Organize Your Junk Drawer Fast

My junk drawer was out of control. I kept adding more things to it without organizing it or removing all the useless things I had been adding. Do you have one of these drawers at your house? You know, it’s the place where you toss things you just don’t know where to put or you just don’t want to deal with right now and don’t want to look at them either. It was time for me to organize my junk drawer. Is it time to organize your junk drawer too?

This year, we are doing a 52-Week Organize Your Life Challenge. This is week 13 – How to Organize Your Junk Drawer in Just 10 Minutes. If you missed any of the previous challenges, you can start on the Organize Your Life page.

The picture above is after I cleaned out and organized my junk drawer. It was a mess when I started. But, I started fast (it’s a 10 minute challenge) and forgot to take a “before” picture.

3 Steps to Organize Your Junk Drawer in 10 Minutes

Open Your Junk Drawer and Start Throwing Things Out

When you start looking at your junk drawer, you will find that many things have been tossed here because you just don’t want to deal with them. Most of them should be just thrown away. We had a piece of a singing card in this drawer, and every time we opened it this piece would sing, “Let It Go.” Sort of fit what I needed to do with this drawer, right?

As I cleaned out my junk drawer, I think I “let go” of about 50% of everything in the drawer. If it was broken or part of something and I did not know what the other parts were, I threw it out.

Work quickly. Don’t analyze too much. Most likely if it’s in this drawer, you won’t miss it if you toss it. Keep only things you need and that you use frequently.

What’s Left?

Now that you have removed all the items you cannot use and the trash, you should have much less mess. What’s left? Do any of these items belong in a different place (i.e. headbands for the bathroom, miscellaneous Legos for the toy/play room, Barbie shoes?).

Put all the items that belong in other places on the counter or table. Once you have all these items out of your junk drawer, start putting them away. Be efficient. Take everything that belongs in the play room at one time, take everything for the bathroom in one trip, etc… You don’t want to waste time with extra trips and running in circles around your house.

Sort and Organize

When I cleaned out my junk drawer, I ended with about 25% of what I started with. Mostly I had a few pens, sharpies, pencils, a stickie pad and a notepad.

To organize the drawer (and keep everything in place), I repurposed an old pencil box the children had used a during school a year or so ago. I opened the box so it has two sides and I can use as a drawer organizer. Small baskets you can purchase at Wal-Mart or the $1 Store are also helpful.

You want to complete these steps in 10 minutes. Work quickly. Stay focused and you will get this task done.

Keeping Your Junk Drawer Organized

If you are like me, you will probably always a have a junk drawer (or a place to “stuff” things). As I was working on cleaning this drawer, I asked myself, why do I have this drawer and why is it always a mess?

To change my ways, I am renaming this drawer. It will now be called, “Useful things only” drawer. Let’s commit to renaming this drawer so it is no longer the “junk drawer.” What are you going to name your drawer?

I have to admit, I just toss things in this drawer when I don’t want to deal with them. Many times they are things I will eventually throw away. Now that you have your “Useful things only” drawer organized, before you add anything new to the drawer, ask yourself these questions:

Why am I keeping this item or thing? Do I really need it?
Is it broken?
Could it be used in the future?
Does it belong with something else (like is it the screws and bolts for the baby crib you disassembled – yes that was in my junk drawer)?
Does it belong to someone else in your house (i.e. part of your child’s Legos or Barbie shoes)?
Why does it need to be saved in this drawer?

If you have an answer to any of the questions above, most likely this item doesn’t below in your “useful things only” drawer.

This week, set aside 10 minutes to clean out and organize your “junk” drawer. Remove the broken things and throw out what you don’t need. Put things away if they belong somewhere else. Commit to renaming and keeping your new “Useful things only” drawer organized.

Your turn…

What interesting or useful thing did you find when you cleaned out your “junk drawer”? Tell me what you are renaming your former “junk drawer” to make it something organized and useful to you?