan, I just had a little.

Tonya Kubo (17:55)
Mm-hmm.

Kathi Lipp (18:14)
that I kept under the sink and I pulled it out every day and it had my washcloths, had my spray bottle, it had my sponges. That could be something you do. Backup items or less used products can go towards the back or the upper tiers, but you wanna keep those things that you’re using all the time. And then number three, label and limit. Label and limit how much you’re keeping of things.

Tonya Kubo (18:29)
Mm-hmm.

Kathi Lipp (18:42)
Limit bins or baskets, for instance, cleaning cloths, trash bags, sponges. Also, if you bring in a new product, consider using up the old one. I don’t want you to hoard half-used containers, but I also don’t want you to throw away perfectly good products. So challenge yourself to use up what you have before buying something new. Or say, hey, I have a week left of this. I need to put it on my shopping list. And then…

Are there some additional items you need? If you’re storing any towels or rags, there are such things as moisture proof bins. So if you get a lot of moisture in your house, you may want to consider something like that. Or it might make sense to put a non-slip shelf liner to prevent bottles from sliding around. those are just, again, everybody’s under the sink area is so completely different.

There is no one size fits all, maybe a combination of some of these ideas could really help you out.

Tonya Kubo (19:45)
? gosh, I love that. tension rods, you that’s one of those things I see on TikTok a lot. Like you can do a lot of things with a tension rod. Who knew? And, but the hanging of the spray bottles, I don’t know why I’ve never thought about that. Mainly just because I moved in here and I use everything like the prior owners used it because I just don’t have energy for creativity.

Kathi Lipp (19:53)
You really can. Yes.

Yeah,

right, that’s okay. Your creativity is going to building a business. We use a lot of tension rods in our RV as well for storage and hanging and it’s made a big difference. So you’re right, there’s a lot of tension stuff. We’ll have to really explore tension rods in some of these upcoming episodes, because I think that could be a solution for a lot of people who are living in small spaces.

Tonya Kubo (20:16)
Mmm.

Yeah, okay, so tension rod and we’ve talked about labeling, which I love because I think if you live in a house where it’s more than just you, labeling is the secret to getting other people to help out because then they can’t tell you that they don’t know where things go.

Kathi Lipp (20:49)
Right, absolutely, absolutely. I think you’re exactly right there.

Tonya Kubo (20:53)
So Kathi, are there any final tips you want to tell us you want to add before we wrap up this particular episode on that under the sink area?

Kathi Lipp (21:03)
Yeah, this is the cave of the house, isn’t it? It is the dark, damp cave. But you can do most of this in under an hour if you declutter clean and then organize. First, organize with bins or caddies you have. And Tonya, let me just say, don’t sleep on Dollar Tree. I’m sending you links because

Tonya Kubo (21:06)
It really is.

Kathi Lipp (21:31)
There are not Dollar Tree links as far as I know. yeah, so, but there are caddies you can get at Dollar Tree. You can get tension rods at Dollar Tree. So, you know, one of the things I heard somebody say recently, I thought this was so brilliant. They said, you know, when they were buying tools for their first house, their grandfather said, buy the cheapest tools you can get. And then,

Tonya Kubo (21:34)
Not as far as I know either.

Kathi Lipp (22:00)
When those break, you know you use those enough to replace with something of quality. And I thought, that’s so smart. Instead of buying the best thing ever for every space, buy something, you know, for these solutions. I’ll just tell you, Tonya, I’m trying out all sorts of different organization solutions. I went and I dropped $40 at Dollar Tree.

Tonya Kubo (22:30)
?

Kathi Lipp (22:30)
You

can buy a lot of stuff at Dollar Tree. And so I’m trying to find out what’s the path of least resistance? Do I need the $25 Amazon thing or can I get away with the $1.25 version at Dollar Tree? And some of the things, let’s be honest, what you’re getting from Amazon or IKEA or, you know, there’s still Bed Bath and Beyond, you know, stuff you can buy.

Tonya Kubo (22:36)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Kathi Lipp (22:59)
Some of that it’s worth it to buy the solution that you need but some of it the dollar 25 version might be just fine. things like that for little storage under your sink. Don’t sleep on Dollar Tree. That’s what I would say.

Tonya Kubo (23:15)
my gosh, I think that’s a really good tip. And the big one there is just get the cheapest thing that makes sense. And when it breaks, when it wears out, then you know that it’s time to invest in something of a little higher quality versus buying top of the line because we’re buying to belong because we cluttery people do that thinking it’s going to make us more organized, more this, more that. And then finding out that we just don’t use it at all.

Kathi Lipp (23:31)
Exactly.

We love that.

Yeah, know, Tonya, we talked a little bit about this last time, sitting with our discomfort sometimes. And you said that, you you bought a pantry and you thought you needed more space, but what you really needed was to declutter and then put in a couple of organizational tools. And I love that example because that’s exactly it. Sit with your discomfort. Like, why does this area under the sink bother me? Well, I’m worried about…

Tonya Kubo (23:49)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Kathi Lipp (24:12)
the drips, I’m worried about whatever that is, I don’t feel like there’s enough space, we can address that. So sit with your discomfort for a little bit, buy the cheapest solution you can and then upgrade when you need to.

Tonya Kubo (24:18)
Mm-hmm.

my gosh, such juicy, juicy tidbits of wisdom. Thank you so much, Kathi. And thank you for addressing this, because I don’t think I’ve ever heard or saw anything in recent memory, at least that talks about the Under the Sink, but you’ve given me a whole new perspective on it. So I really appreciate that. And listeners, thank you for joining us today. Thank you for sticking it out, learning all about the dank dark underneath the sink area.

Kathi Lipp (24:45)
Yay!

Yeah

Tonya Kubo (24:54)
We appreciate it. You have been listening to Clutterfree Academy. Now go create the clutter free life you have always wanted to live.

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Join Kathi Lipp and Tonya Kubo in this episode of Clutter-Free Academy as they tackle the often overwhelming world of food storage. Whether you’re struggling with long-term pantry organization, fridge chaos, containers for on the go or finding the right containers for...

#665 – Declutter Your Spice Cabinet: From Chaos to Cooking Bliss

by Clutter Free Academy Team | Apr 15, 2025 | Clutter Free, Clutter Free For Life, Clutter Free Home, Clutter Free Podcast, Home, Podcast, tips and ideas | 0 comments

#665 – Declutter Your Spice Cabinet: From Chaos to Cooking Bliss

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In this episode of Clutter Free Academy, Kathi Lipp and Tonya Kubo tackle one of the most deceptively frustrating spots in your kitchen: the spice cabinet. If you’ve ever bought a second (or sixth) bottle of basil because you couldn’t find the first one, or had cumin avalanche onto your counter, this one’s for you. The duo shares budget-friendly, sanity-saving solutions to bring order and accessibility to your most flavorful clutter zone.

In This Episode You’ll Learn:

Why your spices should spark joy—and scent

Kathi’s five-tiered spice strategy (yes, really!)

Creative storage options for tiny kitchens, RVs, and big Costco-sized bottles

How to group spices for ease: singles vs. blends

The $13 Amazon tool that might change your dinner routine forever

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Sabbath Soup: Weekly Menus and Rhythms to Make Space for a Day of Rest

Kathi Lipp gives readers an easy-to-follow process for meal planning and prep, so that they can enjoy a full day each week of real rest and refreshment.

Could you use a break from cooking (and everything else) once a week? Not only is rest vital for your mind and body, it’s good for your soul too. God designed us to enter into Sabbath rest one day per week, but as you know, meals still need to be made. Your family still needs to be fed.

Sabbath Soup includes convenient, seasonal meal plans that take the guesswork out of shopping and cooking. More than just a collection of delicious recipes—including main dishes, breads, breakfasts, desserts, salads, sides, and yes, soups—this is your guide to establishing a weekly rhythm and routine of meal planning and prep that allows you to have a true day off.

