31 Days to a More Organized Life : Day Twenty-Two : The Junk Drawer

I don't know about your house, but in ours, the junk drawer gets out of control faster than almost any other spot when it comes to clutter. I try to reorganize it every couple weeks and it still looks like a tornado blew through. I tried to brainstorm ways to avoid the junk drawer in our new kitchen, but when you get right down to it, there is random stuff that needs a home and it usually ends up together.

Here's ours before:

It's not completely out of control, but there's a lot in the mix making it little more than a guess where to find something or where to put it back when you finish. 

I started by emptying the drawer completely.

Among other things, we had three, yes three, flashlights in this one drawer. Unnecessary? Umm, yes. I wiped down the inside of the drawer and grabbed a new drawer organizer that I picked up for less than $10 at Target. Then I sorted through everything, keeping only items we use on a regular basis.

Much better!

The new drawer organizer has two levels. There are spaces carved out for scissors, tape and pens. I also kept the calculator, checkbook and stamps for bill-paying. You can see I kept one flashlight for emergencies. The swim goggles are here temporarily while I'm working on a new solution for them. I'd be stoked if the wine opener could have another home, but for now this is the only space.

This is the bottom tier of the drawer organizer. Truthfully I'm not sure what garage that clicker opens, but I'm didn't want to move it until I check with the hubs. The key is to our neighborhood pool and is notorious for being misplaced so I thought having its own spot would be helpful.

A before and after of the newly arranged junk drawer.

How do corral the miscellaneous items in your house? Do you have a junk drawer or an alternative?

I hope this inspires you to put things in order. You can see all the posts in the series so far here.


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