How to Unclutter Your Kitchen Drawer

Hello! So it's been a while since my last post, sorry! We've been in a bit of a whirlwind lately with family vacations and planning a wedding. Yes, the Brit finally proposed!!!! But more on that another day :) 

Today I want to talk about that pesky, overstuffed, impossible-to-locate-anything, kitchen drawer. And I'm not talking about the junk drawer. I'm talking about the OTHER drawer. The one that holds everything else you may need for cooking, baking, and eating. Here's a simple way to keep that drawer clutter free!

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Ok, so at one point our drawer looked a little something like this...

{This is so shameful!} 

Just in case you can't get the full effect of how horrid this is, here's a gorgeous view of the back of the drawer. You know that area that you can't see very well and have to gamble with the safety of your hands when searching for something. 

{Seriously? What is actually back there?}

I know, and I call myself organized. Some people may say, there's no excuse for this! Well, I beg to differ, and if you have this same problem, I hope you do too. 

Excuse 1. - I have all these things that I need.

Excuse 2. - They're all different sizes and impossible to store. 

Excuse 3. - Once I clean it up, it just goes back like this in a day. 

And so on and so forth. 

I agree! But I couldn't take it anymore, and something had to be done. 

Unload Everything 
Much like my other organizing adventures, I started by unloading everything. A total of 60+ items were in that space! 

{I can't believe all of this fit into one drawer! And who needs 2 ice cream scoops, really?}

Remove Occasional Items
From those items, I took out the ones that we do not use on a weekly basis, or that are more seasonal {such as the corn holders}. 

Find an Alternate Space

I had a small storage box from Ikea that was not being used, so I filled it with these not so popular tools. 

Using these awesome Avery Removable Dry Erase Labels, I wrote down everything that was in the box and posted it right on the front. 

Now, where do you store this box, you might ask. Well, I still wanted easy access to it, because I do use the supplies, just not as frequently. We have a cabinet above our refrigerator. It holds many items that we don't use daily but they're still easy to access {sometimes with the help of a step stool}. I put our kitchen drawer box in the cabinet, but strategically right in front and closest to the counter. So it's the first thing I see and I can grab it quickly and easily. 

Reload the Necessities
Back to the drawer... I was shocked how many items we weren't using frequently that were taking up so much space! When I went back to put everything away it fit perfectly and I could actually see everything that we have!

We have the two baskets in front separated into booze supplies and measuring spoons, then our measuring cups, bottle opener, spatulas, water bottle cleaner (we use water bottles daily, and they get a bit nasty after a while), ice cream scoop (just one!), can opener, pizza cutter, and peeler. 

Although you can see it clearly here, let's just compare the back of the drawer shot with what I was working with before...

{Holy bananas, what a difference!}

I can't believe what a difference this has made and how easy it has been to keep up with. We haven't pulled one thing from the box and not put it back into the box after use. This was a bit of a worry of mine, old habits die-hard. But it's been really easy. Since everything is so spaced out and organized in the drawer, when I accidentally bring our egg separators there, it's easy for me to remember that's not where they go and take three steps to the right to put them in their {new} rightful location.

I think what I like best about this though, is that it was free! As you all know, free is my favorite. I had been toying with the idea that maybe I would purchase those nifty separators for large utensil drawers, but they all seemed really restrictive in what they could offer. Either the utensils were too big or the dividers didn't measure up to match our drawer size. In the end, I'm very happy with the new layout of the drawer and how easy it has been to keep up with. 

Do you have any tips for keeping your kitchen drawers organized? Please feel free to share! 

Thanks for visiting!

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