Do something good for your soul and experience the peace that comes with a full day dedicated to spending time with God, family, and friends. Savor your Sabbath as you proudly proclaim, “Soup’s on!”

Order your copy of Sabbath Soup: Weekly Menus and Rhythms to Make Space for a Day of Rest here.

Links Mentioned:

Tiered Shelf
Expandable shelf
YouCopia Spice Organizer
Kathi’s Facebook Page (cooking lives are on Wednesdays!)

Download the Free Guide:
Spice Cabinet Makeover PDF– A step-by-step plan to sort, toss, and organize.

FYI: Some product links are affiliate links. If you buy, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thanks for your support!

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Meet Our Guest

Tonya Kubo

Tonya Kubo is the illustrious and fearless leader of Kathi Lipp’s Clutter Free Academy Facebook group and the Clutter Free for Life membership program. A professional community strategist, she believes everyone deserves to have a place online where they feel like they belong. Raised by a hoarder, Tonya knows firsthand the pain and isolation that comes from living in conditions others don’t understand. She wants better for her family and her cluttery peeps, which is why she is passionate about the compassionate slow-and-steady approach that makes Clutter Free unique. She lives in the heart of California with her husband, Brian, their two spirited daughters, and one very tolerant cat. Visit tonyakubo.com to find out more about her community work, or email her at tonya@kathilipp.org to discuss the Clutter Free Academy podcast and programs.

Transcript

Kathi Lipp (00:54)

Well, hey friends, welcome to Clutter Free Academy, where our goal is to help you take small, doable steps to live every day with less clutter and more life. And guys, just welcome to our spiciest episode ever.

Tonya Kubo (01:10)

the puns.

Kathi Lipp (01:12)

Well, okay, we should let you guys know you don’t have to hide your kids for this this isn’t spicy like book talk spicy this No, no, no and you guys We we are here to talk about your spice cabinet very exciting right Tonya

Tonya Kubo (01:19)

Yeah, there’s no chili pepper spiciness on this one.

Super exciting. I mean, if you like to cook, it’s definitely exciting.

Kathi Lipp (01:35)

Yes, and we are just going to take advantage of some of our experience with organizing our spices and how to get that from going from cluttered and chaos to cooking optimized. That’s exactly what we want.

Tonya Kubo (01:53)

Yeah. And so Kathi, I’m just curious. I first of all, I’m loving the series that we’re doing where we’re taking like these small sections of the house that plague all of us so much when it comes to clutter. They just get out of hand easily. And I know that I’m not alone because we have this episode. So I know that you have the same problem where the spice cabinet drawer, whatever you like to do with your spices, like goes cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs. So

Kathi Lipp (02:04)

Mm-hmm.

Tonya Kubo (02:23)

Talk to us about yours.

Kathi Lipp (02:25)

Well, okay, I can talk to you about before, before I found the solution that actually works for me, because I’m gonna save that till the end, as you know, Tonya, I’m very proud of my spice system. yes.

Tonya Kubo (02:34)

Okay.

I know you are. I know you are. And I

haven’t seen the latest one, I don’t think.

Kathi Lipp (02:44)

Okay,

so well, I think you’ve seen part of it, but yes well there are layers much like a spicy stew. There are layers to my spice cabinet. Well, okay. So for years I tried different things. I did your traditional spice rack where you know, it was hanging up in the kitchen, but I didn’t love that because I I’m never the only time I ever owned spices where their containers matched.

Tonya Kubo (02:47)

Okay.

Ha ha!

Mm-hmm.

Kathi Lipp (03:14)

was the

Tonya Kubo (03:14)

Mm-hmm.

Kathi Lipp (03:14)

day after I got married. Like somebody gave us a spice container. So I’ve had the kind that spin on your cabinet. I have the kind on the wall. But I also, not every spice company is equal. And some of them have spices that I really like. And then there are others like, I’m not a fennel person. Like fennel, my mom apparently,

Tonya Kubo (03:16)

Got it.

Mm-hmm.

Kathi Lipp (03:40)

was addicted to fennel and anise. So black, black licorice flavors when she was pregnant with me. I can’t stand either of those. So like, I don’t need any of those. But you know, they come in different sizes, different containers, like, and what is a spice? I mean, I know what a spice is. But also, we have other things like the baking soda, baking powder, vanilla paste, all that kind of stuff.

Tonya Kubo (03:45)

Mm-hmm.

Hahaha

Mm-hmm.

Kathi Lipp (04:07)

So mine was kind of a jumble some of it looks super organized, but I wouldn’t say it was super functional and I would just waste time You know because some of the spices were behind other spices And then I’d run low on the spice and I’d re buy that spice only to find out. I actually had that spice somewhere

Tonya Kubo (04:10)

Mm-hmm.

Kathi Lipp (04:31)

Spices should not be this big of an issue in a human’s life. It just shouldn’t be. How’s your spice situation?

Tonya Kubo (04:40)

Yeah,

equally frustrating, but in different ways. Because for us, like before I even met Brian, so like we’re going back a lot of years, I always bought re refillable spice containers. So I had a selection of spice containers, and then I just buy like bulk spices in bags and go in like that, and I replace it, which is awesome.

Kathi Lipp (04:44)

Okay?

Mm-hmm.

Yeah, okay.

Tonya Kubo (05:06)

They have a little label on them. They’re beautiful, except for the cumin, which somehow got too close to a burner is halfway melted. But aside from that one, right? It’s beautiful. But the problem is I don’t actually have enough. think I have 24, which works for like the main spices. But you know, Mr. Kubo is a big fan of the Trader Joe’s seasoning blends. And I am not devoting a label to

Kathi Lipp (05:08)

Mm-hmm.

Right.

yeah, I get it.

Tonya Kubo (05:34)

a seasoning blend that may or may not have a long time shelf life in our house. And I already have my other ones full.

Kathi Lipp (05:42)

Yes, and you know, I just saw a TikTok where a woman who’s neurodivergent has a Trader Joe’s spice. I think it was the pizza spice that they just discontinued and she was heartbroken. And yes, I can see not wanting to dedicate a whole label to something because you’re not, you’re not.

Tonya Kubo (05:47)

Mm-hmm.

Okay.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Kathi Lipp (06:08)

discontinuing basil. Like, yes.

Tonya Kubo (06:11)

Right, well exactly.

And like a lot of mine are like single spices or single herbs, right? And so with the blends, it doesn’t make sense to put the blends in there, because we go through various blends. And then we’re back to the issue that I think you were alluding to, right? So I’ve got some that are like in the little tiny short containers, like the half an ounce or whatever. Then I’ve got some that are in that four ounce container.

Kathi Lipp (06:16)

Mm-hmm. Yes.

Right.

Mm-hmm. Right.

Mm-hmm.

Tonya Kubo (06:37)

Then I’ve

got some we’ve gotten from Costco, right? So they’re ginormous and they barely fit in the cabinet. And part of it is I have to rely on my memory to let me know like, okay, am I looking in my refillable spices? Do I look in the cabinet or do I look in the drawer? Three locations, Kathi, three. For spices.

Kathi Lipp (06:41)

Yeah.

Right. Right.

I get it

for spices. It should not be this much drama. But if you like to cook or you’re forced to cook, spices make everything better. And so we’re gonna need to figure out this spice situation, right?

Tonya Kubo (07:14)

Mm hmm. Yeah. We and well, we need to figure it out. And I think what, Kathi, we owe it to our listeners to give them a variety of options. Right. And so I think what we can do is I think we have enough time before we cut to commercial to go through a couple of options and then we’ll take our break. How does that sound?

Kathi Lipp (07:26)

Yes, absolutely.

