Hold Onto Cardboard To Reuse It For Better Kitchen Utensil Organization

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Are you tired of digging through your kitchen cabinets in search of that one cooking tool, or maybe your junk drawer is getting a bit out of control? While it's common to run out and purchase a standard organizer for utensils, these pieces can get pricey, especially if you have multiple drawers that need attention. Instead of feeling like you need to splurge to get perfectly organized drawers, create your own solution by repurposing cardboard strips to function as DIY separators for any type of drawer. This is one of the practical ways to repurpose cardboard that requires minimal materials to bring to life.

Keeping your kitchen utensil drawer clean by using cardboard for organization is truly a beginner-friendly way to repurpose this material that often ends up in a landfill. You'll want to have a tape measure and pencil on hand to get the cardboard strips to the perfect size. It's also helpful to have a sharp blade, like the WORKPRO Premium Utility Knife, to cut through the cardboard. You can also use a standard box cutter or scissors if that's all you have to work with. Finally, contact paper is the perfect addition to keep everything in place.

The first step to this utensil drawer organizer hack is to measure the interior space of each drawer you're making dividers for. Measure length, width, and depth and mark down these measurements by drawer. Now, it's time to use the utility blade to cut as many corresponding strips to the measurement sizes as needed. You'll want to make sure that the strips of cardboard are as close to the exact size of the drawer as possible to minimize excess movement. It can be helpful to start with strips a bit longer than what is needed and then trim them down in small increments (for both length and height) to create the perfect fit.

Once you have all of your strips of cardboard ready, it's time to set up the dividers in your drawers. Set up the cardboard based on the types of items you need to store in the space and decide how you want to handle the overlap between sections. For example, you can cut a small notch into one of the strips where it meets the other as a way to help them sit together. You can also put the contact paper directly on the cardboard for extra stability and design or on the bottom of your drawer for grip.

Just because these organizers sit inside the drawer doesn't mean you can't get creative with their design. If you used contact paper to help construct or design your drawer organizer, consider changing up the pattern based on what you're storing in the drawer. Color coding can help with organization, so why not make the utensils drawer organizer blue and the sections of the junk drawer organizer a different color based on each area? This can also help the rest of the family stay organized, too.

If you didn't opt for contact paper and constructed the dividers with just cardboard, you can still get creative with the final look. You can easily change the color of the cardboard with spray paint to customize the divider or use acrylic paint for the best results when working with this type of material. Still ready to craft and have even more cardboard boxes left over? You can repurpose cardboard boxes around the house in countless ways, from custom wall art to numerous storage solutions in the rest of your kitchen.