49 UHeart Organizing: The Junk Drawers That Went Glam

Two contributors, two junk drawers, two ways!  I love that something is in the air and folks are tackling their junk, or what I like to call "everything", drawers.  These can be the most challenging drawers to keep under control so it is always interesting to see how others take on the types of drawers that have no single purpose.

Leave it to my buddy Cassie to color me impressed!  Her and I are two birds of a feather and have an appreciation of making organizing functional and fun.  This girl has some serious style, which you can see over at her blog Hi Sugarplum, and today she is here to show us how she organized a couple of drawers doing multiple duties in her kitchen.

In our Kitchen remodel a few years ago, we were able to remove the dated wall oven and microwave, and carve out this little nook with two rows of drawers.  While I think drawers are a more efficient use of space than cabinets, they are easy victims for accumulating junk. It's just so easy to toss in any random object, then quickly close the drawer and ignore what's happening inside.  Hence the term junk drawer!  At first glance, no one knows about all those skeletons hiding just beneath the surface!

The height of the bottom drawers made them perfect for pots, pans, and appliances, but the top two drawers are too short for much of anything...so they immediately became the dumping zone.  The size also made it hard for me to find organizing trays and dividers, so most everything was sliding around willy-nilly.

Besides more junk, the second drawer held a bunch of my craft supplies.  But I've since organized all of those into one efficient Craft Closet, so that left the drawer pretty much empty.  Don't you love how good organizing actually creates more space?

I knew if I wanted to keep the drawers tidy long-term, then I'd need to make them cute.  Just like with our Pantry, if it looks good, my family is more likely to put things back in the proper place.  The junkier it looks, the junkier you're likely to keep it.  You can knit that on a pillow if you want.

So after cleaning out the drawers, purging all the dried-up pens, empty gum wrappers, 2-year-old coupons and receipts from 1981, I lined the bottoms with wrapping paper, held in place with washi tape.

I love this set of baskets because they are shallow and allow you to customize to your drawer like puzzle pieces. But since I'm a blogger, I had to jazz them up to keep me interested.

Liberace and I go way back, so of course I went gold.

I love the combo of graphic paper with pretty metallic...there's no mistaking these drawers for junk anymore!

Then I sorted the remaining items, and rounded-up all the other random things we seem to need daily, but can never find, and organized them in the two drawers.

My kids are old enough that I don't have to keep dangerous things out of reach, but there's no sense in mixing box cutters with glue sticks.  So I dedicated one drawer to everyday kid stuff they need for homework and projects, and the other holds the more grown-up items.  They have free reign to access this drawer, and help themselves to anything in it.  As long as they put it back, of course. Ain't nobody wants to see mommy's head spin around.

I know ya'll are nosy like me, so I labeled everything to make the snooping easier.

Double-decker organizers are perfect for using every bit of vertical space in a drawer.

Having this drawer has cut down on the, 'Mooooooooooommmmmmmmmm, where's a staaaaaaaplerrrrrrr?' #halleluiah

The other drawer holds mostly things the Mister and I use, and like to have handy. Because sometimes walking to the garage for the tape measure is just exhausting.

Get your snoop on....

We have a charging station at our Family Command Center, but somehow we still have 87 more chargers, cords, and headphones. (I lean towards the exaggeration, if you hadn't noticed.)  Look how pretty they are corralled together!  You're petting the screen, aren't you?

Each is wound with a cable tie and labeled, so there's no mistaking the electronic.

Same goes for all the lenses, cords and accessories for my camera.

Now these drawers make me so happy I could join the circus. Sometimes I keep them open just to admire...no more slamming them closed before anyone sees 'the real me.'

I dare you to call them junk drawers now! Them is fighting words! Happy organizing, lovebugs!

"Hi, I'm Cassie, a DIY and design-obsessed Texas girl, and lover of travel, fashion, sarcasm and Mexican food. When I'm not hanging with my sweet and funny family, you can find me kicking the '80s out of our home, one budget project at a time, on my blog Hi Sugarplum!"




Update!  Thank you sweet readers for warning Cassie and myself the dangers of the 9-Volt battery storage.  Cassie is making tweaks to her drawer based on the response.  This blog is all about educating one another, and I truly appreciate you guys mentioning it!  xoxo!