Okay,

I think that sounds beautiful. Okay, so the first thing I think you need to do is we need to declutter your spices and people, know, declutter your spices. But I’m guessing if you do any amount of cooking, you have a couple of basils, you have a spice that you tried from Trader Joe’s and you realized it’s nobody’s favorite or

Tonya Kubo (07:45)

Mm-hmm.

Can I tell

you which one that is? Trader Joe’s seasoning salt. It is the worst thing I’ve ever tasted and I figured out why. It has a bunch of celery salt that, and in my mouth, celery salt tastes bitter. I like celery, but celery salt is very bitter to me, overpowers the whole thing. I hate it.

Kathi Lipp (08:04)

Yeah, do tell.

really?

Okay.

Yeah. Okay. and you,

yeah. Okay. See guys, if you don’t like celery salt, Tonya just saved you four bucks. And yes. So again, you guys know I’m not a huge fan of pull everything into the middle of the room and sort it out, but we are talking microspaces here. Your spices in most houses are microspaces.

Tonya Kubo (08:43)

Mm-hmm.

Kathi Lipp (08:47)

So I am going to encourage you to take everything out of the cabinet and I want you to do some things like check for expiration dates. Now, I will say this. I’m not worried if your cilantro is expired. The only thing, you you’re not going to die of cilantro poisoning as far as I know, but your spices get less effective the older they are.

Tonya Kubo (09:14)

Mm-hmm.

Kathi Lipp (09:16)

So if you can’t smell the spice, you need to toss it. If you have six basils, maybe take a couple of unopened ones to the food pantry or give them to a friend or something like that. And then one thing you can do, you can group them. Now, I’ll tell you how I group mine. I have a couple of different ways. So we have your basic set of spices and then I have my blends.

So I have two different areas for that. So my basil is not, my basil spice is not next to my bohemian spice because the bohemian is a blend, the basil is a regular. you know, so there’s herbs, ground spices, baking essential, and also let’s keep the things that we use the most towards the front. So if you have a cabinet or something like that, but,

Tonya Kubo (09:56)

Mm.

Mm-hmm.

Kathi Lipp (10:14)

Here’s why we’re gonna go through so many different iterations of space spice organization is because in every place I’ve lived I’ve had to organize differently because my kitchen layout has been different and you just have to work with what you have because none of us here are Remodeling our kitchen cabinets because of basil. We’re just not doing it so

Tonya Kubo (10:25)

Mm-hmm.

Right.

Kathi Lipp (10:39)

The first thing I want to talk about is a tiered shelf or expandable rack. So this is very simple. This is part of my solution. This is part of the solution I have for things like my vanilla bean paste and my I have a cinnamon shaker and I have a powdered sugar shaker and I have baking soda and baking powder and all these different kinds of things.

Tonya Kubo (10:52)

Mm-hmm.

Kathi Lipp (11:06)

And those are not going to fit into my spice rack situation, but they do fit on these tiered, think of them as stairs. And so if you were putting your humans on the stairs, you could put tall people in the back and then shorter people up front. But even if they were kind of the same height, you’d still be able to see the people in the back because they’re on a taller step. That’s the same thing I do.

Tonya Kubo (11:16)

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm, right. Mm-hmm.

Kathi Lipp (11:34)

Some of my spice blends and things like that that they’re a little bit bigger a little bit more awkward You these come in bamboo and by the way, we’ll have links to all of these You know Amazon links to all of these in the back mine are white plastic and they expand so they fit into the space in your cabinet and Yeah, it makes it so you can see everything at a glance. So like I have some barbecue seasonings there

things like that that I don’t use all the time, but I want to know about. And so we’ll put those links in there.

Tonya Kubo (12:12)

Awesome. my gosh, this is so helpful, Kathi. And especially, I really liked the idea of keeping the, I’ll call them the single ingredient spices separate from the blends. Cause I think that is incredibly helpful. So, okay. So you’ve told us like we first got to declutter. We got to pair it down, consolidate, toss, whatever you need to do, but let’s pair it down so that we don’t have six basil. Cause that

Kathi Lipp (12:23)

He has.

Yes.

Mm-hmm. Yep.

Mm-hmm.

Tonya Kubo (12:41)

would be a problem for most of us, maybe not all of us. Then you talked about the of the simplest storage solution it sounds to me is this expandable like shelf sort of stair step thing. Do you feel like it’s the most affordable solution too?

Kathi Lipp (12:48)

Yeah.

Right?

Oh yeah, by far the most affordable. You I think those things you can buy them for like 10 to $13 and that’s really gonna amp up your space. But I think the next most affordable one is, and here’s the thing, I would never personally use this solution. Cause I feel like a kitchen drawer is about the most valuable space in your entire house. But I know for some people, this is the magical solution. And this is, it’s a pullout spice drawer.

Tonya Kubo (13:12)

Mm-hmm.

Kathi Lipp (13:25)

or you know, what it does is you can pull out the drawer, the spices are laying down in the drawer, but they are segmented out. so there are a couple of pullout drawers we can talk about. That’s one where you can pull out just one of your cabinet drawers or your kitchen drawers and those spices are laying down. There’s another one that I think is really interesting.

Tonya Kubo (13:35)

Hmm.

Kathi Lipp (13:51)

that I have not tried, but I might at some point, especially in our RV where space is limited. And this is like, it’s a pull-out, and we’ll have pictures of all of these in the notes, but this is like a pull-out cabinet, pull-out rack where the spices are standing up. So you can, it’s both sides, it’s like toy soldier rows of spices where you can see them standing up.

Tonya Kubo (13:54)

Mm-hmm.

Okay,

so it goes in a cabinet, but it’s a drawer system that fits inside a cabinet versus having an organization system that fits inside of a drawer.

Kathi Lipp (14:22)

Yes.

Exactly. there I’ve I’ve confused us. I get it. I really have Yes

Tonya Kubo (14:32)

No, it’s okay. I summarized it. We’re good. This is the

beauty of having two of us here. Well, and the reason I wanted to pull that out and clarify is because I think there are a lot of people who do prefer some kind of drawer based system. So having a solution for the people who do want to use their own drawer, right? But make that work for them is helpful. And then also for somebody who

Kathi Lipp (14:50)

Yes.

Yes. Right.

Tonya Kubo (15:00)

maybe has a little extra cabinet space, but that doesn’t work for them because they don’t like the cabinet layout, then they can get a drawer system to insert. my gosh, this is really actually, it’s quite creative, Kathi.

Kathi Lipp (15:06)

Right.

Yes.

Mm-hmm. I

I really I I think if you can solve this problem You can improve your nighttime cooking routine by a solid seven percent Yes, yes

Tonya Kubo (15:24)

Ooh, I like a solid 7%. Not too high,

not too low. This is good. Okay, let’s cut to commercial really quick. Pay some bills. We’ll be right back.

my gosh. So we are back talking about, think one of the most valuable pieces of real estate in your home, which is the space you allocate to spices. Cause it seems like a small space, but it can get out of hand really, really quickly. And Kathi is walking us through a variety of solutions on how to tame that incredibly chaotic area. So you heard us before the commercial break. Now we’re coming back. Kathi.

Kathi Lipp (15:48)

Mm-hmm.

Tonya Kubo (16:05)

Talk to me about what I think is everybody’s practice when it comes to organizing. I think most of our listeners are probably already shocked that we haven’t brought it up.

Kathi Lipp (16:17)

Are you talking lazy Susans? Okay, and I will say this is part of my, I apparently, I don’t think I realized it until we did this episode that I have like a five, five layer solution to all of this, but it’s just, it’s where we’re at. It’s what works. And so I have a lazy Susan, very tall lazy Susan that I keep things like, you know, the Costco size,

Tonya Kubo (16:19)

I’m totally talking lazy Susans.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah, it’s what works.

Kathi Lipp (16:46)

containers of They’re the blends, you know, so the those kind of things. I keep them on the lazy Susan. I also keep some other You know like seasoning salts and things like that on there and that is just you know You turn around you’re doubling or tripling your space The problem is whatever on the inside of that lazy Susan will never be seen again Yeah, so you either you either have to not care about it

Tonya Kubo (16:59)

Mm-hmm.

