Starting Small - The Junk Drawer in the Kitchen

We all have them--the kitchen junk drawer.  And as much as we despise storing all those odds and ends, they serve a necessary function.  Where else can you find twist ties, batteries, chapstick, grocery coupons, rubber bands, calculators, pens, tools, and notepads all in the same place?  But if all those functional items are all jumbled together, the drawer and its contents lose its usefulness.  

Using a simple example like the kitchen junk drawer, I thought I would outline the organization process so others can apply it to projects both big and small.  And, to be fair, the first thing I did is walk over to my junk drawer.

My first thought was that it wasn't bad at all.  I had items grouped together in tidy Bamboo Drawer Organizer Boxes--and my grocery list was right there so I could add things easily.  Yes, that crazy spreadsheet is actually a grocery list--and I plan to explain it in another post very soon.

Opening up another junk drawer in my kitchen, I found something I could work with.  This is the drawer that holds all those essential kitchen items, most of which are awkward and odd shaped.  As you can see from the picture, finding a wine bottle opener wasn't a problem.  The problem was that I had 4 and each were in a different location in the drawer.  

Before

Let’s walk through the organization process:

1.  Set a Goal - An organized kitchen “junk” drawer

2.    Prioritize and Pick – Looking at two different drawers, it was obvious one needed more attention than the other.

3.    Set Up – Locate a small trash bag and a sponge for wiping the drawer organizer clean

4.    Start with a Clean Slate – Empty out the entire drawer and clean it

5.    Sort – Everything goes into one of the following piles:

• Relocate – move items that do not belong in the drawer (that meant those orange pumpkin carving knives needed a new home)
• Keep – items to be placed back in the drawer (things used most like the pizza cutter, can opener, kitchen shears)
• Fix – any broken items
• Toss – throw away anything that is unsalvageable (an old knife sharpener that no longer sharpened)
• Donate – give away items that someone else can use (I had 5 bottle openers and 3 wine openers that I could pass on to a needy bar and grill)
• Sell – items in order to recoup some of the original cost

After

6.    Group Like Items – From the keep pile, I grouped together the ice cream scoops, the scissors with the scissors, etc. until all items were placed with similar items.

7.    Organize – This is the step where you place your "keep" items back into the space.  What is important here is that everything you keep is something you like and use on a regular basis; and it has a “home.”  In this example, the “home” is a Bamboo Expandable Utility Drawer Organizer with separate compartments.  Without this insert, this drawer would quickly become a mess again.

This is where your project can get creative.  Sure, you can go out and get a fancy organizer, but you can also use whatever you have around the house or items you find at local thrift or consignment shops.  Consider using one of the following:

• Tupperware containers
• Glass or plastic baby food jars]
• Check boxes or cereal boxes covered in heavy paper or cloth
• Thrift or consignment store finds (mixed patterns of china or glass bowls or mismatched containers)

8.  Evaluate – Step back and look at your finished project—did you meet your goal?  In this example, yes, my kitchen utensil junk drawer is much less crowded and only contains the items I really use regularly (no I don’t carve pumpkins every week).

You can use these steps whether your project is one kitchen drawer or the whole kitchen.  Best of luck with your projects, whether big or small and may all your junk drawers be organized!