Before & After: I Organized My Parents’ Kitchen Drawers Without Buying a Single Thing

When Chicago went on lockdown, my husband found himself — like many others in the service industry — out of work. We hunkered down for a few weeks, trying to figure out what we should do, and decided to hit the road and head to the country to stay with my parents. We spent six unexpected weeks with them, and it actually ended up saving us quite a bit of cash. They helped us by sharing the cost of groceries and provided childcare while I worked, and in return we wallpapered a few rooms in their house, helped out with a few organizational projects, and gracefully allowed them to demolish us in card games. 

An extended stay with your folks after being on your own for 18 years is a bit of an adjustment, but we all got along pretty well! There was one sticking point, though, and that was the state of their utensil drawers!

For as long as I can remember, these three drawers have been packed full of mismatched beaters, As Seen on TV kitchen gadgets, incomplete sets of measuring cups, and Ronco knives that could double as props in a horror flick. The simple task of slicing an apple first called for a tug of war match with a drawer, and some fancy finagling to get the measuring cups out of the way so the drawer would actually open.

I feel like I need to take this opportunity to provide a disclaimer: My parents’ house is actually super clean and organized, with the exception of these three drawers. My adorable dad likes to buy kitchen gadgets wherever he sees them (Menards, gas stations, QVC … ), and my sweet mom (who won’t actually ever use said gadgets) is too thrifty to turn them down. So everything gets stuffed in the drawers until they hardly can open; it drove me bananas when I would cook. So I politely asked if I could go through the drawers and organize the utensils while my mom supervised, and she agreed!

I started by emptying each drawer and placed items in piles according to their purpose. I tossed anything broken or rusted and grabbed a bin for donations (I knew we’d be donating lots of knives and didn’t want those going into a flimsy bag). Once everything was out of the drawers I took them out and vacuumed, then wiped them down with a cleanser. 

Next, we went through the piles and narrowed everything down. Originally, the top drawer was for items they used daily. It didn’t make sense, though, because it was small and packed so full, the drawer would get caught and you’d have to fight to open it. It made the most sense to put kitchen knives in there, along with other items that were used moderately, like corn cob holders, cheese spreaders, and salad servers. I repurposed a bamboo box we found in the garage and used it for measuring spoons, and relocated a shallow, beautiful casserole dish to hold smaller items.

Next up: the second drawer. I headed down to the basement to look for some sort of container that would fit in the drawer and keep the utensils neat and organized. I felt a bit like Goldilocks — I kept coming across containers that were either too large or too small. Nothing was large enough to fit the utensils but small enough to fit down inside the drawer. Then I came across my parents’ canning supplies and found a bunch of wide-mouth Mason jars. I took them upstairs and found that they fit perfectly in the back of the drawer and, like a countertop utensil container, could easily hold the handles of my utensils. I was able to place five jars in the drawer, which ended up keeping everything separate and neatly organized. 

The last drawer turned out to be the perfect place for the electric knife that gets used maybe twice a year, hand mixer (with beaters!), immersion blender, knife sharpener, etc. It’s mostly a long-term storage situation. Only now it actually makes sense.

The most satisfying part: The giant tub of items we got to donate! Oh yeah, and being able to actually open a drawer … and then find what I needed.