I was gonna say it never sees the light of day.

Kathi Lipp (17:16)

or you just have to promise yourself that you’re not gonna fill up that space. But really, where is there a space in your kitchen that has not been filled?

Tonya Kubo (17:24)

Never. Now I have a question about the lazy Susan though. So my experience with lazy Susans, it doesn’t take long before eventually they don’t quite spin as smoothly as they used to. And so then that’s what drives me up a wall. Cause I’m like, I have what looks like a lazy Susan, but it is not lazying around for me.

Kathi Lipp (17:25)

Right. Yes.

Okay.

Mm-hmm Yes, okay

So you may have to turn that thing take everything off turn it upside down and see if there’s anything blocking the mechanism Or you mention may just have too much on it Yeah, and it’s well it’s probably too stuffed and it’s getting stuck in a corner or something and so maybe you just need a little TLC

Tonya Kubo (17:50)

Hmm.

it never occurred to me that that could be a problem, but that’s probably the problem.

Mm-hmm.

Alright, okay, so, lazy Susan, what else do we got?

Kathi Lipp (18:09)

Yeah,

okay, so if you are super super tight on space in your kitchen So these are some I’m gonna give you some rapid-fire solutions that I have used in spaces like Our RV where there there is no space the space doesn’t exist. So one of those things is There are under cabinet Storage for yeah, so you can see all that. I think that that is ideal for somebody who says

Tonya Kubo (18:15)

Mm-hmm.

Hmm.

Mmm.

Kathi Lipp (18:38)

here are the eight spices I’m going to use. I am not bringing blends into my kitchen. I will make the blend. So that’s an option for that. Another thing that you might want to consider is a holder for the side of your refrigerator. If many refrigerators are not magnetized on the front anymore,

Tonya Kubo (18:43)

Right.

Kathi Lipp (19:03)

but they are on the side. And so there are so many great storage solutions. So if you’re working in a tiny apartment or an RV, or maybe it’s a work kitchen cabinet, and you just have a little bit of space, one of those magnetized things will help it so you don’t lose that shelf in your kitchen that is so, so valuable. So something along those lines, thinking outside the box is really, really helpful in those situations.

Tonya Kubo (19:16)

Mm-hmm.

Yeah,

well, I mean, exactly, right? It’s like, you really just have to look at your kitchen and go, you know, what, what is my usable space and what makes the most sense to put here and be willing to be creative. Cause to your point, I’ve seen a lot of knife organizers, for instance, that could go on the side of the fridge, that are magnetized side of the fridge or side of the stove. And of course these are for people who do not have children. Cause I could just see how that would work.

Kathi Lipp (19:38)

Mm-hmm.

Right. Yeah.

Exactly.

Abby.

Tonya Kubo (20:02)

But just be exactly. But

you know what? Spices could be a safe thing to magnetize to the side of my fridge. So I love that creativity. But I hear a rumor that maybe Roger told me, maybe Roger didn’t tell me, who knows, that you have actually a super duper favorite solution to spice organization. Lay it on us.

Kathi Lipp (20:08)

Yeah. Right.

We’re

my goodness.

You know can spice organization actually be life-changing. I don’t know But if it could be this would be the one it’s from a brand called utopia and it’s not it’s y-o-u like you topia and It is I it’s so interesting. So it’s a plastic Set of shelves that when you pull it out when you pull out a shelf

Tonya Kubo (20:32)

You

Okay.

Kathi Lipp (20:56)

it drops down so you can see all of the spices on that shelf. And of course, I’ve labeled the edge of each shelf so I know what’s on there. But this, it lays it out so beautifully. You know I do a cooking show every Wednesday on Facebook. And I love it. Every time I need a spice, I can just go there and I know I have it. And so part of

Tonya Kubo (21:21)

Mm-hmm.

Kathi Lipp (21:25)

keeping that system working. I have one for my basic like basil and then I have another set that is for my blends like Bohemian. And I love it so much because I can see at a glance what I have. I keep those at least two thirds full. I feel like that’s kind of the, that’s when I need, I know I need to get something else unless it’s a crazy expensive spice like saffron.

Tonya Kubo (21:31)

Mm-hmm.

Okay.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Kathi Lipp (21:55)

Saffron,

you know, if we’re gonna wait till we get down to the bottom before we’re my goodness, right? Because yeah, that’s a different tax bracket if you are or you live in a different country where saffron is not quite that expensive Yeah that and vanilla holy cow, but I love this so much. It makes it so much It’s so easy. You can see what you have at a glance It doesn’t matter that I buy some of my spices from savory spice

Tonya Kubo (22:00)

The last thread!

is easier to get.

Kathi Lipp (22:24)

and some of them from Whole Foods and some of them from Safeway because nobody sees them but me. I just keep them all behind there and it fits most of your containers. So I do have a couple where I’ve doubled up on some of those little containers and it just looks it looks nice and it makes me it makes me smile every time I use it.

Tonya Kubo (22:31)

Mm-hmm.

Yeah, well, and I think that’s important, right? Because if we have to eat, I mean, the truth is, is we have to eat, we don’t necessarily have to cook. But if we have to eat and we choose to cook, we should have a measure of enjoyment in the cooking experience. And to your earlier point, the frustration, having like the spices fall out on you or fall onto the cabinet when you’re trying to get to something that really can take, even if you enjoy cooking, that can rob the joy from.

Kathi Lipp (22:56)

Right.

Mm-hmm.

Yes, yes.

It really can.

Tonya Kubo (23:17)

So now I have a hard question, Kathi, because you know me, I like to throw you curve balls now and then. You have laid out a lot of solutions and you know, our listeners and our Facebook community members, we struggle a little bit with some decision fatigue. Notice how I put myself in that picture just now? Yeah, I said we, it wasn’t the royal we. And so with so many choices, how do you help us decide?

Kathi Lipp (23:20)

Okay, I love a good hard question. Let’s do it.

Mm-hmm.

Sure. Yes.

I can actually answer this pretty easily. You need a tape measure. You need a tape measure. Yes, but you know what? The tape measure helps you decide what actually is going to work for your space. And so you may think, youtopia that Kathi’s talking about, that will change my life. And then you go to measure your cabinet and you’re like, it would change my life if it fit, but it doesn’t.

Tonya Kubo (23:47)

Okay.

That was not what I saw coming, but okay.

Hmm.

Yeah

Kathi Lipp (24:13)

So

I’m not going, so you can do this through process of elimination. So get a tape measure out, check these links that we’re sharing with you on Amazon and see what will actually fit for your space. And I would just say, give yourself a half inch grace on most of these things because not that I think they’re lying to you, but just to make sure that it can fit well. And really consider a combination. What I’ve really used,

Tonya Kubo (24:17)

Mmm.

Kathi Lipp (24:43)

is the youtopia spice organizers, the lazy Susan, and the stair stepping shelves. And that fits all of my needs. And if I can’t fit it in one of those things, I probably don’t need it. It would be a very rare thing that I would need something outside of.

Tonya Kubo (24:50)

Mm-hmm.

Yeah. And I think that’s just a great thing to remember. It’s like, if this doesn’t work, like, first of all, how likely is it that the solution wouldn’t work? And if it didn’t work, what would be the circumstance that would make that the case? And then how do you work around it? my goodness, Kathi. Okay. So I feel like it is important to remind our listeners of all the resources that are available. We have mentioned a lot of things in this episode. Please do not walk, but run over to the show notes.

Kathi Lipp (25:17)

Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Yeah.

