Project: Organize the junk drawer!

Anyone's junk drawer look something like this?

I think that's about what every junk drawer in the world looks like - just a messy drawer where you throw all those little odds and ends you don't know what else do to with. Problem is it gets progressively more and more "junky," to the point where you can't find what you need and if you're anything like me all that junk starts spilling out onto your counters or into other drawers in the kitchen. No bueno.

So here's a little challenge from me to you - take 20-30 minutes out of your day and get that drawer under control! Here are the simple steps to taming that junk drawer.

1. Take everything out of the drawer. EVERYTHING. While it's empty, take a damp cloth and wipe out the inside of the drawer. It probably hasn't been cleaned in ages, eh?

2. Sort, sort, sort! Sort like items together and make three separate piles - items that need to go back in the drawer, items that need to go somewhere else in the house, and garbage to throw away. You'll be surprised how much garbage has been taking up precious space in this drawer!

3. Use what you've got to get organized. I don't have the time or money to go out and buy a bunch of organizing containers, but I do have an abundance of tupperware containers that I don't particularly like for food. They fit just right in my junk drawer though!

4. Sort like items into containers. Think about what you use most often, and what you only need to get to every once in a while. That way things won't get shuffled around too much once everything is nicely in place.

5. Admire your work! Doesn't this look so much better? I keep opening the drawer every time I go into the kitchen just to look at how organized everything is.

Now for the real challenge - keeping it that way! Organizing your home doesn't take hours and hours. You can get a lot accomplished just by taking a little sliver of time out of each day.