Cleaning Out the Junk Drawer

When it comes to getting the junk drawer cleaned out an organized, it always seems to be very low on the priority list.  You'll be surprised though just how relieved you'll feel once that junk is under control and the useless items you've been storing forever are thrown out.

Most people have a junk drawer in their homes.  Whether it is a drawer in the kitchen or in your bedroom nightstand, it’s always there gathering more and more junk as the years progress.  Cleaning out the junk drawer can be fun.  Really; it can.  You never know what you may find.

Well, the day has finally arrived.  You have to clean out the junk drawer because it’s driving you nuts, right?  Well, let’s get to it then.

The first thing not to do is try to take the drawer out.  Get a large box and begin transferring all of the junk items into the box.  Now you can take the box to the kitchen table or just sit on your bed and go through each item.  Ensure you have a plastic bag ready to throw out whatever you don’t wish to keep.  Which brings up another point: some people just hate to throw away anything.  But, you have to make the effort.

Ready?  Let’s begin.  After you’ve put everything into the box, begin the sorting out process.  What did you find?  Small photo frames, costume jewelry, boxes of paper clips, pens, recipes, a few soft covered books, mementos, paper and index cards, unused greeting cards or cards you’ve saved from loved ones, figurines, new wallets still in boxes, lotions, pictures, perfumes, notes of all kinds, well……you get the picture, right?

After you have made your neat little piles, you have to decide what you want to keep.  Ideally, all of the old stuff should be tossed.  However, if you are a saver, that’s unlikely.  If you must save anything, why not put them in a scrapbook.  For example, the old cards, letters, pictures, and notes can be neatly preserved by starting a scrapbook.  Frames can either be utilized or given away.  The books can be donated to the library.  All of the lotions and perfumes can be tossed, especially if they are very old.  Put the mementos way in a shoe box and be sure to label the box and place it on a shelf in your bedroom closet.  Everything else which does not have sentimental value can be tossed.

You can convert the junk drawer for that which it was intended such as another lingerie drawer or a utensil drawer if the junk drawer was in your kitchen.  You can give away any of the new things you find that you will never use.  Well, what do you think?  Look at it this way, you’d just taken a few hours to clean out a drawer that wasn’t mean for junk and can be used for other things you may have scrunched into other drawers.  Feel better now? 

More Resources:

www.housekeepingmatters.com has many great tips for getting the house clean quickly.