Sometimes one big drawer of junk isn’t nearly as easy to navigate as two smaller drawers full of half the junk each. So in that vein I decided to transfer all of the stuff out of our double-wide junk drawer, which has gotten increasingly “rowdy.” Especially in comparison to the obedient glasses, mugs, and vases in the upper cabinet:
We have some completely empty smaller drawers on the other side of the kitchen near the office which should do the trick. We’re blessed to have more storage than we know what to do with in this kitchen – and putting this stuff near the office is so much easier since we use 99% of it in the office anyway (but don’t have the means to store it in there yet). And now – how exciting for you guys on this fun Thursday morning – you get to come along for the entire junk-drawer-transfer adventure. Fasten your seat belts. It’s gonna get ca-ray-zay.
Here I am cheesily sorting stuff and trying to decide what should go where (I love taking drawers out and parking it on the floor to go through them- then I can spread everything out to see what I have – and then make “keep”, “store somewhere else” and “donate/trash piles”).
A few tips from an admittedly not-very-varsity organizer (I just dabble, so let’s call me JV):
- If you haven’t used it in 6 months to a year, you might not need it at all (or may be able to store it somewhere out of the way, like in a small storage box in the closet as opposed to giving it real estate in the everyday-use junk drawer)
- Try to group like items together so you can grab them all at once if you need to (ex: address book, postage stamps, and address return address stamp)
- Nobody needs five hundred pens
- Nobody needs five hundred paper clips
- I realized that we moved a stack of Post It Notes and hadn’t used one since the move. Or before the move. We’re just not Post It people. Which is good to know since we’ve had that same unused pad for years (taking up space that something we do use could have been inhabiting).
- Corralling the smaller items in little divided boxes is always nicer than having clips and pins and staples lying around without any structure around them to “contain” them
- More shallow piles vs. fewer deep piles are easier to go through when you’re looking for something (you can see more so you don’t mess up the entire drawer searching for something at the bottom of a deep pile)
- Snacks keep the organization effort moving (a handful of jelly beans = energy)
Here are those empty drawers located right off of the office in the corner of the kitchen:
And here’s the top drawer after packing in a ton of stuff in a slightly more organized manner (envelopes and stamps on the right side, our green address book with our address stamp and tape and stapler in the front, and a whole lotta pens, pencils, scissors, paper clips, binder rings, wire, band-aids, etc in the brown cubbied box).
Here’s the second drawer with batteries, rubber bands, safety pins, markers, crayons, 3M heavy duty velcro (great for keeping frames from getting pulled down by Clara) along with checkbooks and paper bank tubes for rolling change. Update: John didn’t like the idea of everyone on the internweb knowing where our checkbooks are so they have since been relocated (even though I countered that our alarm could stymie Clooney and the rest of those Oceans Eleven guys – did he not read yesterday’s post?).
Update: When it comes to babyproofing, we’re doing that as we go. Clara doesn’t open kitchen drawers or cabinets yet (and is always supervised in the kitchen), but the second she shows any interest (aka: even touches them, let alone opens them) we’ll babyproof and share a little update as things in our house evolve.
Oh and that third drawer got to house all of our cloth napkins, runners, and paper napkins:
And check out what I found at the bottom of the old junk drawer. Nope, not a cute baby girl, a permanent red ink stain from an old floppy disk. How random and retro is that? Ha.
Another random occurance: how many times my feet made it into this post. They’re in 33% of the pictures. That has to be an all time record.
But my best discovery was this old soccer button with little boy John on it. How cute was my hubby twenty years back? Of course he still is, but this is a whole new level of cuteness. And I see a whole lotta Clara in that sweet face. Note the eyeball cabinet knobs checking him out too.
My takeaway from this project a three fold. 1) Organizing always feels like it’s going to be a bigger/more annoying task than it actually is (this whole thing took me less than thirty minutes when I just parked it on the floor and got ‘er done). 2) Taking those thirty minutes out to do this will probably save me an hour a month if I stay on top of these drawers and keep putting things back where they go (since it’ll be much easier to find things that I search for regularly- thereby saving me time). 3) There’s nothing like waking up to a freshly organized junk drawer on a sunny Thursday morning. Yeah, that’s right. I know how to have a good time. It’s the little things, right?
What little things are you guys up to these days? Any organization to be had? Hope you find at least one floppy disk (or evidence thereof) somewhere. Ah, those were the days. John and I were just reminiscing about dial up internet. I can still perfectly mimic the sound of connecting to the modem. Oh yeah- I’m that shrill. Once again $herdog proves she knows how to have a good time.
