The Junk Drawer

We all have one... or two.  It is the drawer that drives us nuts.  The drawer that collects all the things we don't know where else to put.  The drawer we dread opening.  The drawer we put off trying to tidy.

The Christmas things are finally put away and the house is once again back to normal.  It is now "that" time of year:  the time of year where I find myself cleaning closets, trying to make better use of our storage space, throwing things that need to be tossed,  organizing spaces that became disorganized over the winter, and donating items we no longer use.  I feel a need to do a thorough cleaning every year about now.  

I suppose it is because we have been cooped up in the house the last few months due to winter.  Add in the extra things we bring out to decorate for the holidays and January always has me ready to streamline things.  I did some cleaning of closets and thought I was doing pretty well until I opened our junk drawer.  

If there is ever a drawer that is going to remind you that you do NOT have things under control, this is it.  I told Michael I was going to organize the junk drawer.

His response: "Which one?"  

I was a bit offended!  

I said "What do you mean which one???"  

He said, "We have several."   

I found out the kitchen utensil drawer drives him crazy.  I agree... but that will be a bigger undertaking.  Let's handle one crazy drawer at a time.  

Here was our junk drawer. 

I'm guessing your junk drawer looks pretty similar.  

I knew I had to get this mess taken care of.  This has been the status quo for  8-1/2 years.  It was impossible to find anything in here.  So off I went to Dollar Tree.  I love when I can make a nice change with very little pocket change.  

I picked up some drawer organizers for a total of $4,  and headed home to tackle this mess.  The next thing I knew the junk drawer looked like this!

Woo Hoo!  Doesn't that rock?!  

I can't tell you how happy this makes me. And the only things I took out of the drawer were 2 rolls of masking tape.  I put those in the laundry room as we really don't use them that much.

I organized the batteries in some original packaging we had for D batteries.  I rubberbanded smaller ones together to keep them from touching ends and accidentally discharging.  I didn't realize batteries could do this when being stored improperly.  So if you have batteries lying around as we did, please store them in a nonmetal container with the ends not touching and not in contact with anything flammable - storing them in the original packaging is best!  Improperly stored batteries are a cause of many house fires.  

I put this container of batteries way at the back of the junk drawer - it is hard to see it in the above picture.  

There are so many areas in the house I would like to organize.  I can't say the utensil drawer is tops on the list though.... I'm putting that one off as long as I can.

It's only been 8-1/2 years, let's not rush things.