So hopefully by now you’ve had a little time to decompress and get back in your routine after the hustle and bustle of the holidays. (Ironic, considering the holidays are supposed to be all about relaxing and seeing family, right?) If your home was the host for any big holiday events you probably found yourself spending a lot of time in the kitchen - and you might not have ever had time to put anything away! Now that we’re past the holidays and into the new year, now would be a perfect time to take an afternoon and spruce your kitchen back up. Don’t know where to start? We’ve got you covered: Do The Dishes You’re probably thinking “haven’t I been doing the dishes this whole time?” And you probably have, but now would be a good time to get a little more in-depth with it. While preparing dishes for the holidays you probably got out some bowls, serving trays, and the like that you really don’t use outside of the holidays. Now that you know you won’t be needing them for a while, this is a perfect opportunity to get those dishes cleaned up and put away somewhere apart from the more frequently-used pots and pans. Get some wire shelving or pantry shelving to help keep these special dishes up safe and out of the way...until next year rolls around! Give The Oven A Bath No matter how much you love cooking or how often you make dinner for your family, you’ve probably put yourself and your oven through the paces over the last few months between Thanksgiving and the winter months. This would be a great time to pick a day to get some pizza delivered for dinner and clean the oven out while nobody’s using the kitchen. If your oven has a self-cleaning feature now would be a good time to use it, but make sure you follow the oven’s instructions - some of them require a little more prep than others. If you’re feeling truly motivated, get some stove top cleaner and take care of the burners too - don’t worry, we won’t judge if there’s still some stuffing or potatoes stuck to it. No Wine-ing (Sorry, couldn’t resist!) One way or another, you probably wound up with some excess wine bottles after the holidays - either you bought too many, or your guests brought extras over, or you got some as gifts, or whatever. Don’t feel like you need to drink it all at once (please!); instead, bring some wine racks into your kitchen to give these excess wine bottles a home until you have need for them. And you can use them as decoration, too! Clean Out The Fridge Sadly, there always comes a time to bid farewell to your leftovers - and what better time than while you’re already cleaning the rest of the kitchen? Whatever didn’t get finished over the holidays that can’t be made into something fun (and hey, now is a great chance to experiment with some weird leftover recipes!) could be given a new home. Donate leftovers to local soup kitchens, make it into lunches, give it to your coworkers, and if it’s too old just pitch it. There’s always next year, right?