A graphic of a drawer filled with a variety of items
Episode 35 – Decluttering your junk drawer

In this podcast, Lesley and Ingrid explore whether having a junk drawer is useful in a kitchen. We discuss decluttering your junk drawer, how to organise and containerise the items that stay.
Almost everyone has the dreaded junk drawer in their home. It can be full to bursting with all different kinds of bits and bobs that don't have another home in your house or have been put in the junk drawer for 'safekeeping'.
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Transcript of this podcast episode
Intro  0:07  
Welcome to today's episode of The Declutter Hub Podcast, your channel for super easy, no nonsense advice on how to declutter and organise your home. Please welcome your host professional organisers, Ingrid Jansen, and Lesley Spellman.

Ingrid  0:25  
Hello, and welcome listeners to Episode 35 of the Declutter Hub Podcast. I'm Ingrid. 

Lesley  0:31  
And I'm Lesley,

Ingrid  0:32  
if you have clutter and want to short it out, this is the show for you. In today's episode, Lesley and I are talking about taming your junk drawer. Lesley, it's confession time. Do you have a junk drawer in your home?

Lesley  0:47  
I absolutely do. And I think everyone needs one, don't they?

Ingrid  0:52  
I have one too. So we're all good. We're all good.

Lesley  0:56  
I just wished it was that I could think of a better name for it, because it's not really full of junk. And I think that's the difference. But do I have a drawer in my kitchen? That I have stuff in there to organise things? Absolutely. I do. You know, like things that you need close at hand and so on. Yeah, I definitely do. I can't think of a better name. What would that draw be called

Ingrid  1:17  
a drawer of practical things drawer. I think the thing is, because a lot of drawers we see in kitchens are junk drawers. And I think they're full of junk. So I think that's why they've ended up becoming junk drawers. And they're actually bulging at the seams with loads of random stuff. And then it really is a drawer full of junk. But of course, in this podcast, we're gonna talk about how to make sure that doesn't happen. And you can actually become a drawer of useful things drawer. Things

Lesley  1:46  
like clay, that's what it's going to be called. And so yeah, you know, the thing is about a junk drawer as well. It's not a quick job, you know, it's not a quick job, let me tell you, your junk drawer can take a couple of hours to get through and to manage effectively. So this is not a quick fix. But maybe we need to think about it on an ongoing basis. I think we need to do a one off declutter of your junk drawer with some realism thrown into the mix of the things that we're going to talk about now. And then try and keep on top of it and be very mindful of what goes in there going forwards.

Ingrid  2:18  
Yeah, yeah, good points. And I completely agree with you. I mean, a junk drawer, you have to really have some good willpower and some time on your hand because it is not a 10 minute job.

Lesley  2:30  
Exactly, exactly. So what kind of things do we find in there?

Ingrid  2:33  
Oh, my gosh, well, the list is endless. But the first things that come to mind are batteries used and unused. Oh my

Lesley  2:42  
god, she's faltering already kind of just tell you Listen, before we came on, we were having a bit of a kind of brain dump in terms of what kind of things we find in there. And it was like a little English lesson for Ingrid. Some of the things that she was taught, you know, that sort of stuff and the hairs and the ribbon and the rope and the string. And I was like, No, that's not what it's called, like, English lessons. So if she says anything weird. So go on, you go through your list and see what you've got. And I'll tell you whether it's the right English terminology.

Ingrid  3:12  
Well, you've helped me already along my way, so I think I'm good, I think, but not most of all batteries used to unused. I have found pens, I have found little screwdrivers and tools. I have found fuses keys, old and new. Those little money bags that you can bring to school, little elastic bands.

Lesley  3:40  
Can I say a few? Yeah, I may. So you find in there chopsticks is quite a random one that I find all the time. tea lights are quite often in now. We said that already. So now people put tea lights in there as well. You definitely find string and ribbon from gift wrap and things like that. Oftentimes your charge are definitely old charges. As for charges for phones that no longer are in use are quite often in there. Then you might find takeaway menus in often you find posts, so if there's important posts that people put them out of stuff in the junk drawer, there is so many things that find their way into that drawer just because you don't know where else you're going to put it. So just chuck it in there and hope for the best

Ingrid  4:27  
matches. Back ties. sellotape radiator keys. Did I say elastic bands already? Lots of elastic bands? discount vouchers, for sure for stores and shops, fuses fuses

Lesley  4:46  
when he uses a fuse anymore who uses fuse theories. Have you ever used a fuse?

