By Florena Davies
Almost every home has that enigmatic Junk drawer or two. It is a place where you toss all those items you will most likely never use again or see again for years. These drawers make my brain buzz, they are generally terribly busy drawers. Most likely if you are putting it in the junk drawer there is a much better home to put it in, you just do not want to create that home or take the time to move it there.
Here are some quite simple steps to organize your junk drawer.
Remove all the “junk” out of the drawer. Put it all on a large surface so you see everything that was once in the drawer. Give yourself enough space to properly see everything and categorize it all.
It is now time to Declutter your items. Be honest with yourself! Will you use these items again, seriously?? If you are not going to, let it go! Recycle any items you can by either donating or putting out for weekly recycle. Do your best to not put these into the landfill, we do not want to turn the world into our “Junk” drawer. Usually on average you can cut down about half to three quarters of the items in the drawers.
When you come across broken items you intend to fix or a watch that may need the batteries replaced sent them aside where you will remember to take them and set a date where you must have this task completed by. Set a reminder in your phone if you need but do not let this fall through the cracks. Once this task is complete return these items to their new forever home, do not put them back in the drawer.
After dumping the contents of the drawer and decluttering them, start categorizing all the items that are left. Put like items together. Move categories to homes if you already have homes for said categories; for example, maybe you found a bunch of pens which are better suited in your home office?
Once everything is categorized its time to put back what you have left if that is what you chose to do. Maybe there is nothing left? Maybe you found new homes in other spots of the house or already had homes for the items? That is fantastic if you did! Having an empty drawer or cupboard is OK, actually it is better than ok! If not, then its time to put what is left back in the drawer.
Putting your items back in the drawer is the easy part. Often you can find small organizers at the dollar store or Ikea to organize them into. If you are not using small containers or boxes from your phone or other items you have purchased work just as good too. Do not forget to wipe down the drawer before you start putting items into it. Ensure the items are easily accessed and easy to see when the drawer is opened.
Not having junk drawers in your home will ease your mind and the minds of your family members, opening drawers and easily accessing what you want will create time and space while reducing a lot of chaos in your mind and the minds of your family members.