Do you have a kitchen "junk" drawer? You know, one where the little odds and ends of your household end up? I do, but I feel that "junk" is something of a misnomer for this catch-all drawer. Here are a few things that I feel helpful to have around in my "junk" drawer.
First of all, my junk drawer does need a good cleaning! It has all these receipts I need to save, but they definitely shouldn't be in there!
Other than those receipts, though, this is a valuable drawer with a few things in it that don't fit elsewhere. Here are the things I like to keep around in this catch-all drawer:
• Lighter - For candles on the dinner table and in the kitchen. (And for the gas stove, occasionally!)
• Pens - For making lists and marking up recipes I test.
• Rubber bands - Saved from produce bunches and used to close up open bags.
• Cut flower food - I always seem to have extra packets of flower food, which I save to use in fresh replacement water for older bunches of flowers.
• Scissors - Where would a kitchen be without scissors? I use these constantly.
What do you have in your "junk" drawer, and does it need a good clearing-out? How can you make it more useful for your kitchen?
Related: Survey: Do You Have a Kitchen Junk Drawer?
(Image: Faith Durand)
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Yep, much of the same. Takeout menus (contained with a giant clip), scissors, rubber bands and twist ties, pens, way too many old grocery shopping receipts (why do I hang on to these??), notepad for grocery shopping lists, running list of kitchen items I want to eventually buy, ziploc baggie of dog treats to grab for walks, misc. other "used" ziplocs, misc. utensils that I don't use or that are duplicates but that I can't seem to get rid of...
I still haven't designated a junk drawer, mostly i have a junk room. Note to self - Moving in should not be a 6 month long thing, hurry it up already.
All of the misc stuff from my whole house lands in this one drawer. My mom also opened it once when I told her to grab something from it. She said it just proved that I really was an orginizing freak even if I denied it.
Mine has nails/screws etc. My lone hammer. Blutacky. Wire. Batteries. Dayquil (yes my misc drawer is where I store drugs too). Razor blades. Matches. Lighters. And much much more.... And it all fits perfectly!
Oh yeah! I forgot the screwdriver. My husband likes to keep one in that drawer too .
Doesn't it spill?
It could be the capsules I suppose...
Pie chain, bottle stoppers, twine, cheese cloth, and a bunch of other stuff I can only find when I'm not looking for it.
Geez, do all you people really have so many drawers in your kitchens that you can devote a whole one to junk? I only have three drawers - so one is silverware, one is cooking utensils, and one is foil, plastic wrap, wax paper, and plastic bags. That's it!
I have... 4 drawers, but I keep my cooking utensils in a bucket on the countertop.
Junk drawer? I wish, oh my, I wish I had enough drawers in my kitchen or house for junk. I have two...one for the silverware and one for the longer utensils. Both are very organized to keep everything readily available.
I, too, only wish I had space for a junk drawer! I don't have any drawers AT ALL in my kitchen - utensils, scissors, knives etc all go in hanging containers on the wall. It's like a spaceship in there.
In my junk drawer:
Lighter, envelope opener, notepad, pen, boxcutter, tape, tissue paper, clove cigarettes. Just in case.
No, my kitchen drawers are all taken!
But we do have a drawer in the coffee table where pens, postage stamps, and address labels live and it feels like a junk drawer.
I don't have enough drawers in my kitchen for a junk drawer. But my entryway table has two drawers and they're stuffed full with tape, envelopes, thumbtacks, pens, and pencils.
I don't have a drunk drawer. I did a major kitchen remodel about five years ago and had every drawer outfitted with specific dividers. The silverware drawer came with an insert and when I saw it I asked my contractor to do it for two other drawers as well. The utensil drawer and the drawer that would have been designated for "junk". Therefore the drawer that would have been a drunk drawer is now like a kitchen office drawer with spaces for pens and paperclips and takeout menus and scissors. Now I know where my flashlight lives. I know this sounds extravagant, but I feel you could do the same thing yourself with items purchased at The Container Store and such. The kitchen is never messy now because everything has a place. Now if I could only say the same thing about my dresser in my bedroom. I'll keep you posted.