Ingrid  4:50  
No. I know. I know there are people who actually have fuses. I know

Lesley  4:55  
but I don't know. I mean, maybe I'm wrong. But I can't remember the last time that I checked because that In a plugs these days kind of sealed on this. You don't even need fuses anymore unless maybe you're an electrician. But in general, Joe Bloggs on the street. I don't think fiddles around with fuses, but we still find them in there. Yeah, expired credit cards, we could just do a whole podcast of just reeling off things. But I feel that may lose, lose its impact. So let's go on and talk about the why and how we're going to fix this and what we're going to do about it.

Ingrid  5:26  
So why why do people have junk drawers? Lesley, we think everyone has them. That's why we're doing a podcast about it. But why do we have them?

Lesley  5:36  
I think they're the psychologists that come into play really with a junk drawer, a lot of times it's worry. So there is a very, very defined psychology with clutter, which is worrying about the fact that you're going to need it someday. And that forms a big part of a junk drawer. So that's why you'll find in there little screw packs from Ikea when you've built some furniture, or, you know, Allen keys, and things like that. That's why you'll find old, expired credit cards and things like that, because people that will maybe might need it, or I need to do something with it. But I'm not ready to do that now. So there's a lot of worry goes in there. There's a lot of procrastination goes in there as well, which is another big thing, isn't it with clutter? is I don't know what to do with that just now. So I'm going to put in there and I'm going to deal with it at a later state at a later date. Sorry. So we're and procrastination definitely form part of a junk drawer. Dare I say, laziness? Am I allowed to say laziness? Is that mean? There's definitely an element of laziness that goes into a junk drawer, I think, isn't it because you can't be bothered to put it in its rightful place? Yeah, you know, even if you have a rightful place, you know, if you've got to go up a floor or down a floor to put it away, then you just can't be bothered at that moment in time. So maybe laziness is a bit strong of a word. And we're going to lose loads elicited that I'm not lazy. I'm going to be controversial here and say laziness forms a part of a junk drawer. And I think it's just that overwhelm. It gets to a stage where it's just so overwhelming, that it's just too difficult to tackle.

Ingrid  7:14  
Yeah, true. And I think it's also all the stuff, the tiny stuff that doesn't have a home. You know, I think that's all it because it doesn't really go well. Anywhere else, when you put it up. People have not decided yet, what were the places where that stuff needs to go. So what do you get jumped in and dumped in a junk drawer because no, nobody knows where else goes.

Lesley  7:39  
So it's actually a kind of lack of organisation really isn't everything, you know, this place for everything and everything in its place. And that goes down to the white you go down to the Y with these things, you know, you need a place for your use batteries until you take them to dispose of them effectively. You need a place for your IKEA screw packs, and they probably need to be labelled up with what they actually are. You need a place for your radiator key when you want to bleed your radiators once a year or however often you do that. You need a place for your takeaway leaflets, if you want to refer to those on a Friday when you get your takeaway, or once a year if you Ingrid that she told me last time I was there. She only gets a takeaway once a year, which I was astonished by anyway. So we won't go into that. So maybe

Ingrid  8:24  
we'll do another podcast on.

Lesley  8:28  
I know exactly. But that was a whole nother size issue shaming me into getting regular takeaways. But anyway, that's, that was an aside, we won't go down the takeaway route. But you still these little odds and sods they still need a home. And the thing is they're very random things. Yeah. And so they're not they're not going to have an obvious home. And so we need to find a home for them. And quite often that home is in their drawer of practical things. Yeah. And so but we just need to make sure there's not loads and loads of practical things in that drawer that make it become overwhelming.

