The great part of this junk drawer makeover is that it uses junk as the solution to the disorganization. All it requires is old boxes and bowls. We all have small jewelry boxes or shoeboxes lying around. They're just taking up space so why not repurpose them for free as a junk drawer organizer? You'll feel refreshed and proud of yourself after tackling this tough task!

Why Didn't I Buy Anything?

What was the reasoning behind not buying any organizers?

It was about more than saving money. In her book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing, tidying guru Marie Kondo says that your home already contains all the storage it needs:

People often ask me what [organizers] I recommend, no doubt expecting me to reveal some hitherto secret storage weapon.

She goes on to sing the praises of shoe boxes, check boxes, business card boxes, jewelry boxes — “basically, any square box or container of the right size will do” when it comes to finding storage for your tidying projects.

Here's what I found — all items that have been in my possession for at least a year.

• All the boxes and little containers I collected from around my apartment
• A shoe box lid
• A cardboard box for checks
• Metal lids from some tin containers in the kitchen
• Various cardboard boxes — bottoms and tops — from an old Birchbox subscription
• A couple small pink and green boxes
• A small ceramic bowl
• A birch wood container from IKEA
• A jewelry box
• The lid from an empty stationery box

Playing Tetris with the junk drawer, while all the “junk” sat on the countertop

It took about 10 minutes and a lot of swapping various boxes in and out — changing their orientation, moving up, down, and around — until I found an arrangement that used up the most available space in the drawer.

Then the fun really started:

I assigned a storage task to each container: a box for all our pens, pencils, and dry erase markers; a box for paper scissors; a few boxes for our medicine bottles; and another box for my label maker.

I used the shoe box lid to hold my two kitchen scales, and the ceramic bowl for rubber bands. Two more boxes went to hold all our batteries, and a roll of masking and painter's tape.

And the jewelry box? I stuck the safety pins in there. This solution made me a little giddy, actually.

Have you been able to organize your junk drawer using this method? Are there any other tips you have for keeping the junk drawer presentable?

Article and Photo Source: The Kitchn. Video Source: My So-Called Home.