Decluttered & Organized Junk Drawer

The infamous junk drawer. Every home has one, and every home’s is probably living up to the name. At least that’s the case for us. Our junk drawer became a graveyard for receipts, random keys, dried up pens, coupons and other JUNK… you know the drill. It was in dire need of some organization and a serious purge.

The organizers that we’re currently using worked fine to hold most things, but they were mismatched and would slide around when you closed the drawer. Minor problem, but it drove my OCD up the wall.

Instead, I got modular acrylic organizers (links for shopping below) from Amazon, and oh my gosh they are just what I needed! They come in different sizes of 3×3, 3×6, 3×9, 6×9, etc. that all fit together perfectly. They’re sturdy, crystal clear, and just the right height for a junk drawer.

I set aside the previous organizers, cleaned out the drawer, and decided what items would be staying and what could find a home somewhere else. We had a bunch of things that belonged out in the garage or my office but got placed here out of convenience.

Everything that was staying in the drawer got put into a perfectly-sized organizer and set to the side. I got rid of about half of the things in the picture above and was able to make other things that made more sense!

I started to place the containers with my most used items up front and worked my way back to the things we don’t often reach for like extra keys to my Jeep and Roomba cleaning tools. I also left an empty space in the very back since the drawer doesn’t pull out all the way and I can’t see back there anyways.

Putting the containers in an a clean, empty space is my favorite step to any organization project. There’s something so satisfying about moving things around and playing with layouts until everything fits like a puzzle.

An awesome tip is using glue dots on the bottom of your organizers so they don’t slide around. I was worried it might damage the drawer, but they can be pulled off super easy like it never even happened. I tried “slamming” the door a few times and nothing budged!

And then, ta-da! A beautiful, organized, and purposeful junk drawer! There’s not a single item in this drawer that doesn’t belong and everything has it’s spot.

I love how it all came together in such a neat and orderly way. The clear containers were definitely the right choice and make the drawer feel so spacious. I’ve even caught myself finding excuses to open this drawer just to enjoy my work.

Now that it looks like a picture from a Container Store catalog, there’s no way I’m going to let it get messy again. There’s no extra room for bills, craft supplies, wine stoppers, and whatever the heck else ended up in here.