Ingrid  8:58  
Yeah. So you and I both agree, a junk drawer is really helpful. We both have one. But so let's discuss then, how do we clear this out? You know,

Lesley  9:11  
as we've already said, this is not a quick fix. This is a big job. You know, this is lots and lots of tiny little things that you're going to be unsure of what to do with them, because the worry about whether you need them or not, is going to be quite a big deal to you. So you know, you're going to need a lot of willpower. And you're going to need to be quite ruthless. And you're going to meet need to make decisions that are quite difficult, I think. Yeah. And so yeah, it's it's not a quick fix. So you're going to certainly need some time before you even start. You need to you maybe even probably need input from other members of the family, because there will undoubtedly be things in there that belong to other people and not belong to but other people might have ownership of the example. Yeah. And so you're going to need to maybe put things to one side and said Do you know what this is? Yes. And a lot of it is simply knowing what something is, you know, so it's kind of an Ikea drop screw pack that was spoken about. And we find those everywhere times, in junk drawers, you know, so you've put the piece of furniture up, yeah. But then you somehow have a little pack of stuff left at the end of it. And it might be that you've not attached your Calix unit to the wall. And they've given you a pack that you can do that at some point. But the chances are, you're, if you've not chosen to do that, at the time that you built it, you're not going to do that going forward. And so you might as well just chuck that pack away at the time, and just offload it and say goodbye to it, you can always go back to IKEA do a fantastic job of little, you can get spare parts currently at IKEA, you know, so that's, you know, fantastic thing to know, you're never going to be without. So you know, it's finding homes for these things. And knowing what you need and what you don't, you know, maybe those screw packs should be in your toolbox, wherever your toolboxes, you know, but then equally, there are things like screwdrivers. So in my junk drawer, I do have two screwdrivers, I have a flathead screwdriver, and a Phillips screwdriver, like standard sort of size that's gonna, you know, do so that I don't have to go downstairs and get it out of my toolbox every time I need it. And so, but I don't have the whole toolbox, and I don't know, hammer and, you know, picture hawks and all that kind of stuff. Because then if I'm doing a bigger project like that, then I'm gonna need to go down and get my toolbox. And so it's where that sort of boundary lies really for you. And how, how do you need these things close at hand? Or can you go downstairs or upstairs or whatever? Or to where they're stored and find them?

Ingrid  11:38  
Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. And I think the main thing is, when you start doing a dunk junk drawer and really commit to it, make sure that you have a flat surface that you can work with and some space, and you really have to take everything out everything out of that junk drawer. And then you start to categorise it and you put your batteries, with your batteries and your tools together and your fuses together and all the little. And that's where you can kind of oversee what's going on here. And what can I declutter from this drawer.

Lesley  12:17  
And now, I mean, I think one of the things that I will say about a junk drawer is it makes me feel guilty, because there's an awful lot of stuff in that junk drawer that will go straight to landfill. And that cannot be recycled. Yeah. And so it's always hard. That's a hard thing for me when you know, I love recycling and we try and recycle everything at source if we can. There are an awful lot of things that are in that junk drawer that just can't be unless you're very, very clever about Semmens a lots of fantastic schemes out there where you can recycle everything. But again, you've got to kind of balance that up with whether or not that's a barrier to you getting the job done. Really. Yeah. So yeah, you know, tip everything out and junk drawers are quite often, you know, because they're next to kitchen surfaces, they're full of crumbs, and they're all a bit manky. And you know, you've got it's a bit grimy in there. So I've got a pair of gloves on I often when I'm doing a junk drawer with a client. I don't wear gloves that often but I do and I'm doing a junk drawer because all the crumbs off the workers have gone in there and so it's all a little bit kind of monkey and grimy, isn't it? Yeah. So yeah, just know that before you start and then just set to and start working on it and think about what you absolutely need close at hand. This is not everything because some things will have a home elsewhere in your house. Yeah. But having said that, you know junk drawer quite often is towards the tail. If I'm doing a whole house with a client, I'm doing my own whole house. Then everything else needs to have found a home you need to have done your utility room you need to have done your kitchen you need to have done your stationery you need to have done your gift wrap all of those things. So that there is a home for those things before you can tackle your junk drawer so you can put some things that are in there away from out of the junk drawer to their natural resting place them. Yeah, yeah,

Ingrid  13:58  
that's that's definitely true. And or indeed, if you're decluttering a kitchen. If there's not a utility room, the junk drawer will be the last thing I will do when I declutter a kitchen because yeah, it can be kind of a tarnish and you want to have the other carpets done first and if we also get the junk drawer dug but I agree with you sometimes you need to do other parts of the house and then go come back to that junk drawer and then go Ah, now we have a place for stationery. So all the stationery stuff that's in your junk drawer apart from maybe a pen and a poster so you can make a note quickly when you're in your kitchen needs to go back to where older stationery lives. We've now taken everything out we've decluttered it we've returned stuff that we know needs to go to other places but we still have stuff left that we want to keep in our drawer of useful things. So how do we keep it tidy?

