Did you just grown?  Now come on, you know that the “junk drawer” in your kitchen is absolutely unnecessary in your life.  Okay, lets break this down…answer these questions:

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<ul>
	<li>When was the last time you went in that drawer?</li>
	<li>If you answered with a definitive answer to the first question, what were the last three things you got out of the drawer?</li>
	<li>How long did it take you to find those items?</li>
</ul>
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Now that we have had done the THB polygraph I can continue this post lol.  In my experience we typically have one of two types of junk drawers (1) full of junk kitchen supplies and (2) full of misc. items.  Lets tackle each separately.

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<strong>The Junk Kitchen Supplies </strong>- I know how this drawer starts…you have things in your kitchen that don’t really “go” with other things in your kitchen.  I think about my kitchen and I have serving utensils, eating utensils, cooking utensils and baking items…and then there are the “other things”.  Those things that don’t really have a category but are necessary...or are they (enter mystery music here).  My recommendation is to pull all of your utensils out of this mystery drawer and investigate them (do you see the mystery theme we have going on here lol).  Here are some rules of thumb:  if you can’t identify what the item is, let it go.  When was the last time you used it?  If it has been longer than a year, let it go. Is it broken, let it go.  Now, that you have eliminated all the unnecessary items take the remaining items under advisement.  Ask yourself, is this the best place for them?  When I do use them, how do I use them and what do I use them with.  Sometimes you need to shift where they reside.  I ended up doing this with our baking supplies (measuring cups and themometers).  We determined there was space in our everyday utensil drawer and they slipped in perfectly.  Once you have removed the excess, consider getting inexpensive containers to segment the drawer out so like things can live together.  This prevents things from just sliding willy nilly around in the drawer.  I ended up reusing a plastic silverware container and using it to store all plastic ware.  The rest of the items used to be in there randomly, but we organized them in the containers I was telling you about.  Yes mine came from the dollar store!  3 for $1.00 can’t beat that.  I told you organizing doesn’t have to be expensive.  I mean who cares if it came from the dollar tree or the container store as long as it knows and does its job!

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Oh sorry I digress.  So there you go, you have organized your junk kitchen supply drawer in probably less than an hour.  I would take a guess and say you did it under 30 mins.  Not hard at all.

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<strong>The Catch-all Drawer - </strong>Now this drawer usually starts a little differently.  Typically, this drawer starts with good intentions.  You decide to put a pad of paper and a pen in there, the birthday candles and lighter in there.  Then, what ends up happening.  You are straightening up and you see pens on the counter, you throw them in.  You are using the flashlight and decide oh let me just put them in the drawer.  Oh and then you go to get the flashlight because the lights went out and you can’t find the batteries…so you end up putting them in the drawer.  Overtime, the drawer ends up being something you can’t open because there are so many response items that end up in it.

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Well to tackle this, I recommend a similar process as the other scenario.  Pull everything out of the drawer and evaluate it.  What items do you really use in the kitchen.  Ohhh see I got ya with that one.  Most items in the junk drawer aren’t actually used in the kitchen!  Ok, now of the remaining items that made that first cut, how many do you actually need in this drawer.  If this drawer is going to hold extra pens that’s fine, but you need to set a limit regarding how many  you need in the drawer.  Again those same dollar store containers will work fabulously here because the set a limit or what I like to call your capacity as to how many you can have.  Give each item that is going to live in that drawer a home in the drawer.  If it has a home it is more likely that the items will be put back where they go.  As with the other drawer, sometimes you need to rethink how and where you actually use the item.  Personally, I consider a flashlight to be a utility and our utilities go in the laundry room in our house so that is where I would put the flashlight, but I understand everyone doesn’t think the same…so determine where your family as a whole thinks the items should be stored and place it there.

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