Kondo that junk drawer
Be like the declutter queen Marie Kondo and start easy by clearing out your junk drawer, you know, the one you shove coins, batteries, junk mail and various bits and pieces into.
Empty and Appraise
The best way to really see what’s in your junk drawer is to tip it all out on to a large flat surface and take stock of what’s actually in there. Start to remove items that clearly have no use such as non-working pens and markers, old keys, ancient business cards and anything else that’s clearly outlived its usefulness.
Go Digital
Is your drawer full of takeaway menus and half scribbled-in notebooks? A good way to remove the clutter is to move these items to the digital realm. Most smart phones and tablets will have a perfectly good note taking app that will allow you to jot down names, numbers and ideas. Services like Menulog provide apps that takes all those menus (plus many more) and keeps them hidden away on your device of choice.
Expand and Categorise
After a good sorting there might still be too much ‘junk' for one drawer. If you’ve got the space expanding to two or more area specific drawers can be a great way to keep things sorted. A kitchen junk drawer and a laundry junk drawer might be a way to keep the clutter under control with items specific to each room stored neatly where you’ll need them.
Divide and Conquer
Now that we’ve got your junk drawers down to a manageable size, it’s time to make sure you keep them sorted and clutter-free. The best way to do this is to compartmentalise everything in your drawers by keeping similar items together and sorted into their own area. Working pens and batteries can be held together with elastic bands. There’s a range of drawer dividers available (check out the range at Ikea) but you can also reuse boxes or takeaway containers to create your own compartments to keep all your ‘junk' in a place where you’ll always be able to find what you need.