Tonya Kubo (25:32)

Click the link that’s in your player and you want to definitely pay attention to all the resources that we have for you there. So we will give you a link to the Clutterfree Academy Facebook group just in case you want to talk this through, share some before and after pictures, see other people’s before and after pictures. We will have a link to a downloadable PDF resource for you and a quick spice checklist. This whole series includes

resources that you can download and print out or use on your device, whatever makes you happy. And Kathi mentioned this, but she kind of snuck it under, so I want to reinforce it. You can catch her cooking live on Facebook. That is her author, Kathi Lipp page, every Wednesday. If you just go to the page, it’ll tell you what time the next one is. And you can see her kitchen live and in real time.

Kathi Lipp (26:22)

Yeah, and here, let me just give one more little piece of encouragement here. When you are looking at ordering these things, look on Amazon and oftentimes there will be a note that this item is often returned. Now, it always blew me away that the reviews are like a 4.7, but the item is often returned.

Tonya Kubo (26:41)

Mmm.

Mm-hmm.

Kathi Lipp (26:49)

and

that’s because people ordered it and it didn’t fit in their kitchen. we, know, us cluttery girls, we love to take a flyer and just, you know, we want to order when the mood hits us and we can’t find the tape measure, so we’re not gonna worry about it. Take the extra five seconds to go find that tape, or five minutes, let’s be honest. Go find that tape measure, measure the space, so.

Tonya Kubo (26:53)

Yep.

Kathi Lipp (27:15)

because I want you to have wins. Tonya and I want you to have wins in every part of this. And I’m also gonna say one other thing. Tonya, you and I both do an extreme amount of cooking. Most of the food we eat, we cook. You and I both buy spices from Costco. Don’t buy spices from Costco if you’re not cooking on the regular. I will say, I guess there is another portion to my spice.

Tonya Kubo (27:26)

Mm-hmm. Yep.

Kathi Lipp (27:43)

You know what I’m holding on to to those really big jars I keep those in my garage and when I’m refilling my spice containers one thing I’ve discovered I don’t know if this holds true for you. I’m never shaking spices into a soup or a casserole I’m always measuring them. So I take those stupid little shaker tabs off Because I don’t use them but when I refill I refill with a piece of paper that I’ve fashioned into a cone because

Tonya Kubo (27:58)

Mm.

Mm-hmm.

Kathi Lipp (28:11)

If I’m refilling spices, I’m refilling a lot at the same time. And I don’t want my basil to get into my cumin, or let’s be honest, more likely the other way around. And so I’m just using that paper to do it over and over and over again. So those are my last little hits.

Tonya Kubo (28:19)

Mm-hmm.

I love it. I

have a little itty bitty baby funnel. It is the tiniest cutest funnel you’ll ever see. Can’t tell you where I bought it, but it works really well. All right. Well, Kathi, thank you so much for sharing these tips with us, helping us to spice up our kitchens. And listeners, I just want to say thank you for hanging out with us. We appreciate the fact that you lend us your ears. You have been listening to Clutterfree Academy. Now go create the clutter free life you’ve always wanted to live.

Kathi Lipp (28:30)

do you? Yes. I love that.

I love it.

Woohoo!

#674 – Low Buy July: 31 Days to Your Financial Reset

Jun 17, 2025 | Clutter Free, Clutter Free Home, Clutter Free Podcast, Finances, Freedom, Low Buy July, Podcast

In this episode of Clutter Free Academy, Kathi Lipp and Tonya Kubo talk about why they're moving from “No Buy July” to a gentler, grace-filled “Low Buy July.” If you’ve ever felt like buying toilet paper broke the rules or you’re just exhausted by all-or-nothing...

#673 – The Dishwasher Dilemma: Secrets to a Clutter-Free Kitchen

Jun 10, 2025 | Clutter Free, Clutter Free Home, Clutter Free Podcast, Home, Kitchen, Organizing, Podcast, tips and ideas

In this engaging episode of Clutter Free Academy, hosts Kathi Lipp and Tonya Kubo dive into the dynamic world of dishwashing, sharing secrets to establish a daily rhythm that keeps kitchen chaos at bay. Listen in as Kathi reveals her tried-and-true methods for...

#672 – From Pantry to Plate: The Secret to Smart Food Storage

Jun 3, 2025 | Clutter Free, Clutter Free Home, Clutter Free Podcast, Foodie Friday, Home, Kitchen, Organizing, Overwhelmed, Podcast

Join Kathi Lipp and Tonya Kubo in this episode of Clutter-Free Academy as they tackle the often overwhelming world of food storage. Whether you’re struggling with long-term pantry organization, fridge chaos, containers for on the go or finding the right containers for...

#662 – How I Organized My Pots & Pans Cupboard: Simple Solutions for Kitchen Chaos

by Clutter Free Academy Team | Mar 25, 2025 | Clutter Free, Home, Organizing, Overwhelmed, Podcast, tips and ideas | 0 comments

#662 – How I Organized My Pots & Pans Cupboard: Simple Solutions for Kitchen Chaos

Listen Now

In this episode of Clutter Free Academy, Kathi Lipp and Tonya Kubo dive into one of the most dreaded and clutter-prone areas of the home: the kitchen cupboards. Whether you’re struggling with chaos in your pots and pans cabinet or just need some fresh organization inspiration, this episode offers practical tips and clever solutions to transform your kitchen into a space that brings you joy.

From discussing the dreaded corner cabinets to lighting solutions that bring a smile every time you open the door, Kathi and Tonya walk you through realistic steps to declutter and organize. They share insights on dealing with duplicates, utilizing vertical storage, and even creatively using AI to find innovative products that simplify your life. Along the way, you’ll get a dose of laughter and encouragement to tackle your kitchen stress points one cupboard at a time.

Click here to be notified when the next podcast episode is released!

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Sabbath Soup: Weekly Menus and Rhythms to Make Space for a Day of Rest

Kathi Lipp gives readers an easy-to-follow process for meal planning and prep, so that they can enjoy a full day each week of real rest and refreshment.

Could you use a break from cooking (and everything else) once a week? Not only is rest vital for your mind and body, it’s good for your soul too. God designed us to enter into Sabbath rest one day per week, but as you know, meals still need to be made. Your family still needs to be fed.

Sabbath Soup includes convenient, seasonal meal plans that take the guesswork out of shopping and cooking. More than just a collection of delicious recipes—including main dishes, breads, breakfasts, desserts, salads, sides, and yes, soups—this is your guide to establishing a weekly rhythm and routine of meal planning and prep that allows you to have a true day off.

Do something good for your soul and experience the peace that comes with a full day dedicated to spending time with God, family, and friends. Savor your Sabbath as you proudly proclaim, “Soup’s on!”

Order your copy of Sabbath Soup: Weekly Menus and Rhythms to Make Space for a Day of Rest here.

Links Mentioned:

FYI: Some product links are affiliate links. If you buy, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thanks for your support!

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Meet Our Guest

Tonya Kubo

Tonya Kubo is the illustrious and fearless leader of Kathi Lipp’s Clutter Free Academy Facebook group and the Clutter Free for Life membership program. A professional community strategist, she believes everyone deserves to have a place online where they feel like they belong. Raised by a hoarder, Tonya knows firsthand the pain and isolation that comes from living in conditions others don’t understand. She wants better for her family and her cluttery peeps, which is why she is passionate about the compassionate slow-and-steady approach that makes Clutter Free unique. She lives in the heart of California with her husband, Brian, their two spirited daughters, and one very tolerant cat. Visit tonyakubo.com to find out more about her community work, or email her at tonya@kathilipp.org to discuss the Clutter Free Academy podcast and programs.

Transcript

Kathi Lipp (00:06)
Well hey friends, welcome to Clutterfree Academy where our goal is to help you take small doable steps to live every day with less clutter and more life. And today we’re going to get as practical as you can get. We’re going to be as intentional and you know I like the word prescriptive but Tonya can we just call it what it is, it’s bossy right?

Tonya Kubo (00:31)
Hey, I love to be bossed around. And I think our listeners do too.

