It is true, how many mini tupperware containers do I need--how many peelers--
I have been sorting alot. I have a bag hanging on the doorknob in my "craft/junk/office"" room and everytime I pick up something I really don't want--into the bag it goes. These go into the back of the car, and when I go into town, get dropped off at the donation center.

Hooray, Joann!

You are not alone in just not seeing stuff anymore. I've realized there's an entire class of things that move into storage spaces. I call them "squatters."

You need to put them away (and you haven't decided you don't need them--either because you still use them but someday stop, or because you haven't wrapped your mind around it yet). So you put them away.

Sometimes you put them in spaces that are currently vacant because the PROPER resident is busy, out-and-about. Then when you go to put the rightful owner back in its place, the spot is filled. Because the occupant looks like it belongs, you leave it there. And so the small appliances "live" on the counter while "squatters" sit, never disturbed on the shelves.

Sometimes things turn into "background" because we once DID use them, but just sort of don't anymore.

And once you've been looking at stuff, you just keep looking right past it.

My problem is usually that I try to stuff too much into the space (make space for something new by stuffing it in between other things). It works well at first when everything is placed just right. But as life goes on, things are not placed just right and it becomes a big mess. So removing one thing usually solves the problem. I should probably go through and look for things in my kitchen...

I have trouble keeping plastic containers and lids together. They also take up too much room - two and a half shelves. I also have beautiful things that I hardly ever use but have trouble parting with in my kitchen.
Spices are hard to get rid of for me, too.
I'm afraid I'm looking right past a lot of stuff.
Yesterday the microwave died, and I can't even get rid of it. It's too heavy for me. Also, DH (currently on crutches, so also unable to move it) says it might just be a fuse. So it might sit there for a very long while.

Count me in on the group that needs to really sort through the kitchen.Maybe if I take inventory first, I will really know how many of each thing I have.

On Sunday I had to remove everything from under the kitchen sink in order to unblock a drain (the first time I have removed a trap to do that, by the way). I haven't put any of the stuff back yet, and I am still thinking about how to organize it.

The space doesn't seem right for any of the undersink drawer and shelf units that are available -- the pipes occupy more space than they should, and there's a disposer in the way -- so I am thinking about just using simple plastic trays or bins, whatever will fit.

I was happy to see that there was nothing there that I had no use for or that I thought belonged somewhere else.

OKMoreh, what you need is a drawer for the very BOTTOM (because I bet it would reach under the disposer--is there about 5 inches of space under it?) with a shelf on top of the drawer so you can have two layers of stuff.

I found that to be a useful approach to my undersink storage. The very bottom was the only part that went all the way back, but there was lots of VERTICAL space in FRONT of the pipes that I could use.

I got this unit from Bed Bath & Beyond; Improvements Catalog else had a mail-order one that was 14-1/2 inches.

It's vertically adjustable, so you could slide everything WAY to the bottom setting, and maybe it would your garbage disposal. (they say 10-1/2 inches tall on the Improvements Catalog website, but that's the TALLEST; you can make them I think 5 or 6 inches tall if you want.

http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?order_num=-1&SKU=12307624

I fantasized about making it in wood--using plywood to make some sort of frame to create the shelf above the drawer, and mounting a drawer (from a cabinet-component place, like maplecraftusa.com) on full-extension side-mount slides inside that frame.

But I found this chrome thing, and it was the right size, and I didn't have to DO anything, so there you are.

Here is a link that might be useful: chrome shelf/basket set

Talley Sue, there is space under the disposer, but not enough behind it: the electrical supply to the disposer is in the way of any drawer or shelf unit more than 8 inches wide, and as it's in conduit, it can't be simply pushed out of the way.

A wider drawer might fit if it is shallow. The kind of unit that has a wide, shallow drawer with a narrow bin that rests on top of it might be the best, but so far I haven't found one that is quite right.

The other side is easier to work with and there seem to be many kinds of shelf or drawer-shelf units that would fit.