Let's fact it, most people have a place where they stash things they have no idea what to do with it - the infamous "Junk Drawer" and that thing turns into this monster that grows out of control. Maybe it is cluttered with orphaned items that you think you need to keep but have not designated a "home" or just items you don't feel like dealing with so you just toss them in this drawer. The only problem is without organization, you spend time rummaging through the clutter in hopes of finding the item only to discover it is lost in this mess. Or maybe it's just there and you can't find it so you go out and buy another one. Either way, the disaster that is tucked away out of sight makes for a lot of inefficiencies for you when you decide to look for something.
This is what happened to our junk drawer and today I decided it was time to clear things out once again. I got a little carried away with the start and didn't get a before photo (oops) as my mind went into "cleaning mode"; however, I wanted to share with you some of the things I discovered that I did. The drawer what cluttered with batteries, pens/pencils, user manuals, bread twist-ties, candles, buttons, electronic chargers, etc. It was an overwhelming mess that I have chosen to ignore for too long.
It seems like when we get a new kitchen appliance, my husband has a tendency to place the manual/instructions sheets in this drawer. Don't mind the fact that we have a folder in our filing cabinet that is dedicated to manuals. Again this is a convenient location for these items to be placed out of sight and dealt with later. I found about five in there today. I have since removed those for filing in the appropriate place.
This is what happened to our junk drawer and today I decided it was time to clear things out once again. I got a little carried away with the start and didn't get a before photo (oops) as my mind went into "cleaning mode"; however, I wanted to share with you some of the things I discovered that I did. The drawer what cluttered with batteries, pens/pencils, user manuals, bread twist-ties, candles, buttons, electronic chargers, etc. It was an overwhelming mess that I have chosen to ignore for too long.
It seems like when we get a new kitchen appliance, my husband has a tendency to place the manual/instructions sheets in this drawer. Don't mind the fact that we have a folder in our filing cabinet that is dedicated to manuals. Again this is a convenient location for these items to be placed out of sight and dealt with later. I found about five in there today. I have since removed those for filing in the appropriate place.
I went through and collected all of the "like items" and placed them in small piles. Sorting everything into categories makes it easier to return things into a drawer in an organized manner. I went through the huge collection of pens and tested to make sure they worked. If not, I tossed them. There was a collection of tiny broken toys that had been in the drawer for I'm sure five years and today I decided it was time to let them go. I'm not sure why we even kept them this long. I think the bigger toys they went to have been long gone. I pulled all of the craft items out (i.e. buttons, adhesive magnets, wiggly eyes, ribbon, stickers, etc) and have placed them in a pile to take to the craft area I am in the process of creating.
The drawer organizer I have re-purposed to sort batteries, pencils, pens, candles, and adhesives/super glue. I placed the extra 3M hooks and strips in a baggy to keep them together so they are easy to find. All of the tealight, votive, and battery operated candles are together. I used some of the bread twist-ties I located to in the drawer to bundle up the electronic chargers to the cords are no longer strung about in disarray. All-in-all it is a huge improvement from the before (which I wish I would have thought to take a picture of) and I should be able to find things more easily now. I'm still deciding if I can pull anything else out of there because I'm so done with keeping things we don't need or no longer use.
The drawer organizer I have re-purposed to sort batteries, pencils, pens, candles, and adhesives/super glue. I placed the extra 3M hooks and strips in a baggy to keep them together so they are easy to find. All of the tealight, votive, and battery operated candles are together. I used some of the bread twist-ties I located to in the drawer to bundle up the electronic chargers to the cords are no longer strung about in disarray. All-in-all it is a huge improvement from the before (which I wish I would have thought to take a picture of) and I should be able to find things more easily now. I'm still deciding if I can pull anything else out of there because I'm so done with keeping things we don't need or no longer use.
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