Lesley  14:54  
I think it's really important for us to you know we spoke about send Then things to their rightful home. And it's about knowing and creating space for though. So the decluttering is a massive part. So I think in a standard junk drawer, there's probably 70% of that stuff that is going to go, yeah. Or it's going to go and it's going to go to a to do. So if it's coins, for example, you know, because you find coins in there all the time, you know, they either go in your purse, or they go to a kind of Coinstar, or the bank or whatever, if they're foreign coins that are just hanging around, they can go to charity, you know, so it's finding those homes. And because it is a lot of, you know, we talked about procrastination before, it is a lot of unfinished jobs that are going to be in that the decluttering is the biggest part of this. At that point, then it's about a level of honesty about what you're keeping and what you need close at hand, as I've already mentioned. And then we need to containerized and we will have a container, don't we? Yeah. And so this is where you can help with the single use plastic thing, where you know, all these little takeaway. I mean, you won't know that Ingrid because you never go and but for those of us who get sadly, single use plastic all the time from the takeaways, that's something where we can use them in those junk drawers, because that is the perfect the perfect size part for junk drawers to containerized things into. So next time, you do have a takeaway with those little plastic parts, keep hold of them. If you haven't got, you know, I'm sure you've got probably many in your Tupperware section anyway, if you haven't keep hold of them, and use them to containerize your junk drawer.

Ingrid  16:29  
Yeah. Or also, if you have drawers that are a little bit deeper. shoe boxes can be really good as well. If you've got like smaller shoe boxes, I'm not talking a size 43 here. But if you've got especially shoe boxes from Kid sizes, there can be really perfect as well.

Lesley  16:47  
Or the lets you know you can use the latest Well, I'm sure yes, it's a good. It's just like anything that's going to stop it from rolling around in the drawer and start to get mixed up with other things. Really. Yeah. I mean, I I've got I got those wide kitchen drawers, you know, those kind of double size ones. And so my junk drawer is is in one of those. And I've just got a standard cutlery drawer, you know, like a cutlery inserts that you would use to withdraw? And so that's what I use to containerize things, because so it's got three or four different sections that that that work perfectly for me.

Ingrid  17:19  
Yep. Yep. I think that's really true. And I think also, then, you know, you've got everything containerized. Now it's all neatly packed in there. But I think the last step is to kind of make the circle round here. Just don't think with anything, I'll just put it quickly there. You know, if you now have a home for a huge battery, don't put it in your junk drawer, put it in the used the tray or the books or the pot or whatever, which holds you use better base, and not just quickly put it down, put it away to where it belongs. And all it put in your junk drawer what you really need to be in there.

Lesley  18:01  
Yeah, you know, and it's fair. So my US batteries go in a container in my junk drawer. Yeah, to me. So that might be the home for them. We talk all the time about resetting your house and putting things away and weekly routines and keeping on top of things. And so if it's on your work surface, take it to where it needs to go home. And I've got a basket that I use in my home for things that are kind of misplaced in the houses that are not in their rightful position, throw everything in the basket. And like you know, a lot of people have stare baskets and things like that I've got one just outside the kitchen, I put things into him periodically, then I'll either take the basket myself or get the kids to go and put things back in the rooms that they're supposed to go in. And sort things you know, not all the time I'm not you know making these trips every single day. But every two or three days, I put things away rather than just out of sight out of mind, which is what a lot of people do really with the junk drawers. So we've talked about containerizing we've talked about the decluttering process in a junk drawer, which is huge. And you tell me what you've got left in your junk drawer now then are your drawer of practical things.

Ingrid  19:07  
I have my stamp roller, my so I can roll it much temporal are over my books. So if I get an Amazon package or what package in which has a label with my address, I want to roll that away with like a cover up roller. I've got

Lesley  19:24  
definitely need to say me probably need to explain that a little bit more because some of our listeners won't know what that is. It's like an ID roll that you can get them from Amazon and different places can't use so what it does is it almost it puts a layer of ink over an address and it kind of completely obliterates that address. And so you can protect your address against identity theft, fraud. So obviously, you can shred can use normal pieces of paper, but when you had an envelope or one of those with bubble wrap in it, you can't do that. And so you need to sort of cover that over. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Your ID roller Yeah, yeah.

