Chores Made Easy: Organize Your Junk Drawer

Whenever I get home, I usually walk through the door with unwanted remnants of my day stuffed into my jacket pockets. Along with my car keys, I tend to unload this odd conglomeration of coins, lipsticks and store receipts onto the first unfortunate surface I see, which then often gets swept into a junk drawer. (If you dug through my junk drawer right now, you'd probably find something close to the following: Chinese food sauce packets, my checkbook, toothpicks, etc.)

I consulted with professional organizer Monica Ricci of Catalyst Organizing Solutions to help me get a grip, and boy did she have some good ideas. For one, Monica traded the term "junk drawer" for "utility drawer" and "helper drawer," which makes them so much more appealing! Here are a few tips to break your bad habits and have "a place for everything, and everything in it's place" (a saying I hold very close to my heart).

Decide: Do I need this?
Most of the time we get lazy and don't feel like thoroughly sifting through the mess. But if you don't see any purpose for it now, you probably won't tomorrow! Throw away old pens, coupons and anything else you keep around because "you might need it someday." You won't! Monica encourages you to ask yourself, "What are the odd that I will ever need this again?" and "If I really do need this, is there a better place to store it?"

Get a coin jar for all that lose change.
Coinstar takes a share of your cash, but it's most likely money you otherwise never even knew you had. Put a change jar in a place that everyone knows about, and have the whole household contribute. This seems simple, but not enough people do this and stick to it! I can't tell you some of the places I've found pennies in my own house -- they are everywhere. Turn that useless change into a rainy day fund for a movie ticket or dinner out. Believe me, you'll be surprised how quickly it adds up when it's kept in one place!

Organize the clutter.
Categorize and combine like items (these small and large drawer dividers are ideal) by their function. Think about what you misplace most often (scissors, matches, measuring tape, tools), and make sure those items have their own designated place in your drawer divider. What makes the cut is really up to you, but the key is keeping like items together so they are easily found when you need them. Then you won't be frantically rummaging around wondering: "Where on earth did I put those birthday candles?"

Keep up the good work!
Once you're organized, don't slack off! Remember that you're busy, and as tempting as it is to cheat and throw those toothpicks and business cards into the drawer "just this one time," you're only making your life harder. The drawers are "a tool to delay decision making," says Monica. "The bad thing is that when you stash things away in that manner you always have to sort it and make those decisions later anyway." So true! Whether we take the time now or later, at least if you do it straight away, it's done and you don't have a mounting chore on your hands.