How Bruce Springsteen Helped Me Organize My Kitchen Drawers

Sarah Rae Smith
Sarah Rae Smith
Sarah Rae Smith has lived all across the Midwest and currently calls the bratwurst-laden city of Sheboygan home. She seeks out kitchens that make the best pie and farmers with fresh eggs.
published Nov 21, 2014
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(Image credit: Sarah Rae Smith)

For years, there’s been this beautifully organized drawer photo floating around the internet. It’s special because it’s not arranged vertically or horizontally; it’s all diagonal! That’s cool and all, but I hate design solutions that involve me buying anything. So this morning, my main man Bruce and I sat down to rectify the situation. Well, I sat and he stood lookin’ oh so fine in those jeans as usual.

The best projects in my home happen at 7am or 2am. There’s a certain level of genius that happens when you’re in your pajamas. Maybe it’s the ability to not care how some thing turns out so you don’t obsess over it the same way and you just want the project finished. Or maybe that’s just when the little mouse on the treadmill inside my brain works best. Either way.

In my kitchen, I have really long drawers that cause a black hole of sorts. You see, even my longest utensils aren’t able to span the entire length and so I end up sorting things both horizontal and vertical. All it does is equal a tangled mess a few weeks later and I have to start all over. So, it was time to take action.

Starting with a thick piece of cardboard and a Bruce Springsteen album (because I can never find a straight edge when I need one) for guidance, I cut two strips diagonally across one corner of the cardboard. No, I didn’t measure and that’s ok. Just trust me on this one and cut! It’ll work out, promise!

(Image credit: Sarah Rae Smith)

Next, I scored the corners so I had small bendable wings. The wings were perfect to tape against the side of the drawer to hold things in place.

(Image credit: Sarah Rae Smith)

See? There’s zero measuring involved. They just fit right in. Scout’s honor.

(Image credit: Sarah Rae Smith)

Snug as a bug in a rug. Now, how to secure it. Sure, I could probably find the perfect adhesive like a glue dot or clear tape, but my friends, that’s not the kind of girl I am. Enter washi tape. Because really, what else are you going to use it for? A special project on Pinterest? Nah, not today. Today, it’s adorning my drawer and you can glam it up or scale back the aesthetics as much as your little crafting heart desires on this one.

(Image credit: Sarah Rae Smith)

The tape easily holds the cardboard to the side of the drawer and then goes across the top to really hit it home with a pop of color. There are also crumbs in this drawer because it lives next to my oven and this is the real world. No staged drawers here, folks. You’re lucky there’s not an entire chicken in that thing.

(Image credit: Sarah Rae Smith)

Now you’re all set to load in your kitchen gear. This solution allows long things and short things to live in the same drawer, in the same space, and not end up looking like an 8-year-old with gum in her hair. A place for everything and everything in its place! Thanks Bruce, I couldn’t have done it without you… or those jeans! Me-yow!

*Editor’s Note: For all those concerned about my inability to cut straight with an X-acto knife, please note, there were no real record covers harmed in the making of this tutorial. This was an extra sleeve that I picked up at a garage sale to frame. I obviously keep my real jacket and album under lock in key in the safe in my basement to preserve for future generations.