Ingrid  20:00  
Yeah, and I've got a couple of pens in there. I've got some of those moneybags, when I need to put in cash money for school, my daughter is still in primary school. So there's some that need to pay a little thing into school for like, tickets for something or donation. So that's in there. I actually have it together with my straws and my napkins. And so that's in there, because they're kind of random, maybe it's I think, as well. So what's your your junk drawer, then?

Lesley  20:31  
Well, I've got, as I said, I've got a screwdriver in there, I've got little things that I know will get lost. And so I've got a little milk for off of, kind of, say the word for offer. And it's got a tiny little attachment to it, that has to come out for washing, I know that I need to find if I put it in my other utensil drawer, it would get lost among all the wooden spoons and things. So I have that in there. And I have a thing to light candles in there. I have medication. So we've got various bits and bobs of medication. That's a kind of daily one. So my son has allergy tablets, and my daughter said they're in there, I've got a tablet that I take each day. So the tablets that I'm definitely taken every day, rather than put them in my standard medication box, because they use every day, they're in there as well. So I've got maybe four different medications in there. And I've got a pen, I've got a post it note, I've got some matches in there. I mean, my sort of bag ties and bag titles are in a separate drawers because I put those in with the other tin foils and claim films and stuff like that. I do have my placemats that we use for dinner in there as well. And that's it, I think so I've not got loads and loads in there little screwdriver that I use. What else is in there? I think yeah.

Ingrid  21:50  
Yeah, yeah, I kind of am quiet because I would have I think normally my shoot a couple of shooters, but they're actually in my desk in my living room, so I know exactly where they are. And like I said, my my little bag tied in with my clingfilm foil and my batteries are in a whole different. They're not in not in my in that drawer, they're they're living somewhere else. I've got a nice battery box where I keep all my still to use batteries. And my my use batteries are in a container with that's labelled use batteries. Yeah, but I've got so I've got assigned homes for things like that. So they don't just all end up in my drawer. So it's very specific for your own home what needs to live in your junk drawer.

Lesley  22:36  
It is, you know, so they talk about the screwdrivers and things. And so where I've got my tools is a bit of a track really, you know, if you've got a garage that's outside or a shed that wet where you've got your standard tools, then that's a bit awkward, isn't it to get out too. But if you've got your tools in your living room, then that's fine, because it's not that far, it very much depends on the makeup of your own house, what's going to be in that drawer. But the real important thing is not to have too much do not have too much. So that becomes overwhelming. And make sure that you containerize it so everything just doesn't roll around and become a big mishmash of junk rather than more of practical things. Very nice. Very nice terminology. I think Ingrid, I'm still gonna call it a junk drawer.

Ingrid  23:19  
Well, listeners, Lesley, have we missed anything else? Or have we discussed anything about the drawer of practical things?

Lesley  23:27  
practical things? No, I think we've covered everything. I mean, it's very hard, because obviously everybody's gonna have different things in their junk drawer and different things that made them tick and different things in their house and that they need close at hand and things like that. But it's just important to question those things and see whether or not if they've got a home somewhere else dotted around your home. Put them away.

Ingrid  23:47  
Yeah. So listeners, what are you going to put away from your junk drawer and find those takeaway containers in your Tupperware cupboard and start to do have a bit of a nice, tidy and clear out of your drawer of practical things and love that. I'm going to use that from now on. So we hope you've enjoyed listening to our podcasts and are inspired to take action. Thank you so much for listening to us today. And if you'd like to get more tips and advice, do follow us on social media. We are on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. And we've got a lovely lively Facebook group community. We'd love to see you there. And if you don't want to miss the next weekly episode, don't forget, subscribe to the declutter hub podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, and Spotify, and it will pop into your notifications each Friday. See you next time.

Outro  24:38  
Thanks for listening to this week's episode of The Declutter Hub Podcast. Check out declutterhub.com For more inspiration, and don't forget to tune in next week.
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