31 Days of Decluttering: Day #3 - Junk Drawer

Ugh!  "Junk Drawer" - the name says it all!  It's basically the drawer of crap you don't know what to do with/where to put.  I actually have 1 drawer in the kitchen and a tray in another kitchen drawer.

(From Overwhelmed to Organized)

Here is what my kitchen drawer looked like:

What, you don't keep Kenny G's Greatest Hits in with the cat's old antibiotics and the Gorilla Glue?!  (Ha!)

Here's the "before" of the tray I mentioned:

A fly catcher, catnip/a cat collar, and a harmonica.  Makes perfect sense why they're all in a drawer together, right?  (Not!!).

Here are the steps "From Overwhelmed to Organized" recommends for cleaning out your junk drawer:

• Throw away anything that is garbage (broken items, doo-dads that you can't remember what they're for, etc.)
• Recycle papers you no longer need (old receipts, expired coupons/menus, etc.)
• Relocate anything that doesn't belong in this drawer {Make sure you've defined the purpose of this drawer (step #1) so you can decide what belongs and what doesn't!}
• Just doing those 2 things will likely already get rid of a lot of things from this drawer!
• Get rid of chargers for electronics you no longer have
• Dispose all expired batteries
• Reduce the quantity of some items to an amount that will realistically be used or needed (e.g. do you really need 48 elastic bands or 76 paper clips in this drawer?)
• If you choose to keep tools in this drawer, only keep the bare minimum, so you can quickly grab them for a small project (e.g. store a multi-bit screwdriver here rather than several screwdrivers)
• Keep in mind the location of this drawer when deciding what to keep in it.  Typically junk drawers take up prime real estate in our kitchens, so they should contain items we need quick access to on a regular basis.

After completing these steps, this is what the drawer looks like:

I decided to take Hilda's advice and decide the purpose of this drawer.  Since it's by the dishwasher and in the middle of the kitchen, I decided to make it the drawer for the old silverware (that we still use).  I threw away the silverware that had messed up handles, etc. and this was what was left.  

Here's what the tray/drawer it was in now looks like:

All the batteries are in a baggie together, the decks of cards are stacked together, etc.  And now hubs can have the left half of the drawer to throw whatever he wants to in.  No more "junk drawer".  Only a "junk tray" now.  That was worth it :).

Next Up:  Day #4 - Coffee Table

**Check out the Prior 2 Days Here:

Day #1 (Sock Drawer) 

Day #2 (Toiletries) 

Happy decluttering!!

XOXO,

Stephanie