Rebecca @ the lil house that could says
I have a drawer that looks exactly like that. I hate junk drawers yet I technically have two. The second is a receipt/take-out menu/coupon drawer. That thing is fugly and may bite upon opening….
I should get on those I guess :)
Kristen @ Popcorn on the Stove says
For a second, I thought the previous home-owners had a button of John and forgot it. Haha… Woops! I suppose it’s been a long week.
We’ll be moving in August so as we pack up our current apartment, we’ll have to go through everything and toss the stuff we don’t need. Then once we get to the new place, we’ll have to figure out storage there. Should be fun!
Eva says
Make sure those drawers are toddler proof with all those batteries! Otherwise Clara will spend the next year ransacking them. My daughter is turning two on Saturday and she is finally loosing interest in my kitchen cabinets ;)
Stephanie says
That’s exactly what I was just going to say – the drawers that my 15-month old can reach in my kitchen are filled with things that are ok for him to move around (dish towels, tupperware, etc), though I find a random potato in with the dish towels or the remote from our TV in with the strainers!
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks for the tips guys! We’re definitely babyproofing as we go (Clara doesn’t open kitchen drawers or cabinets yet, but the second she shows interest we’ll babyproof and share a little update as things change). One of us is always watching her when she’s in the kitchen, so we definitely don’t take things like batteries lightly!
xo,
s
Susan says
Oh, yes, the “potato phase”. We know it well. We’ve also found that making those drawers fun and safe is a great way to get things done in the kitchen when your toddler gets more curious. You will love that extra storage when it comes time to move everything up high and turn the lower drawers/cupboards into a temporary play kitchen :)
Caity says
Get it, $herdog. You just got promoted to Varsity in my book! Looks great…I love organizing and feeling all productive for a a bit :)
Devon @ Green House, Good Life says
Ooh — saw your Three Designing Women stamp. I love mine. It was an integral part of last year’s big Christmas card/letter extravaganza. (Call me old fashioned, but I love sending and receiving Christmas cards.)
YoungHouseLove says
It’s crazy how much I love that thing. The second we moved I ordered one for John’s christmas present and his sister ordered me one (after taking a hint from John). Hilarious that we ended up with two (in the re-org effort I decided both didn’t need to be in the drawer though, so the back-up one now lives with the gift wrapping stuff in the playroom closet).
xo,
s
Megan says
I LOVE those! It’s my go-to house-warming gift now. I didn’t know I hated address stickers or (heaven-forbid) writing my own address out until I got one!
Lindsay says
I so want one of those! I’ve always loved stamps, but have never had one. Maybe it’ll be a wedding present to myself!
YoungHouseLove says
Do it! Once you get one you’ll smile every time you use it. Which is a lot more than you think.
xo,
s
Amanda says
I got one right before my wedding – and I was *dying* to use it!! I think it’s pretty much the coolest thing since sliced bread – we’ve been stamping the backs of our thank you envelopes with it.
Amanda says
I get to use stamps at work everyday, and it makes me happy every time I use them. I don’t know what it is about them, but they always have.
In grade school I took a “stamping” class (after school activity) which taught us to use stamps and colouring them in and such. It was fun – we made cards. (it was likely more a card making class … but the stamps took over!)
Erica M says
Loved this post! Mostly because my junk drawer has gotten ridiculous and I know if I just sucked it up and did it, it would feel so good! Thanks for the inspiration!
Tanya from Dans le Townhouse says
Oh, I agree! One giant drawer doesn’t work for me either. I like smaller drawers with different purposes. Forces me to stay more organized and continually evaluate my clutter.
Robin @ our semi organic life says
Wow we would have had all those kitchen drawers full the moment we moved in! We have so much kitchen stuff it’s ridiculous! I’ve tried paring it down but then we just got more after we got married! This is why I’m looking for new places to move that have TONS of kitchen storage space. We’re spoiled right now with space and use it all! Plus with no pantry where do you keep your food?
YoungHouseLove says
That big armoire looking cabinet is a pull out pantry actually (it’s to the left of the oven – you can see part of it in the pic where I’m holding the tape and all of it here)! So much more room than we’re used to (since the old house’s kitchen didn’t have anything like that).
xo,
s
Kim says
We just remodeled our house, and we have so many drawers in the kitchen that it’s hard to organize them. It really is almost easier to organize smaller spaces. The next time we are near a container store (how I wish we had one!) I want to get those interlocking plastic drawer bins. It’s hard to figure out what sizes I will need, though. Maybe I can “draw” the drawer on paper and lay them out in the store! We too have an office near the kitchen, so I think we don’t need to keep scissors and stuff in there since the office is right next door. Did you think of that for your space as well?
