When I'm helping people build a food storage the thing I hear most often is not that they can't afford it... but that they don't have anywhere to put it. Your thinking...what does that have to do with the Junk Drawer? Well first here's a little background...
Meet me: 7 years ago... my first home, I'm sure you can imagine it as if I were you, you're standing in your kitchen surrounded by boxes and thinking "Where will I put my Kitchen Aid that can finally have a home!!" I'll put the glasses up there...and plates there ...and in that drawer I'll put... JUNK! Yes, Finally I have a junk drawer. Yeah right! For some it starts as an office supply drawer and others it was once a place with a meaning that has long since been forgotten. Others are honestly so attached to the junk drawer that as organized as they are they are never getting rid of the junk drawer as organized as it is... or isn't. I started a junk Drawer. It's the way it was. It's OK, ...everyone has one!
It's hard for most people to get rid of the junk to make a place for what really matters most to them. Follow me on this Junk drawer journey and find yourself seeing what you value a little differently!
So about 2 years ago, I decided to start with baby steps in getting rid of the "junk" in my life. How does that relate to THRIVEing in the Kitchen? Well...look around. What is taking time, energy, or space away from what matters most? We are going to clean up the Kitchen over the next few weeks! And The first babystep that will open your eyes is the Junk Drawer. It seems that people like a place to store the Junk in thier life... I used to call that a drawer...now I call it the TRASH!
I pulled that Drawer out of it's place. Put it on the floor, put my six year old in charge of sorting it out. It's junk I don't think they'll hurt too much! I took the papers... embarrassed to say I had great coupons over a year old in there. We found the typical old batteries, pens, and markers that didn't work. Sheets of stamps with only 2-3 stamps on them. Stickers, suckers, 375853748 twist-tie type contraptions. (Come-on... you never need that many, and if you do they deserve a place of their own!!) So we sorted it all out. I started with Pens, Pencils, Markers. I let the kids find the ones that worked and threw out the rest.
I LOVE it when I can find a free solution to an organizational issue in my home, because there are so many ways to spend a ton of money!So here I covered a few small containers that I had put aside. I used scrap-booking papers that looked good in my house. Then I took one that worked for the kids and added a cardboard divider so that the pens wouldn't fall to the bottom. It worked then, and it's still working today 2 years later.
Since there is no Junk Drawer there aren't a whole lot of photos, but I used 1 small drawer to put frequently used items we felt needed to be down stairs. I learned that, for our family, pencils and markers and crayons couldn't be stored in the drawer, it was too much chaos. So I put pens for mom to use in the drawer and used the canisters for everything else. I was legit in making it functional. Though not glamorous I'm proud that the whole transformation was done for $1 out of pocket and totally finished in 2 days. It's been working for almost 2 years now... so I think I've found a junk-drawer-less life!
Can I take 1 second to say how I love to see everyone's ideas but sometimes I think... REALLY? Does that really work for that problem? Sometimes things look great the day you organize it, but are so impractical that even days later they are proving a waste...
So find something that you think will solve the problem not just visually but systematically. Mull it over and think of the pros and cons...there is more than one way to do just about everything!
Everything in your junk drawer likely has a place somewhere else in the home where it belongs.
If it doesn't:
- Consider purging it.
- If it is important, create a place for it .
- Make a List of what you have to put away if it seems overwhelming.
- Decide if you need it in the Kitchen.
- Where is the most convenient space to store it?
My Best Organizational advice ever:
Does it make you more happy?
Is it worth($) the room it takes up?
If you can't answer YES to both of these questions...
maybe it should be on the curb!
A list might be helpful so you can see how many different items you collect in the drawer and if you already have a place, or are making a space for them.Once you have made a list, look for ways to solve storage solutions with what you have already. This does 2 things: one it uses what you already have, saves time, not running to the store and lets you get to organizing right away. And it saves money which is what my goal is.
I made a place for everything on my list and in 2 days I had organized so much more than my Junk drawer... My kitchen was cleaner, and shelves/drawers all through the house had been straightened up or reorganized.
It started with one drawer and I didn't stop till it was empty. Once I lived a week or two with an empty drawer and very little clutter on my counters, because it could NEVER go in that drawer again... I felt an amazing burden lifted... I had little reminders of the peaceful life all through the house as I went through out my day. Slowly I began to clear out and get rid of other cupboards and drawers in the Kitchen. I cleared out about 4 spaces in the Kitchen that can now house more meaningful items... And it all started with 1 Junk Drawer.
Find ways to clear the junk so you can start storing the things that will bring your family peace in the home today, and peace of mind in the future as you are able to store and save for your families financial stability.
---Want to share your story of clearing out and cleaning up in the Kitchen? Making your space more functional and using what you have to do it? Our homes don't need to be glamourous to be functional, they don't need to be show stoppers to create peace and tranquility for our families.
The goal is making a home where Peace and Love can be felt. The Kitchen is a great place to start!---
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