clearing out the junk {drawer}

Wow! I think I did more today (Sunday) than I have done all week! Saturday was also a productive day as I {finally} cleared off my office desk...a long overdue task!

One of the tasks I accomplished was to clear out the junk drawer. This was the Day 1 Challenge of the 21 Day Organization Challenge at A Bowl Full of Lemons. I have been meaning to do this easy task for awhile now and I figured I would start out the day with something quick to get me motivated to keep going.

~ BEFORE ~
{not too bad, but could use a little tidying up}

~ AFTER ~
It took me 20 minutes to do this project, but I chose to take everything out and wash out the drawer sorter for a "fresh start".

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

After clearing out our "junk drawer", I decided that really this wasn't the junk drawer that we have in our kitchen. So, I decided to try to clear out one more that needed help.

The drawer below was one that, when we moved in (9 months ago!), had all of the paperwork for the house (appliances, house info, etc.). As we moved things in, we kept this drawer as our catch all for stuff like that and it soon became home to all of the baby-proofing gadgets, too. After realizing that this is NOT the place for papers for the house and we haven't used baby-proofing in years, I decided to take care of it once and for all (really all it took was an extra 15-20 minutes and finding a new home for this stuff). The baby-proofing gadgets went to the garage sale pile, and the paperwork went to the office closet. There were other misc. things in there, too, but we sorted them out right then and there and found homes for those little things, too.

~ BEFORE ~

After clearing out the above drawer (it's actually pretty big!), I was able to move these sandwich and Ziploc bags shown below, which I didn't have room for in a drawer (you know, because I needed to have junk in a drawer instead). These have been living on the inside of our pantry door, which was not always the most convenient.

~ AFTER ~
They're all together now...how it's meant to be.

And, now look at the neighboring drawer. It's looking so empty...I'm sure I'll re-arrange some things to fill in that space, but it feels good to know there is room when I need it!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

And, guess what else we (and by we, I mean my wonderful husband) started this weekend?! Mikayla's room is finally having a paint makeover. We've been in our house 9 months, have had the paint for 6 months, and I'm so glad that we are finally making it happen!

Mikayla was so excited to help...she just had to put this sign up on her door. I love that girl.