Are you ready for a good Junk Drawer Cleanout? It’s been a long time coming!

This is what our junk drawer (see below) has looked like for the last few years. Not gonna lie, it’s been a precarious situation we contend with on a daily basis. To sum it up: It’s annoying and I hate it. To top it off, an old lollipop petrified in the back of the drawer and mixed with a bunch of sandy dirt from pruners so EVERYTHING has had this weird coating of gunk on it (for years).  It’s an A+ environment for someone who has as many sensory challenges as me.  This silly junk drawer has always been last on my NEVERENDING list of things to do.

I just let out the biggest sigh typing that. 

Join me in one too. SIGH. 

It’s been a real war in my brain living in my childhood home and seeing how different things (pandemic/economic collapse) are from the life I lived here in my youth. 

One thing that hasn’t really changed in my childhood home is the state of this junk drawer (est. 1977).  It was never really a problem that could be solved in my upbringing because my Mom was also overloaded and didn’t have enough energy to hound everyone to PUT THINGS BACK WHERE THEY BELONG. One of her most reliable entertaining tricks was shoving everything into a drawer before guests arrived. What an illusion! No one knew how many junk drawers we had until they went to get an apron to help her in the kitchen. You know what though? It just made the task of facing her paper piles and rogue items with no home even more daunting. I would have totally helped if she let me. 

True fact: If one cannot clean a single junk drawer, it is impossible to clean three. 

Can we talk about the junk drawer for a second? It’s a vicious cycle really. 

A person who doesn’t organize the junk drawer (ever) walks up to the junk drawer with a tool.  “Oh, I’ll just put this tool back in the junk drawer cuz I don’t want to put it back in the tool bag. Oh, wait. It doesn’t fit. Ughhh.  Let me just shove it in just a little..bit..uhhh… there we go.” Later on, Mom goes to open the junk drawer to get a rubberband and now cannot open the drawer because a new tool wedged its way in the opening and the drawer needs to be shuffled so it could open. Now she needs to wash her hands cuz she just put them in something STICKY and she has forgotten about that rubberband and is now off cleaning the sink full of dishes. 

Don’t get me started on how many times we’ve bought birthday candles when we already had them…

LIFE REQUIRES MAINTENANCE 

It’s a fact.  

The junk drawer doesn’t clean itself.  Unfortunately, in 2022 we’ve only reached the vacuum robot stage of our human development.  You will most likely have to do it yourself as I did/do/will.  It will be annoying and you will want to give up while being mad at everyone in your household but in the end, life requires maintenance. Most of the time, the effort we put in upfront can/will save stress later on.

Here’s how I do it!

Junk Drawer Cleanout Steps:

1. Take everything out

2. Sort stuff into piles:

• garbage (toss!)
• tools (which ones belong?)
• nails + screws 
• office supplies (paperclips, rubber bands, sticky notes)
• pens/pencils
• keys
• candles (tea lights and birthday candles)
• random stuff I don’t know what to do with

3. Vacuum inside of the drawer

4. Wipe down drawer (get all the ick off)

5. Put contact paper in the drawer to prevent future messes

6. Put things back where they belong/find a home for things

7. Take a picture of it and share it with the internet (hi, accountability!)

Here are some pictures of the process:

I found some old contact paper I had it lying around in my craft area.

I took two enamel trays (from Crow Canyon Home) to create sections within the drawer.

I used the white smaller tray for tools. Why trays? I can take the whole tray out if I want and put it all back in easily. This is the benefit of having separations! Portability!

I found some small cardboard jewelry boxes, a card box and some square plates from what I had. I also repurposed two mason jar lids to contain things.  I’m pretty sure Marie Kondo would be proud.

We had a bunch of keys that needed to be together so I put them in a cute bag I liked looking at.

Sandwich bags become disgusting and sticky. A cute bag is forever. 

It makes a big difference when you open the drawer. The pop of orange makes me happy.

Remember, we went from this:

TO THIS!

This project took me about an hour total (not including a few breaks to regain my energy).

It also cost me no money. ZERO DOLLARS. I used what I have and HOORAY FOR THAT. 

How do you stay on task?

1. Set a timer

I really enjoy this timer cube. I’ll use the Pomodoro method with it!

2. Give yourself a goal

That’s why I like using my kitchen table to sort things. We have to be able to use it for dinner so I make the goal to have it cleaned up by then. 

3. Take before/during/after photos

Taking a timelapse video of cleaning out your drawer can give you enough dopamine to finish the task. Your reward is a cool video at the end.

I hope this inspires you to have your own Junk Drawer Cleanout. If you don’t have the energy to do it all in one session, break it down into steps.  The first thing you can do is get rid of all the garbage that doesn’t belong there (HELLO ROGUE LOLLIPOPS!).

Build from there!

If you enjoy organizing you might like some of my past organizing posts:

• Pantry Cleanout
• Favorite Productivity Tools 
• Cord/Cable Management
• Closet Organization
• Linen Closet Organization
• Creating a Homework Station
• Laundry Closet Organization