The ghosts of Halloween have gone back to the graveyard. It is time for the ghosts in your kitchen cabinets to do the same! The holiday season is approaching quickly. For many folks there is a lot of cooking, entertaining, and decorating to be done. Before you begin rifling through the kitchen trying to find a particular item you haven’t seen for a while, sort through all the cabinets and clean, organize and streamline your kitchen. A smoothly working kitchen can be a window into a smooth holiday season.

The best way to begin is at the top. Pull over your step stool (or whatever safe way you have to reach up into the high cabinets) and take everything out of the first cabinet. Wipe the shelves off and let them air dry while you sort. Put aside any items you might be using for the holidays. Then, cast a critical eye over the rest of the lot. Are there items you can say “good-bye” to? If so, make a pile of those items or place them into a large shopping bag. If you haven’t used an item in two years, you may not need it!

Take great care when you sort your plates and glasses. Don’t keep anything you don’t use often. If you have sentimental items, it might be wise to store them in a padded plastic case, labeled, of course, up high in a cupboard or off site in a basement, attic, or storage unit

Work your way down the shelves of each upper cabinet this way. Rearrange items that you have found yourself using frequently, so that they are easily reachable. Store any items you don’t use often (and there shouldn’t be too many of them because you are making a pile of your “not-often-used” holiday items!) higher up.

After the upper cabinets are finished, move on to the drawers. These require the most work and time. Again, go drawer by drawer and take everything out of one drawer at a time. Wipe down the drawer and let it dry while you sort. Get rid of old plastic utensils and mismatched or overly worn items. Sort through all of the dishtowels and potholders. Keep only what is necessary and turn the rest into rags. Make sure your boxes of plastic wrap, aluminum foil, and baggies are accessible and neat. If you have a “junk drawer” in the kitchen, sort that (although that is often a process in itself and has its own column).

Finally, work on the lower cabinets and under sink area. The cabinet under the sink is often disorganized. It is a difficult space to deal with because it is often just an open box with pipes running through it. A good way to corral plastic supermarket bags is to get a bag holder that attaches to the inside of one of the doors. Then stand any bottles of cleaners in a shallow plastic or vinyl bin to keep them organized and to prevent them from falling over. If you store other items under the sink, simply make sure that they are not thrown haphazardly into the space. Create separate spaces for them.

The lower cabinets are harder to get to and often end up hiding unused items. Again, take everything out of each cabinet, wipe, sort, be ruthless, separate the holiday items, and then put what remains back into the cabinet with the most frequently used items near the front.

Now, what to do with all of the holiday items? If you have cleaned so thoroughly that you have extra cabinet space, you can put all of the holiday items into one cabinet. Or, you can put them back carefully into various cabinets, noting where they are so that you can reach them when you need them this season. Once you have gone through your cabinets, you will know where things are again. Finally, since your cabinets are clean and organized on the inside, clean your counters and appliances thoroughly (with a non toxic cleaner). Let the holidays begin!

Joanna Delson is the founder of Space Management, a design resource that specializes in redesigning small spaces so that they live bigger. Joanna can be reached at joannadelson@gmail.com