Hey everyone,
I am so glad that I found this particular area since this is exactly what I'm in the process of doing at the moment.
SparkleNana; I raised 3 active sons along with nieces, nephews and it seemed half the neighborhood so I can relate to the fully stocked kitchen being somewhat overwhelming at times.
I can also see that you've never been through a real disaster in which you had no stores open for 3 weeks, no infrastructure and no resources, other that what was already in your home. I hate to be the voice of doom but now even the Dept. Of Homeland Security tells everyone to have a weeks worth of food, water, meds and supplies on hand at all times. With the ever increasing prices of everything it would be prudent to continue stocking whenever you hit a good sale on things that your family loves. The savings alone just in storing food this way vs. daily market runs would more than pay for Christmas or add a storeroom onto your home at today's cost.
It's sounds like the problem isn't the food, it's the adequate or poorly designed storage for the food. Please reconsider dumping your food storage and instead consider nice shelving in a storeroom to accomodate the extra. We do not need to keep 6 months of food in our kitchen although we do need to keep more than a days worth on hand. Find a place in your basement, garage or an unused closet and set up some shelving to house the extra. I waited many years but I finally have a storeroom and I love it. It houses both upright freezers, extra fridge and walls of shelving with everything extra from toilet paper to toothpicks.
Okay, I didn't jump in here to start dishing out advice but Nana, I went through 2 major disasters, cancer in a child and my husband lost his job at one point in the past 6 years and it was my extra food and supplies that fed many people from my own family to the fire department and I was so very grateful that my parents had taught me to always be prepared for bad times whether it was job loss, illness, or a disaster. Awe, it could never happen to me right! I even lost my home completely in Rita, along with most of my food storage & supplies but I'm so thankful that I immediately restocked because it was when the BP oil spill happened that my husband lost his job. We never had to rely on food stamps or any other handouts because we had what we needed to feed my family for the six months he was out of work.
Just please think about this as you are decluttering your kitchen.
DH and I are new empty nesters however our home still functions as though we have a full house so some serious decluttering is taking place. As each child flew the nest they left behind everything they didn't want or didn't have room for. It's been years and we have continued to be a storage facility while their homes are nice and decluttered. I've set up huge rubbermaid totes with each of their names and started filling them with everything from their personal records, vital documents, toys, collectibles, and even photos of each one growing up. It's theirs. I am not a storage facility and they don't pay me to occupy my home.
When you bought or built your home, you paid so much per square foot. Well, when you loose hundreds of square foot to clutter of yours or someone elses possessions that you don't use then you are throwing money away each time you pay your mortgage, the electricity or the property taxes. I don't know about you folks but I want every inch of my money's worth.
DH isn't awake yet but this weekend is the storeroom and garage while it's still below 100º. I can't get to my holiday decorations otherwise. Arghhhh!