Everyone has a junk drawer in their house with items that don't seem
to have a home. Whether it's brimful with too many pens, plastic
bags, old receipts, or tools, you can still organize your junk
drawer and feel better about the old mess you used to have going on.
Most junk drawers consist of items that are odds and ends and you
continue to throw items in until – eventually – the mess is too
big to ignore! The point is to now organize better and make those
items easier to access on a regular basis and remove all of the
clutter and unneeded items.
!! Steps !!
Dump out the drawer. Find a big, open surface – either a floor or
a big table where you can dump everything out and sort it into
piles. Make the piles into "like" items, where the tools go together
and all of the craft items have their own pile. Separate
miscellaneous items so you don't end up with another junk [1] pile.
Take all of the pens you find in the junk drawer and test them out
on a scratch piece of paper. There's no need to keep pens that are
out of ink, so immediately throw them out. Pens rarely hold
sentimental [2] value, so no excuses for keeping them!
Another common item for junk drawers is take-out menus [3]. Go
through them and pile them together before placing them in a simple
manila folder [4] so they won't move around in the drawer.
Once your junk drawer is completely empty, give the drawer a quick
wipe [5] down with a moist paper towel. Try using a multi-purpose
cleaner and spray the inside of the drawer a few times.
Purchase drawer organizers. They come in a variety of shapes and
sizes so you can choose the best one to fit the size of your drawer.
Go to any home goods store or organizational store to purchase the
organizers. The organizers come in plastic, bamboo [6], silver, and
many other styles and colors to match your decor. The organizers are
also stackable so you can oftentimes slide the organizers or move
them around on top of one another.
* When purchasing the drawer organizers, consider the size and depth
of your drawer, as well as what types of items you have going into
the drawer.
Take all of your tools and place them back into your purchased
organizers by the type of item. Put all of the larger items (tools,
etc.) in the larger compartments and place the smaller ones (pens,
etc.) in a smaller one.
* Try using different colors of organizers to better label what
items go in each place.
For all of the tiny items that are hard to compartmentalize (tacks,
paperclips, batteries [7]) place them in Ziploc bags by type. Test
out the batteries and throw any out that no longer work.
Put all of the loose change in a piggy bank [8]. It's OK to have a
lot of pennies and dimes, just as long as they're grouped together
and have their own space. When the piggy bank gets too full you can
go to a coin machine at your local supermarket (try Coinstar) and
transfer it in for cash.
Enjoy your tidy new drawer. From this point on, it's essential to
return everything to its place. If it doesn't have a place, think
twice about dumping it in – perhaps disposal, recycling [9], or a
different storage space are better options.
* Make sure you occasionally check on your drawer so the junk
doesn't start accumulating again. Clean things out of it
throughout the month and keep a process going on keeping it clean
until waiting till it looks like it's about to explode. Don't put
anything in the drawer that doesn't have a place – instead, find
an organized space for that item.
* Warn other members in your home about the new change with the
organization. Tell them what items belong in each drawer and show
them the effort you made to keep the drawers clutter-free. Warn
them that you will periodically throw out things that have been
dumped in there!
!! Video !!
!! Tips !!
* If there are any items you find that are still in good condition,
but you don't necessarily want, then donate them to your local
second hand store. Goodwill and Salvation Army do pickups at your
home for items you don't want. You also get a tax refund from it
if you're in the United States.
* Buy an air freshener or drawer sachet for the drawer to keep it
smelling clean. Try putting one under your organizers so it's
hidden and doesn't cause more clutter. Alternatively, clean it
with something distinctive such as clove oil (prevents mold), or
lavender oil (lovely smell), or peppermint oil (deters mice).
* Don't be afraid to throw items out. Even if you think you might
use something later, most of the time you won't. It's better to go
out and purchase something you need once and a while than to have
too much junk in your drawers.
* Don't be afraid to use more space. Find room in another drawer to
store items you can't seem to fit in your original junk drawer.
Clear out more space and use the room you have – don't resort to
just stuffing it all in one drawer.
!! Warnings !!
* Set aside the time to do this job from start to finish; getting
distracted in the middle of a declutter job can be frustrating.
!! Things You'll Need !!
* Space to set out drawer contents
* Small plastic bags for organizing
* Drawer organizers (from most home storage and hardware stores)
* Trash can and recycling bin; charity box
* Drawer liners or sachets; essential oil for scenting (optional)
* Cleaning/wiping gear
!! Related WikiHows !!
* How to Remove Clutter From Your Home [10]
* How to Declutter [11]
* How to Declutter Your Life [12]
* How to Keep Clothes from Cluttering up Your Room [13]
* How to Declutter Your Closets [14]
!! Article Tools !!
* Read on wikiHow
*
Links:
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[1] http://www.wikihow.com/Get-Rid-of-Junk-Mail
[2] http://www.wikihow.com/Cope-When-Your-Sentimental-Items-Are-Thrown-Away
[3] http://www.wikihow.com/Create-a-Healthy-Fast-Food-Menu-for-Home
[4] http://www.wikihow.com/Organize-Files
[5] http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Disposable-Household-Cleaning-Wipes
[6] http://www.wikihow.com/Cure-Bamboo
[7] http://www.wikihow.com/Create-a-Battery-Tester
[8] http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Piggy-Bank
[9] http://www.wikihow.com/Recycle
[10] http://www.wikihow.com/Remove-Clutter-From-Your-Home
[11] http://www.wikihow.com/Declutter
[12] http://www.wikihow.com/Declutter-Your-Life
[13] http://www.wikihow.com/Keep-Clothes-from-Cluttering-up-Your-Room
[14] http://www.wikihow.com/Declutter-Your-Closets
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