56 UHeart Organizing: A Nice & Neat Nightstand

For the first time in forever (sing it Anna), I am in a small organizing slump.  It has been a few weeks since I have tackled a drawer, closet or cabinet, and I am starting to twitch.  With school starting next week, I have quite a few things to get buttoned up this weekend.  And I have Courtney of A Thoughtful Place to thank for lighting a little fire in me again.  Although I just recently cleaned out my own nightstand, just watching her go through the process and seeing her before and after photos has inspired me to want to get something else done.  Plus, her bedroom is pure eye candy and now her nightstand drawers are as well.  She is here today to fill you with some inspiration and motivation, and celebrate her recent organizing success story.  Welcome Courtney!

Hi, all! I’m really excited to be here today and even more excited to finally have drawers I am proud of. I’ve been hiding a dirty little secret and it’s time to come clean. While I have a bedroom I truly love, I have been sleeping next to messy drawers. While this may seem like no big deal, to anyone who loves organized spaces you know what it can do to the blood pressure. The best part is that this makeover cost no money and only took a couple of hours. Let me tell you! It was time well spent.

Here is a peek at our master bedroom and my side of the bed. While we are all about the DIY and saving money (headboard project here) we did actually splurge on these bedside tables from Restoration Hardware. And I love them. I truly do. But holy cow, they quickly became a dumping ground and it’s been driving me bonkers. I am embarrassed to even show you but I think you need to see the before to appreciate the after.

Even my husband was like, “You’re not going to clean that up before you take a photo?” Ha, nope. This is really how it looked, my friends. What I love the most is that there is a book about tidying up tucked in there. How about that for irony? OK, let’s keep snooping.

Please tell me you can relate at least a little bit. I even have Christmas garland I picked up somewhere (on clearance I’m sure) because you never know when the mood might strike to bust out a holiday garland. It’s just ridiculous the amount of junk I have in these drawers.

I feel better already. I think. Part of me wants to crawl into a hole after sharing these but I think we all have been there. Or maybe you are in this same predicament now. So I wanted to take you through the method I used to have these drawers looking pretty in no time.

The first thing I did was shop my own house. That is exactly why this project was free. I am willing to bet that you have storage containers somewhere in the house that aren’t being used or could be a better fit for your drawers. Even little bowls from the kitchen work. I have been known to reuse empty salsa jars as well. You really don’t have to go shopping to a fancy organizing store to get this project going. Have any shoe boxes? Those covered in cute paper work wonders. I grabbed a dollar section wood tray, a couple of green tins (from IKEA and never used them) and a clear organizing tray I had in my bathroom with two things in it. I also grabbed a little white bucket and a clutch. HINT: a clutch you do not use on a regular basis can make a great place to store gift cards or receipts. And it’s pretty, too. 

I am queen of picking up pretty wrapping papers wherever I see them. This one was from HomeGoods and it was in my wrapping paper station I showed you not too long ago. I knew I wanted to add some color to these drawers and this was the perfect choice. I will say that if these drawers belonged to my children I would use something stronger like a contact paper. But because I am the only one going in and out of these, I knew the paper would hold up. More on that later. (Check out how I used wrapping paper as wallpaper here).

Once I gathered some bins I could use it was time to empty the drawers. It definitely gets messier before it gets better! Boy there was a ton of stuff in here. My method was to pull up my bench and use a laundry basket to hold all of the items I took out of the drawers. Then I made piles: keep, trash, and move to another spot in the house. I was shocked at how much really didn’t need to be in these drawers. About 1/3 was trash and another 1/3 belonged in a different room altogether.

I measured each drawer and cut the paper to fit. I used something called “Quake Hold” to attach the paper to the drawer. It’s just a putty that won’t hurt the furniture and can be removed. But it holds the paper in place and is perfect for this type of project. Just seeing the paper in the drawers made me so happy. I could stare at that all day long.

All I wanted in my top drawer was my daily journals, sticky notes for when I read or brainstorm blog ideas at night, and my stationary. I often write a quick note to a friend or a thank you note while sitting on my bed during the day so it’s nice to have them right here. I used the plain wood box for those notecards and a pen.

On a side note, if you have not heard of this book it’s fantastic. My friend Jennifer from Rambling Renovators gave it to me and it’s a really unique way to remember five years of memories. I highly recommend.

In the next drawer I put these green tins to work. I have a new camera that is in my camera bag, but have kept this one because it is light and compact and I usually take this one when I travel. I tucked the camera and the charger in this tin. The other tin hosts all of the printed photos I have but have not done anything with. And to be honest, I just like having a stack of real photos I can just thumb through. Seems like a lost art in this digital age.

I cut out my monogram from stationary I have and added it to the green tins because it’s just so much prettier to look at.

