Junk Drawer Confessions

Let’s be honest, even the most organized homes have a “junk drawer”. If you are like us, your junk drawer is probably in your kitchen. And it’s probably something that is driving you bonkers! We have such a drawer in our home, or rather, we did have such a drawer. The junk drawer was something that made me cringe every time I opened it and tried to find something I needed. But on the upside, it gave me a perfect excuse to put on my organization cap and find a way to fix it and make it more functional. Behold the before photo:

The first step in getting this drawer organized was to remove all the items that didn’t belong there. In our drawer I found that we had a lot of tools and building supplies that had found their way into the drawer instead of back into the tool box where they belong. Another item that I found a lot of was paper. Paper in almost any form you could imagine, including an origami frog. Usually it was scraps of paper with old lists, expired coupons, and even just flat out junk paper that should never have been in the drawer to begin with.

After removing all the items that didn’t belong, throwing out the trash, and pulling everything else out of the drawer, it was time to access how much space was actually in there. It was also time to decide what would go back into the drawer, and then add some organizers to hold it.

Luckily we had one organizer already in place, and it was very easy to find two more (sold in a set of two at Target). I suggest that you get your organizers and have them on hand before you start clearing out the drawer, as it will make the job go quickly and with less mess. Also, it is very important to measure the depth of the drawer that you are organizing, as some drawers are very shallow and may not hold the standard size organizer. Your drawer may even be extra deep and need something that is much deeper. To save yourself time, and money, a quick measurement is always helpful.

Here is our after photo:

Everything now has a place to be, and most importantly, everything is easy to find. With the new and improved organization bins in place, there is no more riffling around through a sea of junk to find the scissors or a piece of gum. Everything is visible, which is a key to keeping things organized. And with the use of the bins, the items don’t travel around the drawer, which also helps in making everything easier to locate. There is even still a bit of “free space” in the drawer which will come in handy in the future when new items find their way into the drawer.

The real key in keeping any space (especially a drawer) clean and organized, is to check on it often. I tend to go through drawers in our home about once a month to make sure that they aren’t getting disorganized. Most of what I find when I do go through the drawers is actual garbage that somehow got lost on it’s way to the trash bin. The other most common find? Items that belong other places. Checking in regularly goes a long way to keeping things organized.

What about you? Do you have a junk drawer confession?