How I Organize my Junk Drawers

Sunday, August 15, 2010

I have been going through my house like crazy lately, organizing and simplifying.  This past week, I went through all of my kitchen drawers.  I had WAY TOO MUCH JUNK piling up!   I bought some cheap organizers and went to work. 

I started by taking everything out of the drawer.  (I did one at a time.)  I laid everything out on my kitchen counters and sorted them in piles throwing out the garbage right away.  Then I only kept the things that were absolutely needed in that drawer.  Each drawer has a purpose with certain things that go in it.  I find that it is easier to organize with separators in the drawers-plus, it is harder the load them with too much junk then.

Now that I am done, I feel soooo much better!  This was something that had been bothering me for a while now.

Here are some pictures of my drawers after I organized them.  Sorry, I forgot to take before pics. Just imagine drawers filled so full that they were hard to open.

This drawer is for extra office supplies.  Now everything has a place!

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I keep tape, post it, pencil sharpeners, batteries and tape measure in these awesome, clear organizing trays from target.

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I keep a stapler, calculator and writing utensils in this tray.

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This drawer is closest to our garage door (the door we use the most).  In here, we keep things that we might need to grab before we got out and for things that we put away as soon as we come home.

We keep our phones, keys, glasses and etc. in here.  I love this drawer because when my husband comes home, he has a place to put all of his stuff so I don’t have to see it laying around!

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I even gave him a little spot for his golf stuff.  He really liked that.  So now he has a some of the garage, half a closet, part of our basement and a drawer, lol!

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I keep other stuff in the back of the drawer.

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Here they are close up.

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Here is another junk drawer. 

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In here, I keep our chargers for our phone and itouch.

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In here, I keep our handy dandy, mutli screwdriver, (I love that thing and I make sure it is always handy) tape, flashlight, furniture markers, (I like having those handy) ear phones and my label maker. 

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This last drawer is for misc. items.  Right now, I just put some flash cards in it so I have them handy.

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While I was organizing my drawers,  I decided to go through some cabinets.  Isn’t it funny how organizing is contagious?  Once you start, you just can’t stop!

Here is the top of the cabinet.  Most things in here were outdated material that needed to be recycled or things that I moved to someplace else.  Now I have empty space to fill up as needed.

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I went through and organized my cookbooks.  I am only keeping the ones that I really want,  I only want to keep what fits on this shelf.  I go online for anything else.  I also keep recipes in my basket and that silver, bathroom accessory  if for our loose change.

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I also keep a list of important phone numbers taped to the inside cabinet for easy access.

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I feel so much better now.  The hardest thing about this was actually putting everything exactly were it goes.  I didn’t have any more drawers to shove stuff into, hee hee.

Tips for Keeping your Drawers Organized

  1. Get rid of pens and pencils you don’t need. – It is just clutter.
  2. Have a place for pocket stuff. Your keys, phone, PDA, wallet, bluetooth ear piece, chargers etc. should have a home.
  3. Place things based on frequency of use. If you use it every day, it should be closer than something you use only a few times each week.
  4. Make each drawer have a purpose.  That way everything has a home.
  5. Use drawer organizers. It gives everything a home and you will not want to mess that up.
  6. Organize as you go.  It is easier to stay organized as you work instead of trying to do it all at the end.

What do you think?

How about you, what do your drawers look like? 

Do you need to do a drawer check or do you stay organized all the time?  If you do, what are your secrets?  We would love to here them.

I hope that you have a great week!

Bonnie :)

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