Aptly named, this institution is a magnet for everything that doesn't have a home or a purpose. It provides shelter to broken, questionable and/or undefined objects. It shields rubber bands, paper clips, batteries, pieces of ribbon or old string, keys, bags and a myriad of objects from being tossed.



If you cannot find whatever you need in a few minutes, if you spend too much time digging through the contents to locate that one useable item, it is time to get rid of the junk drawer.

Clearing out the junk drawer is not really difficult. Give yourself 10 to twenty minutes. Prepare a spot on a counter or table, covering it with newspaper to prevent any small pieces of dirt or dust from escaping onto a clean surface. Have at hand a box or two – depending upon how big your junk drawer is, and a garbage bag. Empty the junk drawer onto the paper and get ready to begin.

Do not let the wide array of materials, and there is sure to be a lot of variety, put you off. You have to approach it logically. Begin to sort, placing in each of the items in different piles according to purpose. Ties, rubber bands, twist ties and the like in one pile, batteries in another, sewing items in another, etc.

Once this is done, make another pass. Examine the items in each pile and place in piles labeled: things you use regularly; things you use rarely; things you haven't used in at least a yea; things you haven't used in years; things with parts missing (and the missing section is not in the junk drawer); and things you don't have a clue what they are.

You might also have a pile for materials that belong somewhere else. These should be removed immediately and put in their proper place. If the item or items have a specific individual owner, return it to them with a cautionary warning on what will happen to it if it finds its way into the junk drawer “by mistake” once more.

The items without parts and those deemed unidentifiable have only one destination – the garbage. There should be no equivocating. You do not need old batteries, old keys to former homes and long-since forgotten vehicles. Dried up super glue and used up tape rolls have another destination. They are bound for the landfill site.

Once you have tossed the definite culprits, consider what is left. Be harsh. Do not reflect, act. Toss out the extra string, ribbons and rubber bands, or relocate them to the craft room and place them in the proper storage bin. If there is truly nothing useful in the junk drawer, if all it contains is junk without any useful purpose – toss it all out. Do not feel guilty about it. You can rest assured that this innocent little drawer, or another exactly like it, will eventually be appropriately designated the junk drawer.