Say Goodbye to the Junk Drawer

You need to replace 3 AAA batteries. You slowly open your “junk” drawer hoping everything does not fall out. Filled with pens, pencils, rubber bands, tape, batteries, birthday candles, business cards, buttons, take out menus, and extra keys to name a few, you rummage around pushing and pulling the items to hopefully find the batteries. You can’t find them and frustrated you shut the drawer. You are now on your way to the nearest convenience store to buy more AAA’s. You promise yourself that one day soon you will organize the drawer. Sound familiar?

All homes need a drawer to put odds, ends and tools that do not quite have a home anywhere else based on how often we use them. Usually this type of drawer in found in the kitchen or office. But is this really junk? These items are useful and necessary. At House to Home Organizing we prefer calling it a utility drawer where you can easily find your daily necessities.

Here are some tips to organize and de-clutter these drawers:

Take everything out. Wipe drawer clean. Let go of things which have been never used and are easy to get again. For example, the soy packets from the Chinese restaurant that have been sitting there for 6 months. Recycle old and unused business cards and take out menus. (Most take out menus are online these days) Go through spare keys and make sure you label what door or lock they go to. Recycle the questionable keys. Do all the pens work? Do the pencils have erasers.

Sort and group like items. All rubber bands together, paper clips together, pens, pencils, tape, batteries, keys, birthday candles, etc. Make piles so you can see quantity. Keep a reasonable amount of each item. For example, if you have 10 rolls of tape maybe 8 can live in a backup area in your home. Quantity will determine the size of the containers you purchase.

Measure the width and height of the drawer. Decide what type of systems you will use to divide the drawer. Need ideas? Look online. You can buy small plastic baskets, mesh trays, wood organizers, clear Lucite trays,  the options are endless.

Here are a few examples:

-Mesh Tray

-Clear Draw Organizer

Seville Classics 5-Piece Bamboo Storage Box Drawer Organizer Set

Once you have purchased the storage systems the fun begins! Arrange the items in their new containers. Now, when you open the drawer you can easily find what you are looking for. No more rummaging around and being frustrated!

Maintain your organization. Go through the drawer weekly. Up keep is crucial to prevent clutter from returning. Also, if there are any items in the utility drawer that you don’t use frequently it may be time to move them to a remote location.

Words Matter

If getting my kids ready for school is any indication, there are many things in life we can’t control. However, there are often simple steps we can take to take back a little control in our lives. I know you may think it silly but how we refer to the items and places in our spaces matters. As the Car Talk guys used to say, the harder you slam the car door the more you hate your car. This same principle applies to your house. If you call your dwelling a dump or refer to the living room as a disaster, over time the words will turn into deep set feelings. No area of the house is this phenomena more clearly demonstrated than the so called Junk Drawer. Most people call the kitchen junk drawer the junk drawer as reflex and over the years the name has become ingrained in the American vernacular tradition in the same we call all tissues Kleenex. My suggestion would be to start refereeing to the drawer in your kitchen that is filled with all manner of items as the Utility Drawer. I would also limit the contents to only the tools you use frequently, usually one hammer, screwdriver and tape measure. Take out any medicine or health items as they always get crushed. Also, leave a reasonable amount of office items such as one pair of scissors and one roll of tape. Lastly, the kids always need batteries so don’t forget those. If we are able to pick up the new habit of calling it the Utility Drawer then we will more comfortable not only using it more but trusting that the item you are looking for will be found inside and easily accessed.