YoungHouseLove says
We did consider some sort of hard-core snap-in system but decided to use what we have for now. Maybe once that stuff finds a final home in the office (I think that’s the plan) we’ll do one of those kitted out drawers. Sounds fun!
xo,
s
Karrie says
Ah, the junk drawers. Gotta love all that random stuff you seem to need to keep, just in case. I had my husband make me some custom wooden drawer organizers. And almost a year later, I have to say those two drawers have stayed amazingly organized. http://sweethappens.blogspot.com/2010/09/messy-secret.html
http://sweethappens.blogspot.com/2010/10/its-all-his-fault.html
But I don’t think we should talk about the other junk drawer in the kitchen….hey I might need that old dog collar some day??!
YoungHouseLove says
I love that a year later they’re still in good shape! It gives me hope!
xo,
s
Cait @ Hernando House says
Glad to hear you moved your checkbooks! I was actually thinking about it not being good to share where those were kept with everyone, despite the beefy alarm system.
Our junk drawers (yes, drawers, we have 3) are hopelessly disorganized. I was actually thinking about tackling those soon. We’re taking on a lot of little/”free” projects right now, thanks to budget cuts and saving up to finish a bathroom redo. We updated our mantel, and there has been a lot of demo.
Elisa says
A well-organized drawer always feels so gooooooooooooooood. (Yes, that good.)
Also, a friendly tip from a professional organizer’s daughter:
Organizing it just about putting like things together and knowing when to get rid of stuff you never use. I like your 6-month rule. :)
Also — used/old/warped tupperware can be turned into fan-tas-tic drawer organizers.
YoungHouseLove says
Ooh I love that tip! We have some old plastic tubs that we never use anymore!
xo,
s
Anna says
I was just thinking how crammed and unorganized our “junk” drawer is!! Your post has inspired me to get our junk under control!! :)
Meagan says
I organized my desk this week too. I’m moving on Saturday and didn’t want to move anything unnecessary. I found an actual floppy disk instead of just them imprint. I decided not to throw it away because it was just to crazy that I still had one…now I am thinking I should have tossed it because computers don’t have floppy disk drives anymore. Maybe I will scrapbook it or something so I can show my kids one day what we used to save files on.
Gina @ Running to the Kitchen says
Freshly organized drawers and closets are like a HUGE weight lifted off my shoulders. Best feeling ever!
Heather says
I love seeing organized junk drawers. Very inspirational. Also, I like the new comment tab on the bottom of the posts. Very easy to access.
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks! John worked on that last night!
xo,
s
Rachel says
So jealous that ya’ll have empty storage space in the kitchen. When we moved into our house we had 4 times the storage in our apartment, but in two years we’ve managed to fill it out.
[email protected] says
oh! I love it! So envious of your organization! Makes me want to clean out about 20 places where I’m storing JUNK! I’m in the process of making over my home office. The new windows went in this week (well kinda)two windows didn’t fit! So 4 more weeks in limbo. My stuff is everywhere! ugh.
cafenoHut says
I think the most enjoyable thing to organize drawer.
You can always find something you forgot and remember some memories ..
Jennifer Acomb says
“eyeballs knobs”..sorry but that just gave me a good chuckle. I’ve been up all night with insomnia so I saw your post almost immediately as it went out. Thanks for the post, you inspire me and my husband and finally, thanks for making an insomniac happy.
Lauren says
So not your style, but I thought you guys would get a laugh out of watching this video tour of the real housewives of nj house:
http://www.hulu.com/watch/144238/the-real-housewives-of-new-jersey-welcome-to-teresas-crib
YoungHouseLove says
I love it. Especially the way she says refrigerator.
xo,
s
Micha says
There’s some organizing love in the air (or the water :o) you pick). I just organized our shed with a hook sytem to keep our gardening tools from barricading themselves on the inside :o)
Isn’t it amazing how rewarding a freshly organized spot in your house is and how good it makes you feel?
myhonestanswer says
I’m jealous of the empty drawers. They would never exist in my kitchen, I would find something to put in them immediately.
