How to Organize Your Junk Drawer Permanently

Every home has one: A junk drawer. It's got everything you need from pens to coupons, take out menus to tape. But trying to find what you need is like trying to find a needle in a haystack. Here you'll find a great way to organize your home's junk drawer. For good!

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Permanent marker
• ziploc style bags: snack, sandwich and large
• plastic pen\pencil holders fit for drawers (available at most big retailers and office supply stores as well as dollar stores)
• small, deep bins or bowls that will fit in your drawer
• 3 ring binder
• clear sleeves for 3 ring binder
• 3 small boxes or containers
• At least an hour depending on how cluttered your drawer is

1. There's a couple important rules to remember when organizing your junk drawer for good. If you have to make more than 3 movements to get to an item, you most likely won't put it back where it belongs. Make sure you are efficient enough in organizing to get what you need quickly, otherwise you won't bother putting things back properly. Getting things organizing and getting things out of the drawer quickly is only part of it, the other half is getting it BACK in the drawer just as quick.

2. Keep in mind that only so much will fit into one drawer. Be realistic about what you want to keep, or what can be stored elsewhere just as easily. Now let's begin.

3. Mark your three boxes as follows: Give away, Keep, and Put Away. The give away box will be anything you don't want but could be donated to someone or somewhere else. The Keep box will be items that you will put back in your drawer. The Put Away box will be things that belong elsewhere in your home but somehow landed up in the junk drawer.

4. First, take everything out of your junk drawer. Yes, everything. Put it in a box, on a table top, somewhere that's NOT in the drawer.

5. Next, place your organizers in your drawer: Your pen and pencil holders and your small bowls or bins. Make sure the drawer will close easily.

6. Now start going through the junk drawer contents you've emptied, separating them into the boxes listed above. Ask yourself if you really need 100 pens, or if 10 will work just fine. Is there another place your recipe books can go? Do you really need 15 pads of post it notes? That stray lid or screw, do you even know what it goes to? If not, chances are you'll never need it. Toss it! How about all those little slips of paper with phone numbers on them? Put those near your computer or rolodex to remind yourself to write them in your address book, then toss them out!

7. Keep in mind items like recipes, books, bills, important documents, food items (other than gum or candy) has no place in a junk drawer. There should be other places in your home where these items belong like a book shelf, filing cabinet or spice cabinet.

8. Start placing your pens and pencils in the proper holders. Place all notepads or post it notes, save one, in ziploc bags. They can be easily slipped under the drawer organizers and retrieved only when you need a refill. Put any tools like screwdrivers or wrenches that are used often in a pen or pencil holder (it should fit) or place them all in a ziploc for easy access. Don't forget to label the ziploc!

9. How about all those take out menus and manuals for household appliances? Place them in the clear sleeves of your three ring binder. If your binder fits in the drawer, great! If not, label the binder spine and place it with your recipe books or on your bookshelf. You'll never go hunting for the manual to your dishwasher or your favorite Chinese takeout menu again! Coupons should go in their own place or in a small envelope in your drawer for ease of access.

10. Place items like playing cards where your games are normally stored, or place them in the corner of the junk drawer where they will stay put. Place matches, lighters and birthday candles in a bowl in the drawer or in a small snack sized ziploc bag.

11. Proceed like this for your entire drawer! Get creative! Ziploc bags, small drawer bins and rubber bands to hold things together can go a long way! Make sure to label everything so no one has the “I didn't know where it went” excuse to use.

12. Remember to organize it by what's easiest for YOU! If it's not easy to get to or put back, you won't keep it up. Avoid putting any more “junk”in your drawer if it doesn't belong there. Don't use the drawer as a “I'll put it away later” space, use it only for specific items and you'll keep your drawer organized forever!