Junk Drawer Overhaul: Last but not least

So this is the very last Junk Drawer Overhaul series post. Have you enjoyed it? Aside from the clever ideas all of the guests have shared, I think the best part was seeing that even those people with gorgeous homes and amazing blogs have some messy areas they keep away from prying eyes. And if it motiviated some of you to clean out a spot that has been bothering you then all the better!

Closing out the series is another amazing blogger who needs no introduction. Its the always clever Thrify Decor Chick. I've been a fan of her blog since the early days so I was so happy she agreed to join in.

Hello all! I’m so excited to join my friend Stefanie for her Junk Drawer Overhaul series! I actually love to declutter, especially this time of year. It’s so cathartic to purge – and it makes our house feel so much lighter.

I’m sharing a junk drawer from our bedroom with you today. Who has a junk drawer in their master bedroom you ask?

That would be us:

We have a dresser in our bedroom that we don’t even use for clothes. I love the extra storage space, but that space is usually the landing spot for JUNK that I find throughout our room – typically about ten minutes before guests arrive for a party. ;)

My first step when tackling any junk drawer (we have many) is to pull it all the way out – and put it on the floor or on a table.

Then dump it ALL out.

I like starting fresh. With it all spread out and the drawer all empty and clean, I can figure out my plan of attack.

First – the trash. There’s usually lots of it, like these coupons from three months ago:

I was probably looking for those. :)

Next, I pull out what doesn’t belong – things that need to be put away throughout the house.

Like this baggy full of change and furniture assembly parts:

Not sure what that was about.

While digging out the screws and bolts, I found an interesting combo of currency:

That would be US money, foreign coins (what the heck do you do with those?) and Chucky Cheese coins. Those are like gold around here. :)

It didn’t take long to get this drawer sorted out --- the trash pile wasn’t too bad:

I especially love the full package of never-opened gum that expired June of 2010. Who knew gum expired? Maybe everyone else but me.

And then the put away or do something with it pile:

Of course it’s the bigger one. ;)

I deal with this one by throwing everything in a leftover shopping bag, then I travel throughout the house distributing the items where they go.

And in the end, I was left with the necessities:

Light bulbs for the master closet, enough pens and pencils to last me a few years, notepads, hand lotion, earplugs (you never know when you’ll need them), and of course a couple of my tools.

I keep a small electric screwdriver and a hammer upstairs for fast fixes – they’ve saved me many a trip down to the basement those times I want to put one little nail in the wall.

So for at least a few weeks, I can breathe a sigh of relief when we open this drawer that started out like this:

And now, gloriously empty.

Maybe I’ll tackle the other five drawers in the dresser now. Next week. ;)

Thanks for having me Stefanie! It was fun and I got a clean and organized drawer out of it! WHOO!