This drawer also holds more of my journals, my iPad and an empty tin. I have learned that more “junk” will creep in and now I have an empty tin I can toss it in (bobby pins, change, you name it). Then I will just need to address the tin and it won’t junk up the rest of my drawers.

Lastly, the bottom drawer has my laptop cord, iPhone cords, extra cards for my camera and my heating pad. Yes, my heating pad. I’m not getting any younger and this baby does wonders on my back. Just keeping it real.

I can’t tell you how much better I feel about this space. Thank you for letting me share my dirty little secret and not judging me! I seriously love opening these drawers now and they used to give me anxiety. I hope I have inspired you to clean our a drawer or two and just shop your home to get it done.

More organized spaces around our home:

• Garment Rack 
• Mini Mudroom 
• A Children’s Chore Box

Thank you so much, Jen, for letting me hang out here and share a little bit of our home with your readers. It’s always an honor to be here.

_______________

"Do you believe in love at first sight? I sure do because when I first stumbled upon I Heart Organizing I immediately fell in love with Jen's mad organizational skills. I think we all long for a calm, organized, well styled life. I am the author of A Thoughtful Place blog where I dish on all things related to decorating, organizing, entertaining, and of course DIY-ing! To be quite honest, working on making my house a home is my happy place. It fulfills my need to be creative and I love sharing ideas {both big and small} with my readers. Along with my blog, I am a contributing writer to House of Fifty and have recently started my own decorating firm, Casey Grace Design, LLC, with my talented sister. I call Orange County, California home where I live with amazing husband and two children. At the end of a busy day, I love to enjoy an ice cold beer on the front porch with my hubby while we watch our children ride their bikes or run around. Life is sweet and I am thrilled to be a part of the IHeart Organizing Team."

17 Got 15? Nothing "Junky" about this challenge!

Last week I pushed out a little mini-challenge and you all have really been rockin' out those drawers!  Thank YOU so much to everyone who has been linking up their awesomeness to share with us this week!

Oh my, have you been back to look at all the linked up inspiration?  So much fun!  Here are a couple of the drawers you will see....

Common theme amongst all these incredibly organized and functional drawers?  I would say, containerization.  There are days when I think that a junk drawer is just a dumping ground and it shouldn't exist because everything needs a place.  But the junk drawer IS THE PLACE for misc. items that really have no where else to go!  But, junk drawers can also quickly get out of hand, unless dividers and containers are brought in.

Containerizing keeps items in categories so they will be easier to find!  Plus, it reduces them from rolling around into the drawer and meshing into a giant pile of mess!  Lastly, it makes it more challenging to just dump every random thing into the drawer when containers are in the way!  That's a good thing!

I see everyone got really creative with their containers.  Mesh baskets, leftover boxes, bowls and yogurt cups.  It shows it doesn't necessarily matter WHAT you use, anything can become a container!  Love the no moola makeovers!

So I promised to share in this excitement and tackle my own drawer as well!

I started with this, which already had a drawer divider {from Ikea}, I just wasn't using it correctly....

I pulled everything out and dumped it on the counter.

Then, I lined the drawer just like I did here for the utensil drawers.

And I sorted through all the items on the counter.... How many screwdrivers do we really need?

It's hard to tell, but there are categories going on here.....

Baggies of misc. hardware, command hooks and magnet clips galore, Scentsy scents, random useless items... you name it, that's what the drawer is for right?

Here is the important part.  I realized that the drawer was becoming a dumping ground for some items that already had real homes.... back to their homes they went.  Like screwdrivers and misc hardware, which had bins in the garage.

This paired down a lot of the items, the rest either went into the garbage or back into the drawer.

Ahhhh, much better!

Starting in the back, the Scentsy packages got snipped down a little to fit standing up and still be able to close the drawer:

All of the Command Hooks and other hooks and clips all were categorized together in another compartment:

The Mr. got his own compartment:

And so did I!

Some hardware I am planning on using soon, got to stay, along with a tape measure and one phillip screwdriver and on flat head. 

And that's it!  Final Before and After?

  

SO much better!  And in under 15 minutes!  Leaving lots of time for a good happy dance around the kitchen.  I always say, it's the little things!

Link up party ends today, I can't wait to dig through more and more inspiration!

What do you think?  Oodles of greatness going on right?  Who else is motivated to hop onto this 15 minute challenge?  Those that are done, how easy was it?  What items have you been finding that has surprised you?  A winning lottery ticket or a lost piece of jewelry?  Let's chat!