How to Take Control of Your Junk Drawer

By eHow Home & Garden Editor

Rate: (2 Ratings)

Everybody's got one--the inevitable junk drawer. What would you do without this catchall container of matches, batteries, nails, stamps, safety pins, birthday candles, useless keys and whatever else the cat dragged in? You don't have to live without it--just get these odds and ends better organized.

Flag Article

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Step1

Remove the drawer's contents and place them on a table or countertop. Protect the work surface by putting down an old towel first.

Step2

Throw out the true junk--unidentified keys, expired coupons, dead pens, dried-up glue and broken clothespins. Keep only what you really intend to use.

Step3

Group the remaining items into piles, such as office supplies, household helpers and mailing items.

Step4

Relocate those things that belong somewhere else. Decks of cards go back with other games, assorted hardware to the toolkit and tees to the golf bag.

Step5

Organize the drawer with containers large enough to hold each pile. Recycle check or cigar boxes, or purchase drawer trays to create sections. Stick with square or rectangular shapes to maximize drawer efficiency.

Step6

Replace orderly piles in the drawer compartments. Sign up for occasional purging sessions to keep your junk drawer from getting too gunked up again.

Tips & Warnings

Restrict yourself to just one junk drawer in the house.
Snack-size zipper-lock plastic bags are great containers for small items such as loose hardware (a set of screws or other parts). Put a piece of masking tape on the outside and label with a permanent label marker if you know what they belong to. See 57 Live Better Through Labeling.