How to Have A Healthy Relationship With Your Junk Drawer

Who has a junk drawer? Maybe it’s not a drawer, but a basket box or bin. You know what I’m talking about: that place in your house where you stash all junk that you don’t quite know what to do with in the moment; those weird items that don’t really go with anything else. Come on now. Be honest!

I am the first to tell you that I have 3 junk drawers in my house…yes…3! At any given time, there are office supplies, loose change, random photos, hand sanitizer refills and that orphan charger that nobody seems to own. These catch-all’s are great because the drawer can be…get this…closed! Everything gets dumped and hidden away just in time for the neighbors to drop by.

Here’s the catch… You’ve got to address this junk at some point or that great drawer concept doesn’t work. The damn thing won’t close! Add a reminder on your calendar once a month to open said drawer and sort through its contents. 2 of my junk drawers are in my kitchen, so I hang 3 different plastic shopping bags from the drawer pulls of the closest drawers. As I pull out each item, I throw it into one of the 3 bags.

One is for trash and items I can easily throw out. Things like those plastic end tabs from the popsicles that my kids cut off with the scissors from the junk drawer and simply let fall into the drawer instead of depositing them in the trash. Come on, I can’t be the only mom suffering from that one!

The second bag is for items that belong some where else. I use this one to temporarily stage the things that need to go back to places like the kids’ bedrooms, the playroom or the garage. Once filled, I walk through the house with my bag, depositing all contents back where they belong.

The third bag is for items that I feel are just fine right at home in my junk drawer. For example, it’s the first place I go to when I need a pen to write out (yes, I am a bit old school like that) my weekly grocery list. If I move the pens, it will really throw off my whole system. Some things are just better left alone.
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The great thing about this plastic bag process is that they can be thrown out after you are done, and I personally get a little burst of adrenaline for reusing them before they hit the trash can. Laugh as you may, I am sure that if you give this process a try, you might feel the same thing!