Britt@knewlywifed. says
Be still, my heart. I’m mad crazy about organization, so I am pumped to see this post. One thing that drives me nuts in junk drawers is owners/users/warranty manuals. There seem to be thousands in our tiny house. Someone gave me some wonderful advice one time, telling me to put them all together in a clear, stackable tote, and then go through them annually and throw out those you won’t/don’t need anymore. I know I hate throwing them away when I first get them in fear that I may need them one day. But by storing them (together) and going through them ever so often, you can cut out alot of clutter :)
YoungHouseLove says
Oh that’s smart! I have a big folder of them that I need to go through- it’s huuuge!
xo,
s
Callie says
I looove organizing! I have this theory that the better the organization scheme, the longer it will stay organized in everyday life. So anytime a drawer gets disorganized, I reorganize it trying to make a better scheme and trying to beat my old record of how long it stayed organized. Really it’s primarily the kitchen “misc” drawer and tupperware drawers that are habitual targets of my obsession…So fun :)
Jen @ The Decor Scene says
I love looking into newly organized cabinets or drawers. OK, this reminds me that I REALLY need to clean out my junk drawer in the kitchen and make it look organized again, so that when I open the drawer after that I will smile. :) It’s the little things that make us happy, right? ;)
lizkayl says
I re-purposed an organizer that was too small for our actual silverware and used it to bring balance to our junk drawer. :-)
YoungHouseLove says
Really smart!
xo,
s
Kristin @ everythingZamora says
Just recently (maybe I shouldn’t admit that) we have implemented the “if we don’t use it in a year, and it’s not a family heirloom, no love loss.” So far, so good. We’ll see how much we’re willing to part with next year. There’s something freeing about being organized, and not having the “stuff” that never gets used.
p.s. love Clara’s top in the floppy disk stained pic.
Melissa says
That is good stuff – love an organized drawer! I think you find a way to frame the John pic for your hall gallery!
Hanna says
My husband and I were listing some of the things that once seemed like an every day occurence, but our kids will probably never do. Listen to the modem dial-up noise was one of them, along with dial a rotary phone and be kind and rewind.
YoungHouseLove says
Ooh those are good ones! We always remember our big chunky cassette-tape-playing Walkmans. We thought they were so cool. Haha.
xo,
s
cam says
I’m a never-commenting loyal lurker, but had to break my streak when I read how you can mimic the old dialup sound. Back then we had a parakeet whose cage sat next to our computer desk. It used to perfectly mimic the dialup sound when I dialed up every morning & evening. It was so funny! You may be part parakeet!
Thanks for your awesome blog. :)
YoungHouseLove says
HIlarious! I do think Clara looks a little like a baby bird so maybe she got it from her momma. Haha.
xo,
s
Sarah says
Sherry – great post but to sidetrack and be totally vain… Umm you look FAB!
Note to self: clean out drawers and find out Sherry’s secret.
YoungHouseLove says
Haha- you’re sweet. My secret: black shirts. They can hide a multitude of sins. Also, when holding tape, always try to make it look like you have three fingers.
xo,
s
Amy @ Triangle Honeymoon says
We really should be doing this too. Thanks for the motivation.
Lizzy says
oooh! i love me some organization!
since moving into our new house, we have plenty of storage space but our kitchen drawers kinda blow – they are all too narrow for any sort of utensil/junk dividers. for now, we have all of our necessary “junk” crammed in two drawers that we have to jiggle and swear at in order to open. hopefully we come across some narrow dividers soon!
http://anexcellentadventure.blogspot.com/2011/06/month-one.html
Skooks says
Have you ever tried those dividers that are stand-alone? I think you can get them at Bed Bath and Beyond (probably other places too) and I think they’re used for sorting socks or underwear, but the point is that you can decide how wide you want them to be. Might be worth checking into.
Skooks says
A little reorganizing . . . yes. For the last month I have been working on getting my sewing room under control. I don’t think creative spaces are ever really “done”, but this is pretty dern close: http://www.skooksplayground.com/2011/06/operation-sewing-room-reorganization.html
And I think you’re SO right. We always think these kind of projects are going to take *forever* but they rarely do. Well . . . sometimes a whole room takes a long time, but a few drawers or a cupboard? Easy!
Michelle H says
Love the organization! I need to do that FOR SURE!!
Just a suggestion: I would move your batteries out of little Clara’s reach. They can be very dangerous. My niece got a hold of one and somehow swallowed it (she was 2 at the time). She nearly died.
YoungHouseLove says
So sorry to hear about your niece and so glad she’s ok! We’re definitely babyproofing as we go (Clara doesn’t open kitchen drawers or cabinets yet, but the second she shows interest we’ll babyproof and share a little update as things change). One of us is always watching her when she’s in the kitchen, so we definitely don’t take things like batteries lightly! Thanks again for your concern.
xo,
s
Leslie *Fresh Out of Lemons* says
I have one of those buttons from my husband’s little league days! In fact, the only thing that stirs my biological clock is the idea of snuggling the little boy in the picture. :)
Courtney says
When are you going to tackle the kitchen?? I think that will be the most exciting transformation of your whole house!
