Renaming Your Junk Drawer Is The Clever Organizing Solution You Need

Even the most organized homes have at least one deep, dark secret: the junk drawer. Where else would you put your batteries, rubber bands, old technology, and other random things? Sure, you could throw them out, but as soon as you do, something comes up that makes you wish you still had that one strange item. If all of these pieces are useful enough to keep, then maybe it is time to stop calling them junk. Instead, embrace the eclectic storage and start calling it a utility drawer. When you have tried out all of the smart organization tips that even HGTV stars swear by to no avail, this mental shift might be the solution you need.

The name junk drawer evokes a messy and cluttered space, and some claim that renaming it to utility drawer can make it easier to keep organized because it changes the way you think of the storage. It is no longer an area where you throw items that do not have another home, but it's a purposeful space for tools and supplies. So, crumpled receipts and dried-ink pens that don't fit the bill of useful won't have a space in your utility drawer. You can immediately throw them away instead of using the storage space to hoard trash. You may also need to employ a few other decluttering tips to keep the area tidy. However, this clever hack is harmless to try, and a new way of thinking about your storage space can motivate you to start getting organized.

When things have a dedicated space, you are more likely to put them where they belong. However, the junk drawer doesn't have to be called a utility drawer. You can rename it to something that encapsulates the specific items inside. If you mainly store batteries and cords, try calling it electronic storage or if it's all tape and rubber bands, call it packing materials. Adding a label to the front of the drawer can also help reinforce the shift in intentional storage. You can also use this trick in other spaces, turning that cluttered office drawer into a stationary drawer or your junk closet into a supply closet.

However, for this to work, you will need to declutter your junk drawer to make the new name fit. Only useful materials can be stored there, and other items will need to find new homes, whether it's the garbage bin or another storage basket. Once the space is tidy and purposeful, you should not fill it with random, useless junk anymore. You will also want to find items you can use to organize your drawers, like dividers or trays, to truly finish tidying and keep things in their designated places. So, will this hack clean up your home for good? Maybe not, but it can motivate you to eliminate the junk and help you remember to put things where they belong.