apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Since all of my kitchen drawers are about 8" deep, I love, love, LOVE the new OXO stacking drawer organizers. So far I've only seen them at Sur La Table, so they're not as inexpensive as I would have liked, but for about $80 I finally organized all of the drawers that had been a mess for years. the bins have non-skid feet so the bottom layer won't slide around in the drawer, but any compartments stacked on an upper level will slide front-to-back or side-to-side depending on your configuration. AWESOME. (http://www.surlatable.com/product/oxo interlocking modular drawer organizers%2C 3%26%2334- x 3%26%2334- x 2%26%2334-.do?keyword=ox drawer organizer&sortby=ourPicks)

i find that the hardest thing about a junk drawer is that it is dynamic with all its contents in-flux. it is hard to commit money to organizing something that will change within a month of making sense of it.

i find that regular purges help the most and i have recently begun using old cereal boxes to make quick dividers or odd-shaped, open-topped boxes for keeping things wrangled. once i have a large collection of a similar items, i pull its little homemade box out and find it a more permanent and sensible place in our home.

I recently organized my "junk utensil" drawer, and I used just the non-slip paper and no containers. I find you get more space, and the tools don't slide around since they are sitting on the non-stick paper. I also find that attaching the non-skid stuff with double sided tape prevents it from bunching up too much. I did a post about it you can see here:

http://remarkablydomestic.com/2010/01/01/new-years-energy-sorting-out-cabinets-yay/

I love helping client's organize their junk drawers as I beleive that if I can teach them how to organize the drawer, then can take the lessons to other areas of their home!

Here is a blog post on my basics of doing it.

http://melissa-ididit.blogspot.com/2008/12/junk-junk-drawer.html

That looks like a utensil drawer to me. A junk drawer is a lot more random. Mine has all kinds of nutty stuff in it, but I've had a junk drawer now for so long that I can usually figure out what I need to look for in there (e.g. the analog phone for when the power goes out and I forgot to recharge my mobile)

Being a professional nomad, I move regularly. The "junk" drawer is an indulgence that I can no longer count on. But I have learned that there's nothing in the junk drawer that can't logically be kept elsewhere. I rely on my tool box, stacking plastic storage boxes w/lids, and sturdy gift bags (what do you keep your light bulbs in?).

I stacked two cheap plastic silverware trays in our miscellany drawer (I try to keep it junk-free, but don't always succeed). Stuff's generally sorted by slot, looks organized, and is easy to find.

I agree with SunnyBlue; most of the stuff that's there could logically be kept elsewhere. I find it convenient to have some general office supplies and such in the kitchen, though, and it's a handy place to stow various label-bits-for-education pieces until they get turned in.

(SunnyBlue, my light bulbs are in the linen closet, next to the batteries and tissues, just stacked on the shelf. I used to keep them in a small plastic storage bin, mostly because it offered some protection against me dropping things on them.)

Charlotte's right - that's a drawer full of utensils, not junk. :-) Most of my utensils (whisks, spatulas, turners, etc.) are in a utensil crock next to the stove. Graters and microplanes are in the drawer with the flatware (I have a really wide drawer, so all but the funnels and rolling pin and meat pounder go there).

I have a small junk drawer with actual junk in it; I clean it out a couple times a year after warning my husband a few days ahead of time that all miscellaneous screws and parts to things are gonna get tossed out.