I Tore Apart My Kitchen Cabinets Using the “12:12:12” Rule, and They’ve Never Felt So Organized

I enjoy helping others declutter, and I’m pretty good at it — after all, having little to no emotional attachment to other people’s items helps you make decisions on what needs to go and what can stay. The problem, however, is that when it comes to my own home, I’m definitely guilty of holding on to items I rarely use or have even completely forgotten about. What’s more, I’m innately disorganized, and I have to work really hard at keeping things clutter-free and neat. Therein lies the challenge of decluttering my spaces, but I try, especially when I come across a savvy decluttering strategy. 

I’m a huge fan of Becoming Minimalist and their techniques, so when I came across their 12:12:12 simple challenge of decluttering, I knew I needed to give it a whirl in my kitchen. The method involves identifying 12 items to donate, 12 items to discard, and 12 items to place in their correct spots. I wanted to try the method in my coffee cupboard, which had begun feeling a bit clunky and haphazard. Just attempting to make a cup of Joe in the early morning had become a bit tricky with this overstuffed cabinet. Also, avoiding flying objects early in the morning when trying to brew coffee is truly important for starting the day off on the right foot. 

To begin, I labeled three sticky notes and set out to sort 12 items for each with the following categories: items that needed to be discarded, items that needed to be donated, and items that needed to go back to where they belonged. 

I found that there was a reason items had begun flying out of this cabinet early in the morning when trying to brew coffee — there were countless items out of place that had begun to fill the empty space beside the coffee mugs and beans. In fact, I had more than 12 items that needed to be returned to their homes, including children’s medication, first aid ointments, bandages, vitamins, and a few extra spoon rests that had begun to collect on the countertop below. 

When it came to items I needed to donate, I realized that I had ample packs of extra coffee filters that only worked with an old coffee pot. We had recently purchased a new espresso and coffee combination maker, so these particular filters no longer worked. I made a note to ask on our neighborhood Facebook page if someone could use them, along with a bag of coffee we had recently purchased but didn’t care for. 

I figured that I would find more to toss in the trash, but I ended up with only one item: a bag of expired decaf coffee. (I secretly rejoiced.) Despite the coffee cabinet being unruly with items that needed to be returned to their respective spots, overall, my coffee cabinet was serving its purpose, and I wasn’t losing too much in the abyss of the back of the cabinet. 

Ultimately, the results were totally worth the work. I’m happy to report that the morning after I freshened up the cabinet with this decluttering method, not a single item flew out when I reached for the coffee. The cabinet now looks fresh and organized, and I have a stash of first aid items that are also now in the medicine cabinet where they belong. I plan to use this method in a few more places throughout my kitchen — with the dreaded junk drawer next on my list — and I feel sure it will save time, improve processes, and help me avoid having to brace for flying objects before the sun is up. 

Have you tried the “12:12:12” rule in your kitchen? Let us know how it went in the comments below!