Kathi Lipp (00:33)
Right?

Yes. Well, you know, in our paid group, we have an opportunity, at least this year, where you and I got on calls with people for 15 minutes and really what they want. First of all, they want to just unburden on somebody that knows that they’re not going to be judged by. But the other thing is they want to be bossed around. yeah, and I love that for us. And so

Tonya Kubo (00:58)
yeah.

Kathi Lipp (01:02)
Today we’re gonna get down into the nitty gritty. We’re talking about the dreaded kitchen cupboard. And let me just tell you the worst one of all is where the pots and pans live. Is that a sore spot for you or have you got that all figured out?

Tonya Kubo (01:19)
Well, I wouldn’t say I have it all figured out, but mine hang. So they don’t get like they do for some people, right? Where they’re like piling. So my issue is actually the lids because the lids don’t hang. So I have the lids like stacked on the shelf and then sometimes they fall on my head.

Kathi Lipp (01:23)
interesting.

Yes.

Yes, yes.

Yeah, okay. Yeah, I could

see where that would happen. Well, we’ve got approximately 20 minutes that we are and we’ve got a little commercial break, but otherwise all we’re going to be doing is talking about pots and pans because here’s the thing friends. It’s the little things right and we want you to take those little spaces that can be a little annoying can be a little frustrating and let’s let’s tackle them. Okay, we’re going to tackle them together Tonya.

Tonya Kubo (02:07)
Alrighty, sounds good. So, Kathi if you don’t mind, I’m gonna reverse our roles here a bit, because I am curious about, I guess what I wanna start off with is, because I’ve been to your house, but most of our listeners haven’t, I want you to describe what was the pots and pans cupboard like before you tackled it.

Kathi Lipp (02:14)
Yes, yes.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah, so, you know, as we’ve talked about many times before, you come to my house and you don’t see a ton of clutter. But I will always be a cluttery girl at heart. That’s my deep, that’s my, that’s my truth. That is my truth. And that pots and pan cupboard, you know, when we moved in, of course I organized it. I did everything I could, but it’s just, if, if nobody lived there, it would stay so much more organized. But sadly, you know, I’m a cook.

Tonya Kubo (02:38)
Mm-hmm.

That is your truth.

Kathi Lipp (03:01)
I like to cook and I’m very fortunate that Roger puts dishes away, but it was always a pain. It was because it’s low. It’s a corner cupboard. And so you kind of have to dig back in there. And if you really want some stuff that’s all the way in the back, holy cow. And so a lot of things got shoved and I am a collector at heart. So there were things like

Tonya Kubo (03:01)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Kathi Lipp (03:31)
weird cake pans and different kinds of muffin tins and three of my favorite kind of saucepan, things like that. So it just felt like, okay, once I could get those pans out of there, I could get to cooking. But there was always that kind of burden in there.

Tonya Kubo (03:32)
Hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Right, and so your corner cabinet, because I’ve been to your house, I think one of the issues, and I think a lot of people have this issue too, is that the opening to the cabinet is actually much more narrow than the cabinet. It’s like the Harry Potter closet, right? It’s like you open it up and it’s like, hey, there’s a whole room in here. So I’m just curious, did you find that when you had people over, because you entertain a lot, did their way of putting…

Kathi Lipp (04:06)
Yes, yes. Right, absolutely. Yes.

Mm-hmm.

Tonya Kubo (04:23)
things away kind of add to the challenge. It’s not that we’re upset that anybody would come over and put your dishes away because we know that that’s a gift. That’s a blessing. But I’m just curious if yes, you and Roger maybe had some difficulty, but maybe some guests possibly added to the difficulty.

Kathi Lipp (04:29)
Never. Yes. Yes.

Well,

I think some people don’t want to see things. They’re like, if it’s hidden, it’s not clutter. So they might put a pot or something into a deep stock pot. And I might not see that for four months. other problem is that it’s like a cave, right? And I didn’t want, I know that there are some fancy people out there who is like,

Tonya Kubo (04:43)
Mmm. Got it.

Keep right.

Mm-hmm.

Kathi Lipp (05:07)
I had somebody come rewire my cabinets. I don’t have rewire my cabinets kind of money. That’s just not something I’m choosing to spend money on at this time. So there were a lot of different, you know, it was overcrowded. You couldn’t reach certain pots. I would actually have to call Roger from upstairs to grab some of those things. You know, there were duplicate, it was just a mess.

Tonya Kubo (05:16)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah, because I’m imagining part of it is also your arms aren’t long enough to get to the back, right? I mean, mine, I know mine aren’t long enough to get to the back of your cabinet.

Kathi Lipp (05:35)
Right, I…

I am the T-Rex of human beings. I have the shortest arms in the world. And you you mentioned lids. Lids are a real issue. And so, you know, we just had to deal with all that kind of stuff. I’m making it sound worse than it is. I’m compiling like three years of frustration into a, in three minutes. But I think there are other people who have felt this frustration.

Tonya Kubo (05:41)
Hahaha

Mm-hmm.

Well, but I don’t really feel like you’re making a bigger deal out of it than it is because to your point, I think everybody has these frustrations regardless of what the physical space looks like. I think all of us have some cabinet and oftentimes it’s our pots and pads cabinet where our arms aren’t long enough to get to the back. All of us have an issue with nesting like smaller items inside of larger items but then the largest item being so deep that you can’t see what’s inside.

Kathi Lipp (06:26)
Mm-hmm.

Right.

Tonya Kubo (06:33)
Like, so I do think I appreciate the fact that you spent three minutes on this because I think you’ve listed all the pain points that our listeners are most likely to experience with our pots and pans. So now it’s the big question, Kathi, because this is the question that plagues everybody in our community. It’s what was your first move?

Kathi Lipp (06:44)
Mm-hmm.

So I finally had to admit to myself those little cake tins that were shaped like flowers. The one that was shaped like Thomas the Tank Engine. Those specialty things, dude, I’m just not that special. I’m just not. And I might imagine someday in the future when I have grandkids that they would want that train pan.

Tonya Kubo (06:58)
Hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Kathi Lipp (07:17)
But you know, we have to come to the realization what our grandkids want is rarely what our kids wanted. And by the way, I don’t have anybody who is planning on having children in my family. So what was I holding on to those things for? And then, you know, there was so much someday in there is that, you know, I’ve realized keeping something that you use once a decade.

Tonya Kubo (07:23)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Kathi Lipp (07:45)
isn’t worth losing daily cupboard space.

Tonya Kubo (07:49)
Mmm.

Kathi Lipp (07:51)
It’s just not. It’s, you know, it’s so many of it would be more worth it to me to go to Michael’s, buy the cake pan, use it and immediately donate it. That would be a better use of my time, space, money and energy than keeping a cake pan I use once every 10 years. So I had to go through that cabinet and say,

Tonya Kubo (07:52)
Yeah. Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Kathi Lipp (08:19)
If I’m not using this, why? So one of the things I did immediately, like one of the cake pans, I have a popover pan and I probably haven’t used that in a decade. And I’m like, I’m not willing to get rid of this. So I had to be willing to use it. So I made popovers, they were terrible. I’m going to make them again. I’m going to do it until I get it right. But if you’re going to hang on to something you haven’t used before.

Tonya Kubo (08:30)
Hmm.

haha

Kathi Lipp (08:47)
Are you imagining a life that you want to someday have or can you just use it right now? Say, I’m gonna try it and I’m gonna use it. if you’re willing to use it right away, I say keep it. If you’re not willing to use it right away, it’s probably time to get rid of it.

Tonya Kubo (09:04)
Yeah, well, and what I like about that perspective is it falls completely in line with our principle about negotiating space. I mean, there’s only so much real estate in a home and there’s only so much real estate that you can afford to designate for your pots and pans, right? Because there’s a whole lot more that goes into a kitchen. So those specialty pans, like they sound like the easiest decision to make, the best starting.

