Junk drawers are wild and frightening places. They are the “catch-all” for all the things you hardly use or don’t know what to do with and it can get messy and unorganized pretty quick. Here are some tips on how to clean and organize your junk drawer and keep it that way:
- Dump everything out and purge! Be realistic about what you are going to keep. Recycle things when you can, but toss things that you don’t need or are never going to use! Finding things you want to keep, but they don’t belong in the junk drawer? Keep a bag or basket nearby for stashing misplaced items. When you are done organizing, take the bag room to room and put these items where they go.
- Sort through the remaining pile from the junk drawer and group items by type. It helps to spread out all items on a kitchen table or counter–this way, you’ll be able to see everything at once.
- Plan your storage solution. An organizing tray can help keep everything neat inside the drawer. For smaller items like paper clips and rubber bands, a tray with small compartments like a muffin tin, ice cube tray or even a cutlery drawer tray can be used. Be sure to label the compartments so that everything finds its way to their new home in the future and the junk drawer stays organized.
- Store extension cords or phone cords by winding each cord loosely and placing each into a toilet paper tube and storing that in the drawer.
- Go through and re-organize your junk drawer on a regular basis. If you do this regularly, you’ll never have a messy junk drawer again. Perhaps take time to check the junk drawer every Sunday after you read the paper, or every month when you pay the mortgage? That way you stay on top of it.
Most junk drawers eventually become too big of a mess to ignore. If you take the time to organize it, and keep it organized it will never be a problem again. Then hopefully, you’ll think twice before throwing that odd item into the junk drawer and recreating the nightmare!
Talk to us: What is the strangest thing you have found while organizing the junk drawer?
image courtesy of flickr CC/Jeanne