Having only 4 drawers, I've got a junk basket in a cupboard. Contents include: rubber bands, twist-ties, bread clips, batteries, stick-on felt (for furniture), battery charger, six-outlet thingie, plant food sticks, soy sauce packets, and much much more!
Free return address stickers from non-profits, scissors, one pencil, old key chain rings, metal tape measure, empty change purse, multicolor rubberbands, funny stickers, mini note pads, old ATM cards, loose crystals from an old chandelier, odd pen collection, sharpies, scotch tape, keys to I don't know what, push pins, multicolor chalk, white-out, odd collection of business cards, pieces of a favorite mug that broke, odd collection of phone numbers on different scraps of paper, souvenir from Florida, Scoobydoo holding a flash light key chain, box cutter, Boeing 747 with flashing lights key chain, cancelled foreign stamps, whew!
Did I mention I can barely close it?
A small "leatherman" tool, a multiscrewdriver, tape measure, tiny Olfa touch knife for opening packages, razor-blade type glass scraper, mini maglite, tiny calculator, 2 pens and a fine and thin sharpie for marking dates on freezer bags and pantry items as purchased.
My drawer is about 12" square - I keep things separated in a divider so it's easy to find what I need. We lost our electricity yesterday in an ice storm - i found the flashlight by touch.
I guess I would call it a Utility drawer, even though my Mom called it a junk drawer.
lets see....take out menus, extra chop sticks and soy sauce from said take out, cake sprinkles (they don't fit in the baking cabinet!), and umm..gosh who knows.
no room in my kitchen for this drawer but I do have a junk drawer in the wine glass/liquor case.
1. small scissors
2. change
3. pens
4. checkbooks
5. tape measure
6. random cat toys
7. small flash light
8. screws
9. random receipts that i don't really need
10. some mail i like to stuff in there when i want the house to look uncluttered. hahaah
Oh good grief what a brilliant post idea!!! We have batteries, batteries, batteries and hundreds of those little party pack toys that you put into water and they swell up to ten times there size... hate them! But there would be mayhem if I tossed them!!! Otherwise it is jammed so tight that there is no more room for junk in the junk drawer - everything else has to find its spot or go!!!
Jar openers (I have FOUR different kinds as my hands are very weak and some do a better job than others on different sizes of jars). Can openers. Scissors go in the knife block and thermometers in another drawer.
Sharpies, stick-on labels, and a roll of masking tape, for labeling food. My junk drawer is right next to the fridge and near the wrap/bag drawer so it's quite handy for that. I just added some star stickers for color coding expiration dates on foods. (If it keeps indefinitely, should it get a gold star?)
Rubber bands, twist ties, and plastic clip doohickeys for fastening packages.
I'm happy b/c I'm not alone with this :)
Ours contains, batteries, scissors, papers, pens, screws, tape measurement, flash light, random receipts, take-out menus, rubber ties, swiss knife, and misc. stuffs...
I am a fairly organized person (my live-in boyfriend might say more like "anal retentive") and I find my junk drawer totally liberating. The other day I cleaned some stuff out of it (match books without matches, broken pens, etc.) and momentarily considered getting an in-drawer organizer for it. Then I thought "Screw it!" I like having one place in the house that I feel no need to keep clean. I know, more or less, what's in there and I can find it if I need it.
I like to peek inside the host's junk drawer at parties to have guests compete at guessing what items are inside. It's a great ice-breaker, although, it usually results in a drinking game of sorts.
No, not any more. I am a nomad, and some houses and kitchens barely have enough room for my flatware. Most of the stuff that people keep in the junk drawer I have sorted into small clear storage boxes. Kitchen misc in one, general household misc in another. We have a household tool box, and another little clear storage box for things like tacks, nails, screws, furniture leg pads, museum wax, &etc.
For more than 25 years, I have kept dinner candles, emergency candles, matches and lighters in the same drawer in my china cabinet---which is easy to get to if the electricity goes off.
I use a sturdy gift bag to keep store all batteries, and a battery tester. There's always a good place to stash it and no more batteries rolling around in a drawer. I also keep all tape in another gift bag. No rooting around trying to find packing tape, or duct tape.