Before & After: Shifrah’s Junk Drawer

We left off yesterday with a half-reorganized junk drawer. I’d done the easy part, putting away cooking utensils that were grouped according to their use, and had the “junky” portion left to tackle. Check out my final result, and read how I got there:

After putting all the cooking utensils away on the right side of the drawer, it was time to tackle the big pile of junk that was left. Once again, I sorted: pens and other office supplies together, piles of coins, pieces of the kids’ toys, hair ties and clips. Garbage got thrown out right away.

Next, I thought about what would actually have a “home” in the junk drawer, things I know I actually reach for when I’m in the kitchen. (Recently, pre-cleanup, things I’d dig and shuffle through junk to try to find.) For me, this was items like spare keys, scissors, tape, pens and permanent markers, and hair ties. The baby food jar holds rubber bands.

I didn’t want or need to fill every space. Empty, clean space helps me keep things where they belong and encourages me not to “mess up” the work I’ve done. In addition, I purposely left the portion on the left completely empty to hold those little things that filled the whole junk space previously. I’m being realistic and embracing the fact that loose LEGOs and hardware pieces will get stuck in the drawer. But by having the space small and incorporating emptying it out into my cleaning routine, I hope to keep it under control rather than it becoming another weekend project!

Take quick photos of your “before” junk drawer OR the gorgeous “after” cleaned out junk drawer and then post and tag on Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook and Tumblr with #atweekendproject. Or even just tell us about your junk drawer…we’ll be looking for you!