Kathi Lipp (09:14)
Right. Yes, yes.

Exactly. Yes.

Tonya Kubo (09:33)
But after that, it feels to me like everything else would be equal priority. So where did you go from there?

Kathi Lipp (09:38)
Hmm

Duplicates okay, so Tonya I fancy myself a cook. I know I know I know

Tonya Kubo (09:42)
no. Don’t pick

on my four muffin tins, Kathi Lip. Do not pick on my four muffin tins.

Kathi Lipp (09:47)
Okay, okay, can I just say though if

if you like me Use your four muffin tins at the same time Then you get to keep those muffin tins like I often will do a big batch of muffins and I will use both tins at the same time to bake a bunch of things at the same time and I also have big muffin tins

Tonya Kubo (10:06)
Mm-hmm.

Kathi Lipp (10:17)
I also have teeny tiny muffin tins. And by the way, I use all of those. So I have two regular muffin tins, one big and one teeny tiny, and I use all of them. So you know what? I kept all of them. I’m about as close to a, I don’t want to say a professional cook, because that doesn’t describe me. But I did write a cookbook and I had to use these things. But how many times did I use the same size

Tonya Kubo (10:24)
you

Mm-hmm.

Kathi Lipp (10:47)
I do have some fry pans that are slightly larger, some that are slightly smaller, and those were perfectly good. So I gave away some of my duplicate, you know, the pan that you’re like, okay, if the apocalypse happens and I need it, that pan is there. Well, the apocalypse doesn’t happen, but you know what, COVID did, and I never used that pan, so it was time to get rid of it. So, at,

Tonya Kubo (10:49)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Got it, okay.

Kathi Lipp (11:14)
Ask yourself if you really need three stockpots. If not, donate or sell or buy nothing group or something like that. And I’m pointing at me because I have two, here’s the thing, I wrote a book about soup. I kept too many stockpots. It’s time to, because I have slow cookers. I have other big pots. I don’t need, is it two or three stockpots? I don’t know, but you know what? Yeah, sometimes you have to do this in layers. There’s layers.

Tonya Kubo (11:34)
Mm-hmm.

Right.

Yeah, no, that makes total sense. And the muffin tins thing, that was a big argument I had with my best friend, Amber, if you’re listening, this is about you. Because I had four muffin tins and she was just like, you only need one. And I’m like, no, because I oftentimes will make two dozen muffins, two dozen cupcakes. And she was like, yes. So you bake them in one, you empty those out to cool and then you do the other. And I’m like, you obviously do not understand my workflow in the kitchen.

Kathi Lipp (11:50)
Hahaha!

Yes.

No,

Tonya Kubo (12:11)
I do not want to wait for the muffins to cool, to take them out, to then

Kathi Lipp (12:12)
no. Right, right.

Tonya Kubo (12:15)
refill them. That feels like dead time. So thank you for validating my four muffin tins. That’s really what this is about. This is validating me in a 20 year old argument. Thank you.

Kathi Lipp (12:18)
And Kim.

Yes. And

Tonya, also, what’s the storage harm in those muffin tins? Because they nest right into each other. So I’m giving you a cupcake pass.

Tonya Kubo (12:32)
right. That is true.

Yes, I get the cupcake pass. I’m so excited. Okay, so we’ve removed our specialty pans that we’re not using and we’re not willing to use. We have gotten rid of our duplicates. What’s next?

Kathi Lipp (12:38)
Yes.

Mm-hmm.

So I just think getting rid, when you get rid of those duplicates, I want you to think about who can I give these to? Sometimes our first thing is who can I sell these to? I don’t think, I think oftentimes if maybe we’re a little bit more on the side, this side of 40 years old than we are on that side of 40 years old. And to think through, you know,

Do I really need the money for this or could I help somebody like people helped me when I was first starting out? You know that extra muffin tin. So could you use that it organizes your space and then you act, you know, we can bless someone else by passing on items we don’t actually use because that may become their favorite muffin tin.

Tonya Kubo (13:42)
that totally makes sense. Okay, well, we’re gonna have to pay some bills, take a break. But when we come back, dear listener, do not leave us because now that we’ve talked about how we’ve minimized the pots and pans area, we’re gonna talk about organizing.

All right, so we are back and we are going to hear from Kathi. Kathi, you are going to talk to us about how you organized your pots and pans after you decluttered all the excess that you didn’t need.

Kathi Lipp (14:11)
Right. Okay, so one of the first things I did was I installed lighting. Now, like I said, this sounds like a rich person solution, right?

Tonya Kubo (14:21)
I

was gonna say I need more info on this Kathi. Yeah?

Kathi Lipp (14:24)
Okay, Tonya, this may be

my favorite discovery so far of 2020. This may encompass 2024 and 2025. So I just did an AI search. How do I get lighting into my cupboard without rewiring things? And there is, and I’ll link it in the show notes, okay? You install a magnet on top of your cupboard.

Tonya Kubo (14:43)
Okay.

Okay.

Kathi Lipp (14:53)
All right, and this magnet is the other side of the magnet of a light bar. Okay, it’s a light bar. So you can pull this light bar out, but it just slaps up there with a magnet. And you can recharge this light bar on a USB charger. So the same thing that you use to charge your cell phone, you can use this to recharge that bar. And here’s the beautiful thing, Tonya.

Tonya Kubo (15:03)
Mmm.

Mm-hmm.

Kathi Lipp (15:23)
it is motion activated. So.

Tonya Kubo (15:26)
So

you don’t have to worry about leaving it on.

Kathi Lipp (15:28)
Right, it’s not a flip on flip off. It is when I open the cupboard, it flips on and when I close the cupboard, it turns off. And we’ve had this for about three months now and have not had to recharge it yet.

Tonya Kubo (15:44)
that is so nice because we have tap lights in our deep cabinets, but the problem is as they get left on and then they overheat.

Kathi Lipp (15:47)
Yes, yeah, right.

we don’t want that.

Tonya Kubo (15:54)
No, you do not want overheating. No, that’s a bad idea. So this with the motion activate. my gosh, this is brilliant. How’d you find him, Kathi? AI. It was AI.

Kathi Lipp (15:56)
No.

I just, AI, I just said, here’s the

problem, here’s the problem. And it said, have you tried this? I’m like, why no, I haven’t tried that. So I will link those. You can get them on Amazon. You can get them at Lowe’s. You can get them anywhere. They’re one, they are life-changing. Can I tell you, nothing makes me smile more these days than opening that cabinet and the light coming on after six years of it being a cave.

Tonya Kubo (16:20)
Mm-hmm.

Yes, well, that would make me smile. I’m going to smile the next time I’m at your house and I get to use it. If you find me in your kitchen just opening and closing the cabinet, you’ll know what I’m doing now.

Kathi Lipp (16:33)
Yes.

Yes. Yes.

I would

not blame you at all. I would not blame you at all.

Tonya Kubo (16:45)
Okay, so that has to be like the highlight of this episode for me personally, but there is more to the pots and pans area in a kitchen than just that. What are you doing it with bakeware?

Kathi Lipp (16:50)
Yeah, yes. Yes.

Yeah, so let’s talk about the infamous muffin tins and like little cookie sheets and things like that. got, and guys, we’re gonna link all of this in the podcast notes so you can go and check out exactly what we’re talking. Cause isn’t a podcast the best place to display storage organization, right? know, my audio is our best forms, yes. But we will put it in the show notes. This is just a wire wrap.

Tonya Kubo (17:09)
Mm-hmm.

Why yes, yes it is. Show notes.

Mm-hmm.

Kathi Lipp (17:24)
that

is, it’s a little bit wider than like what you would use to organize papers. But I just have it all standing up and it’s easy to grab. And you can see what you have. So it’s just a simple wire organizer. But the main thing is you have to declutter what you’re not using because if you’re still are trying to organize chaos, it’s never going to happen.

