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Unjunking the junk drawer

Ah, the junk drawer.
Filled with random, but sometimes necessary bits, that one likes to have close at hand.

The problem is when the drawer becomes a dumping ground, or a disorganized mess.
Today’s challenge is to make the drawer functional.

First, clear a space on the table.
Upend the drawer on to said space.

Wipe out and clean the drawer then put it back in place.

Ah……a clean empty drawer.
Tempting to just leave it that way I know….
Enough dreaming.
Have your garbage and recycle cans close by.

Start sorting.
It’s easy to pick out the trash, the 2” pencils,
the broken rubber bands, the lonely screws.
Toss the dried up pens, the hard glue, the
dusty birthday candles and the random receipts.

Once the obvious throw away and recycle bits
have been cleaned out; start grabbing like items and
grouping them together.
All the keys, all the batteries, all the matches, all the
thumb drives, coins, chip clips, tools. You get the idea.
(Yes, I have been peeking in your drawers)

Keep sorting and tossing.
And setting things aside that actually have homes somewhere else in your house.

Once you’ve sorted through everything, and you have piles of like with like,
decide how many is enough?
Really, one pair of scissors accessible is a great idea.
Three pair in the drawer? A bit of overkill.
A couple pens but not ten.
One small flashlight, not three.

Now that you’ve narrowed it down to the keepers,
consider how you might corral like items within the drawer.
Do you have some plastic containers that you could repurpose for storage in the drawer?
Could part of an egg carton hold small random, but like things?
Look in your stash of small gift boxes and see if you can use some of them.

Think creatively.
Trying shopping your home before you go out and purchase containers.

If there’s nothing in the house you can use; measure the drawer,
measure what you’re going to put in the drawer and only
buy something that fits the space and the need.

Arrange the drawer so that the items you need most are the easiest to access.
Keep like items together.
Don’t overfill the space.

It isn’t junk if you know what’s in there, and you need and use 
those items to make your house a home.