YoungHouseLove says
We just found out we need a permit to open the wall (and a licensed contractor) so the full transformation will definitely take a while (but we hope to start making first phase changes very soon). It’ll probably be a work in progress for a while!
xo,
s
Ami says
Is it sad to admit I love posts on things like organizing junk drawers? (And for some Freudian reason I just typed ‘drunk’ drawer??) I found an awesome two tier junk drawer organizer at Target and now love to go look at my newly organized drawer. Yes, I’m super cool.
Blair says
Hahaha, I love organizing drawers. I just organized my bathroom sink, and I swear that boxes make everything look better. Just put like items in a box and BAM it looks perfect! http://thefirstapartment.blogspot.com/2011/05/how-to-organize-under-sink.html I am too nervous yet to try to tackle the junk drawer, maybe next week.
~Blair
Missy G. says
Well, now I’m curious as to what is in the big drawer. Did you leave it empty? Once you open up that wall to the dining room, that drawer seems the perfect spot for your cloth and paper napkins, utensils, etc, for entertaining.
YoungHouseLove says
Yup, it’s empty for now but I’m sure we’ll figure out something to do with it.
xo,
s
Laura@JourneyChic says
I actually find it comforting that you guys have (well, HAD) messy junk drawers! But, I guess that’s why they call it “junk” right? We have two in our kitchen, and now I’m going to put them out on the floor and have a go at ’em!
Rachel H. says
You sure do know how to have a good time! lol. You crack me up. Organization rocks! I wish I had all of that storage that you do in the kitchen. We just moved into a new place 3 months ago, and we still have unpacked boxes because there just isn’t enough storage. Hopefully once our art studio/office room is set up, we’ll figure out a solution.
Joanne says
This is *totally* my idea of a good time by the way, glad it’s not just me
Landry Thomas says
I also love to wake up to freshly organized drawers! There is something about how calm an organized anything that makes you feel calm…
I will be creating my own calm today when I tackle my closet. My husband I are fortunate to have separate closets but my needs an overhaul from the past year!
Julie (from Pocketful of Joules) says
Random organizing tip that I LOVE – I have one of those coupon organizers that I use for my postage stamps, checkbook, address labels and debit card (I use for online payments). So when it’s bill paying time, I just grab my organizer and I’ve got everything I need. =)
Brien says
I love your organization posts! So inspiring. I hate our junk drawer but it seems sort of necessary and inevitable. Maybe that is the wrong attitude for me to have : )
I think the “6 month” rule is the best rule of thumb. I try to use that with everything in our house and our wardrobe. I think I will try and clean something out tonight!
Lo says
ahhh i also grew up in burke and played soccer so that button brings back a lot of memories of those itchy jerseys and corny team names haha great find! the retro disk stain is pretty sweet too!
Erin says
Be sure to baby proof the drawers. Especially the batteries one. Batteries are not something you want your little one chomping on. Also be careful with the scissors. My little guy (almost 2) can get into and reach so much these days. We were never big on baby proofing drawers in that we only put locks on the one below the sink that has the cleaning supplies, but we also don’t keep things like batteries where he can reach.
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks for the tips guys! We’re definitely babyproofing as we go (Clara doesn’t open kitchen drawers or cabinets yet, but the second she shows interest we’ll babyproof and share a little update as things change). One of us is always watching her when she’s in the kitchen, so we definitely don’t take things like batteries lightly!
xo,
s
Erin says
be careful baby proofing as you go. With my son i have found that he is capable of way more than we think. For example, one night when he was about 18 months he walked into the kitchen and grabbed a big knife off the counter (we had left it on a towel to dry not realizing that a recent growth spurt meant he could now reach pretty high.) It was a scary moment when he came walking into the other room with it in his hands totally clueless as to the danger of it. After that we did more baby proofing, but it wasn’t they way we wanted to learn that we had to. We live in a small 800sq foot condo so it’s hard not to watch him every minute. Just shows that it only takes a second. Things that they have no interest in one day easily become their obsession the next.
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks Erin! Very scary! We’re planning to check out cabinet and drawer locks today or tomorrow- just to be prepared.
xo,
s
Anne says
I was just taking a break from organizing and I opened your blog. Weird. My task is a little bigger because I am moving, therefore breaks are a must.