Organize it Mondays - Silverware drawer

We are sure hoping for a healthy Christmas at our house!  As if the 4 months of colds weren't enough... we were hit this weekend with that horrible flu that is going around.  I got it first and thought maybe we were in the clear with 2 full days and no other sickies.... then last night I was woken up (though barely asleep) at midnight with toddler puke.  I was awake most of the night attempting to ensure that a bucket made it under her mouth in time.  I was mostly successful and only had to do one load of laundry.

Organize It Mondays - Silverware Drawer

enough about the sickness... moving onto my regular Monday posts.  (I needed something small and manageable today with the events of last night) so as I was unloading my clean dishes from the dishwasher I couldn't bare to put another clean utensil in a dirty utensil tray (I had been looking at this dirty tray for weeks but had yet to do anything about it - how does a drawer that holds only clean items get so dirty anyway?)

Looking at these pictures you can't see the dirt, but the drawer was gross

There were a few problems with this drawer (though I know it is already fairly organized).  My main problem is that the silverware tray would slide into the back of the drawer and I couldn't easily get at the baby utensils I had at the back.

I pulled everything out of the tray, cleaned it (and the drawer) and took out the items we never use (mainly the chopsticks and fondue sticks).  I added in a drawer liner to prevent sliding.

I moved some of the items I had at the front of the drawer into the empty sections (from the chopsticks and fondue sticks) and placed everything back in.

The tray no longer slides and I turned the tray so the baby spoons are at the front and easier to access.

Easy-peasy and cost me nothing as I had the drawer liner on hand already.

It is amazing how long we live with something that isn't as efficient as it could be, especially something so easy to fix.

I love it and challenge you to clean your silverware tray (come on, we all know it is dirty ;)

Organize It Mondays - Drawers

Drawers

Do you have a drawer in your kitchen that collects papers and other miscellaneous items?  Typically near the phone?  Isn't it always in need of a little organization?

Does it look like this?

Usually this drawer contains recipts (many), recent birthday/celebration cards, confiscated toys, reward stickers/tatoos, frequently used office supplies (tape, scissors, sharpies, page markers), menu plans, health benefit reimbursement forms, small tools and I am sure more. *actually I am pretty impressed I got all of that in there*

Needless to say... it was a problem.  The drawer was no longer effective as it was overfull.  I couldn't find anything in it without other items falling all over the floor.

So I pulled everything out and sorted the items into piles.  I put away all the items that didn't belong in there, sorted through recipts (garbage and important ones to keep) and collected all of Haileys stickers, tatoos and trinkets and put them in a ziploc bag (used for potty training).  I also added in a small (childrens) shoe box to house future recipts, piled the papers together and collected the tools at the back.

For now this is a temporary fix as I am working on an organizer for our phone nook that will take some of these items.

I am happy to have it useful again and be able to find what I am looking for without having items spill out onto the floor.

I challenge you this week to find a drawer somewhere in your house that needs some organization help and clean it up.  It is a small task that will be easy to accomplish.  

Good luck.