Organization makes me smile.
It calms me.
It is second nature to me.
For you fellow organization freaks, you get it. You know what I mean. You're my people.
For those of you who are skeptics, or just don't have the Organization Bone (I'm sure there is one, right?)....well, I'm guessing you wouldn't be here based on the title of this post. But if you are, how sweet are you? Reading my little blog just for the fun of it. :)
So maybe I should get to the inspiration behind today's post, and what pulled me out of the almost one-year drought of writing here. Each summer, I make a list of projects I want to do around my house. All of those little things that I have no time to do throughout the school year, and finally get to do during some of that much-needed down time.
Lots of this year's list included cleaning and organization projects....and I'm checking some of those things off my list this week.
Yesterday's project:
Organize my Junk Drawer!
Everyone has a junk drawer, right?
That Drawer of Randomness.
The Pit Where Unwanted Items Go to Hide.
Here's what mine looked like yesterday morning....
Keepin' It Real for you all.
(and now I'm slightly embarrassed)
So the first step, as with any good reorganization project I do....empty EVERYTHING out of the drawer.
And, as I've learned through years of organizing....as I touched every item, I put it into one of three piles:
1- Keep in this drawer
2- Relocate to a different area that makes more sense
3- Trash/recycle
For the items that I was going to keep in the drawer, I also grouped like items to come up with a game plan of how I was going to put it all back together.
One group happened to be "paper items"....like coupons, menus, pamphlets, reference pages, product info, etc. So I grabbed an accordian file from the amazing Target Dollar Spot, labeled the sections, and filed away what I didn't recycle.
Speaking of the awesomeness of the Target Dollar Spot....which is always my first stop when I enter my favorite store....
I bought these a couple months ago, knowing that I'd find a use for them....for a DOLLAR people!
All my little clips, rubber bands, and wet wipes fit nicely into this square one.
I had a few partially full boxes of candles, and a few other random ones...plus some match books found in different drawers. Now they're all in one place thanks to this cute little container.
And the best part is that both of these plastic boxes come with clear lids!
FOR A DOLLAR!
(Seriously, Target isn't paying me to say this....I just LOOOOOOVE Target!)
I had a few more groupings of markers/pens/pencils that needed places to go. I put the pens and pencils in my desk drawer where I'd need them, and the Sharpies and dry erase pens went in this drawer. Since those are the only writing utensils I need in the kitchen.
I had one organizer that I took from a different drawer where it wasn't really needed, and used it to corral my Sharpies, and a few other small items.
But....I needed something for my dry erase markers and mini eraser that I wanted to keep in there because the drawer is right next to my dry erase calendar.
I didn't want to spend ANY extra money on this project (all of these items were ones that I had stored for months in my craft closet)....so I made a box!
I cut the top off a pasta box that was going in the recycling anyway....
Next, I covered it with this adhesive drawer liner I got at....yes, the Target Dollar Spot.
(Note: It was one of those "3 Dollar" items-- but still a great deal in my opinion!)
Here's the finished project....cheap and easy! :)
And here it is with the dry erase board materials, and a few other small items that needed a "home".
So, once everything had a "home", I cleaned out the inside of the drawer, and lined it with more contact paper (same design, but different color).
Finally....time to put everything back in the drawer!
The back of the drawer
The front of the drawer
The finished project!!!! This makes my heart happy.
Seriously, I've opened this drawer to peek inside almost every time I've gone past it.
And since every other organization project I've done like this has remained organized and pretty, I'm sure this one will last, too!
So I'll leave you with my top five reasons why I spend time on projects like this....
1. You save time- you don't have to search for things you need!
2. You don't keep things you DON'T need....because if everything has a place, then you don't have place for "extra stuff". In other words, you won't become a hoarder!
3. You save money- you won't buy items you don't need because you can SEE what you have.
4. By using items you already have, you save money and exercise your Creativity Muscles.
5. Once you start reorganizing/decluttering, it becomes addictive. And you want to find more projects to do. Okay...maybe that's just me. But I bet I'm not alone!!
Here's evidence of that....right after I finished this drawer, I reorganized my desk drawer!!
Hope this inspires a few people to dive in, join the Organization Club, and have fun with it!