Tonya Kubo (17:45)
Mm-hmm.

Kathi Lipp (17:50)
But if you’re organizing what you actually use, it’s gonna be beautiful.

Tonya Kubo (17:55)
Yeah, well, and I like that idea because, with cookie sheets or baking sheets, I guess we call them because we don’t just put cookies on them. Muffin tins and such. Stacking them flat just doesn’t make a lot of sense.

Kathi Lipp (18:00)
Yeah. Yeah.

It doesn’t

work, it doesn’t work. And this simple thing just saves me so much time and rummaging around. I’m no longer banging things around. I hate being frustrated. I hate being frustrated in the kitchen and this has solved a lot of that frustration.

Tonya Kubo (18:14)
Hmm.

Right.

Yeah, okay, so before we run out of time, you mentioned earlier about having a lids solution. Talk to me about pots, lids, all that good stuff.

Kathi Lipp (18:29)
Yeah.

Well, okay,

so this, after the light situation, this may be my favorite thing. This is, it’s hard to describe. It’s like a tower that is, has separate shelves that you can store your pots, your pans, and your lids on. Now, a lid solution for you, Tonya, because you don’t store your pots and pans like that, could just be that wire rack we talked about.

Tonya Kubo (18:38)
Mm-hmm.

Well, that’s

what I was thinking about. I was like, some people are gonna get that for baking sheets. I might be getting that for my lids.

Kathi Lipp (19:02)
Yes.

Yes,

absolutely, absolutely. But this one, the one that I got, it just has different shelves jutting out from it. And I have got it all set up for my fry pans and things like that. And I just bought one for my pots, because I wanted to buy one to see, does this actually work for me? And Roger and I, who have very different organizational styles,

Tonya Kubo (19:14)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Kathi Lipp (19:33)
Like everything we’ve talked about here so far has worked for both of us. yeah, so that’s, talk about miracles. But it keeps your pots upright. You’re not scratching your pots and pans by stacking them inside. And let’s be honest, pots don’t stack nicely, you know, with the handles and stuff. So it makes it so much easier. The one thing I’m going to tell you though is before you order, measure.

Tonya Kubo (19:38)
nice.

They don’t. No.

Kathi Lipp (20:03)
You know, well, here’s the thing. When I went on Amazon to order this, it said it had a satisfaction ranking of like 4.7, but it said this is an often returned item. I’m like, well, if people are so satisfied, why are they returning it? Because it didn’t fit in their cupboard.

Tonya Kubo (20:05)
This sounds like the voice of experience.

Mm-hmm.

wow.

Right.

Kathi Lipp (20:30)
That

was my own sleuthing. So finally I’m getting smart. I’ve got one thing I bought for everybody at Christmas in 2023 were these mini measuring tapes. They look like dull measuring tapes, but they go out, I think either two or three feet and I keep one in my kitchen. And before I order something, I make sure that I can measure that space. And it makes such a difference.

Tonya Kubo (20:38)
Mm-hmm.

Okay.

cool. Can we put that in the show notes too, Kathi? Okay. Measuring tape. I put Barbie measuring tape on my notes because I’ll know what that means. Okay. So let me recap really quickly because we are out of time, but you’re so you minimize by getting rid of the specialty items. You got rid of the duplicates and then your three tips in terms of organizing what was left is you got a light.

Kathi Lipp (21:02)
Yes, I will make a note to do that.

Yes, exactly, perfect. Yes, exactly.

guess.

Tonya Kubo (21:29)
that is rechargeable does not involve rewiring anything nor the investment that it would take for electrical systems like that. You got a bakeware rack so that you can vertically stack your cookie sheets, your muffin tins. Then you got a pot organizer, which I think the pot organizer is my favorite idea too, even though it doesn’t apply to my situation because I have had to get rid of really nice pots because they scratched.

Kathi Lipp (21:29)
Mm-hmm. Yes.

Yes.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah,

right, exactly.

Tonya Kubo (21:55)
They were too scratched up and I love

the idea of storing them in a way that keeps them protected like that. Is there anything else you would add for us today?

Kathi Lipp (22:01)
Yeah.

say that if you think you need everything that you have but there are some things that are iffy could you put those things into a storage container for like three months and see if you actually use them and if you’re not using them then that’s your sign to say it’s okay to give them away and also another thing to think about is

Tonya Kubo (22:14)
Mm-hmm.

Mmm.

Kathi Lipp (22:35)
there are some libraries that will let you check out cake pans. So if cake pans are something that you are interested in, I love libraries these days. It’s not just about books anymore. You could go check out a Thomas the Tankin, or let’s be clear, let’s bring it for 2025, a bluey cake pan, right? That’s right. And so you could check that out.

Tonya Kubo (22:48)
I love libraries too.

Bluey cake pan baby.

Kathi Lipp (23:05)
and not have to store it in your house, which I think those are two tips about keeping some of that chaos out of your house. That’ll make it much easier. And by the way, Tonya, this is gonna be so much easier to clean. And you know, it’s.

Tonya Kubo (23:17)
What I was gonna

ask, like now that it is all organized, I think one of the issues I see from listeners who write in is keeping it that way. And so, you you brought up some good points is you’re not gonna restock with specialty cake pans if you can check your local library first. It’s easier to clean. Any recommendations when it comes to cleaning?

Kathi Lipp (23:22)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Right. Yes.

I love a good handi-vac, I’m not gonna lie. That’s my favorite thing to do. And then if you are, I just, let’s keep it simple, just a rag. And I love the Method grapefruit. Have you ever smelled that? You may have smelled it at my house, yeah. Or somebody, yeah, I don’t like the taste of grapefruit, but the smell makes me so happy. And.

Tonya Kubo (23:42)
Okay. I love a good handiwork too.

Mmm, I do. I like a good grapefruit smell.

Mm-hmm.

Kathi Lipp (24:05)
I don’t have to do it very often because we’re not putting dirty things in there, but you know, every once in a while, but just that handy vac going around there, guys, I want you to smile when you go to your pots and pans. And I didn’t know that was a space that could make me smile, but it really does.

Tonya Kubo (24:23)
my gosh, well hey, I think every part of your house, like you deserve for every part of your house to make you smile. And so what I would love to do is I would love to invite our listeners to join us in our Facebook group. That’s Kathi with an I dot link slash CFA. And I want to see their before and after transformations of their pots and pans cabinets. And of course, if there’s any questions that they might have. Anything else you want to add before we sign off, Kathi?

Kathi Lipp (24:29)
Hmm. Yes.

Yeah, yes, yes.

Yeah, we have this great download just step by steps and steps of how to you know Obviously my thought is listen to this podcast episode on repeat as you’re doing this because you’ll feel encouraged But we also have a download that you can go and get the step-by-steps to clean out that cupboard Yeah, all of that, but look at our show notes to go check out those Amazon links I think those will really encourage you and it’s going to provide solutions

Tonya Kubo (25:02)
Mm-hmm.

Kathi Lipp (25:19)
for like, can’t I keep this organized? We got you, we got you.

Tonya Kubo (25:22)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah, definitely. So check the show notes for the Amazon links, check the show notes for a link to the Facebook group and check the show notes for the download. That I think is especially important.

Kathi Lipp (25:35)
Perfect.

See you.

Tonya Kubo (25:43)
I don’t have the script for the close.

Kathi Lipp (25:45)
I’m

sorry, my bad. Well, friends, we, Tonya and I hope that we’ve given you some ideas and some encouragements to do that corner of your house that, you know, has maybe been driving you crazy, but there are solutions and we wanna take all of those hurdles out of the way when it comes to getting dinner on the table and this is a great place to start. You’ve been listening to Clutter-Free Academy. I’m Kathi Lipp. Now.

Go create the clutter free life you’ve always wanted to live.

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