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Forum -> Household Management -> Organizing
The proverbial junk drawer..



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supermama2




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Dec 15 2008, 10:33 pm
Well I have more like hmm 4, 5, 6? So what do you suggest doing about this. Yikes, I have misc. stuff in these drawers..2 in kitchen 2 in buffet...they just open up and collect the odd battery, the scrap paper, and I'll spare you but you get the idea. It really drives me bonkers but though I've cleaned them out several times, the stuff keeps getting attracted to these drawers.. Thanks for listening Smile NO, I'm not interested in flylady..I fell off the broom but thanks lol
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OldYoung




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Dec 15 2008, 10:35 pm
Take some plastic shopping bags, empty the drawers into the bags and throw the bags away. That should get them pretty clean.

Or you can just give the bags to some of your kids and let them make a garage sale in the summer.
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supermama2




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Dec 15 2008, 10:39 pm
you don't think that "gasp" I'll need those coffee pot instructions six months from now? Or that stray battery? hehe
Thanks oldyoung, I like your thinking, really Smile
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dillie




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Dec 15 2008, 10:41 pm
don't try and get rid of all of them. everyone needs a junk drawer. start by limiting the junk to two or three- and designate the cleaned drawers for something else.
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lubmommy




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Dec 15 2008, 10:48 pm
How about making most of them a home to other more permanent things. Maybe put some dish towels in one or even canned food.
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OldYoung




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Dec 15 2008, 10:48 pm
lol. Pleasure, of course. My thinking only comes from the fact that we have 2 drawers in our kitchen, which I use for fleishig and milchig silverware. 1 drawer in our buffet which has some wedding proofs in it. We never had a junk drawer to begin with, instead we have a little "basket" that hangs on the wall with a pair of scissors, permanent marker, pens, stamps, scotch tape and some thumbtacks. Everything else has its place and goes into its place, instead of just sitting in a drawer to be forgotten. Seriously though, if I had a drawer that contained items that I couldn't list their names if you paid me because they were so unimportant, I would pitch them. Btw, we have all of our manuals saved in a file in case we need them. And there's a good chance that the old coffee pot instructions are somewhere online in case you ever need them...
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lubmommy




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Dec 15 2008, 10:49 pm
jinx
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yo'ma




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Dec 16 2008, 4:42 am
It's better than all over your house Wink .
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Marion




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Dec 16 2008, 4:48 am
I have one "junk" drawer. It contains:
-spare batteries
-the warranties for all small appliances (phones, CD players, etc...)
-my very small baggy/Ziploc supply
-my marking pen for my bottle/milk storage bags
-the first aid kit
-the Scotch tape
-the spare mezuzah cases & klaf (we bought one spare in case we developed a problem)
-the extra matches & emergency candles

I figure as long as I know what's in there, it's not junk.
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zaq




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Dec 16 2008, 12:30 pm
The more space you allot for "junk" the more junk you'll have. a few drawers isn't bad considering some people have entire junk closets or rooms. If you really want to get rid of junk, reclassify those drawers and put real stuff in them. You also have to make dejunking an ongoing process. If you have municipal recycling it's easier, b/c putting things into recycling is less guilt-inducing than just throwing out.

Also if you organize the drawers with dividers or bins and keep them neat, getting rid of total junk like old gum wrappers and broken rubber bands, keeping only the good rubber bands and owner's manuals for small appliances you still own and use, then what you have is not a junk drawer but a "miscellaneous" drawer.
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greenfire




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Dec 16 2008, 12:36 pm
some of these thingys you just cannot live without ... I say every house needs a junk drawer & perhaps one in every room ... how else can we entertain ourselves to reminisce when we bought the coffee urn - invaluable recipes that we dream of making - or not ... saying to ourselves "but it came with the ____ "

my dd threw out a toy kitchen - I took it back in ... What what if my grandkids (one day) want to play with it ... she insisted they won't ... I'm not ready yet ...

and this flylady thing sounds scary - who wants flies flittering about ?!?!?! Twisted Evil
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Mimisinger




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Dec 16 2008, 12:40 pm
First of all, we have PLENTY of junk in our house. We need to cull through!!!! ANd greenfire, my ds Loves the kitchen at his bubbie's house. Keep it, or get one in a few years from a garage sale like she did.
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Rubber Ducky




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Jan 09 2009, 1:09 pm
Every home need a junk drawer -- get some dividers or make/buy something with divisions like apothecary drawers. Anything you can put into a category, can be organized. Ikea sells some good organizers. We have a "trinket chest" which is a type of granny cabinet -- a skinny, tall stand-alone furniture piece with 15 small drawers holding things like keys, batteries, pennies, seed packets, rubber bands, shoelaces, small tools... and junk.

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greenfire




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Jan 09 2009, 1:16 pm
I love your grannie chest ... is it truly from grandma ... where did ya get it ...
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zaq




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Jan 09 2009, 1:51 pm
warning: before you buy ANY organizer thingie, whether it calls itself an instant classic or a genuine antique, DEJUNK FIRST! Do you really need the stuff you want to organize? these clever devices are nothing more than "junk bunkers" b/c they make it possible for you to fit more useless things in the same amount of space. Tidy junk is still junk. Twenty years of back issues of TIME magazine that you never look at is junk not only when it's carpeting your living room floor but also when it's neatly stacked in those magazine binder things. recycle them. Two thousand coffee swizzle sticks, even if they're individually wrapped and imprisoned in a lovely Victorian "keepsake" tin, are still junk if you don't use them. give them to the cheder to use for building model miniature sukkahs or something--or to the PTA when they serve coffee at meetings. For that matter, diamond jewelry is still jun k if you hate it and never wear it. get it reset or give it to your dil.
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Rubber Ducky




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Jan 09 2009, 3:08 pm
Greenfire, we bought it about 20 years ago at a trade show.
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greenfire




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Jan 09 2009, 4:35 pm
Rubber Ducky wrote:
Greenfire, we bought it about 20 years ago at a trade show.


I LOVE it !!! Mr. Green
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