Blog Background

Thursday, October 2, 2014

31 Days 2: Junk Drawers

Ah the junk drawer.  Duly named because we all have some random crap that we don't know what else to do with.  In my house, this is also the "we have company coming, sweep everything off the counter into the drawer!" drawer.  I have 3 of them.

They sit happily by themselves in the coffee nook.  There are actually 4, but I use the fourth for my K-cups.  Now before I dive right in, I want to share my "steps" to organizing.  There's a method to my madness.  Sometimes.

Step 1: Empty.  Take EVERYTHING out.  This is so important.  If you skip this step, you let the old cluttered space influence the new function of the space.

Step 2: Stop.  Think.  Clean.  My first thought is always, "what really needs to go in this space?"  For example, is the space working to it's full potential as a junk drawer, or should I use it as something else and make another drawer the junk drawer?  I go through this thought process as I clean my space.

Step 3: Purge.  Anything that does not go in this space needs to be put away.  "It's time to go home ball, are you too good for your home?!"  Love me some Adam Sandler.

Step 4: Plan.  Now that you have a group of items that go in the space, make a plan for how you will organize these items.  Do you need bins?  Shelves?  How will I make it pretty?  Is it even necessary for it to be pretty?

Step 5: Shop.  In the name of this challenge, I'm going to shop what I have first and foremost.

Step 6: Organize!  Finally!

Step 7: Have a glass of wine in celebration.  Because why not?

So, my junk drawers.  Here they are, in all their junky glory.



I couldn't even open the left one all the way, it was so full of junk.  So I step 1'd and emptied!  Well, all except my K-cup drawer.


So much better already.  After a quick wipe-down, I knew that this is the best place for the junk, so I stuck with it.  I put random items that had another home away.  Tools, placemats, bug traps all managed to find their way here.

Planning.  I grouped my items into categories to put back in their drawers.  Canning and Kitchenaid parts in one, batteries and other safety items in another, and tools and tape in the other.

Shopping.  I piled up the old drawer organizers and grabbed some others I had around.  Does a junk drawer need to be pretty?  Honestly, I know more junk will be put here.  Nobody sees these but my husband and I.  So I don't feel the need to expend effort making them pretty.  There's not a lot of impact to my life in a pretty junk drawer.  

Organize!  Yay!  Everything went back in pretty quickly.  Here they are:



Ah, much better.  I can see and find everything here.  Not life changing, but everything in it's home.

So Day 2, and no money spent!  Yay for thrift, and yay for function!  On to the next space!

What kind of "junk" lands in your junk drawers?


2 comments:

  1. Hmm...I dont have a "junk" drawer in that sense...but my kitchen drawers are just junky in general. all the utensil for cooking and baking and such are just there without any kind of order. ugh! well done on your organizing :)

    adding this to my list, too!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I keep seeing these very organized kitchen drawers on Pinterest, and the problem is that I have about 10 times that much stuff that has to go in the drawers. And I really do use it all! I fancy myself a pretty good home chef, when I actually have time to cook...

    ReplyDelete