Ask Lemmy

I want to know how OP would like this drawer to look instead. Random kitchen utensils always seem to get shoved in a drawer like this

Every kitchen has this, but I'd work on your layout. You could put about 50% more gadgets in there.

Also, store the scale vertically somewhere for maximum efficiency

Only if you have extra drawer space to waste. Most beneficial would be to give a dedicated space to the scale

I'd be more inclined to call this a misc utensils drawer. I have one just like it, with many of the same items, but I also have a true "junk drawer", but it has anything but utensils in it. Like, batteries, screws, magnifying glass, fire starters, a deck of cards, etc. All of the shit that ends up near the kitchen that doesn't have a whole space dedicated to similar things, finds a home in the junk drawer.

I do have it.

It's called a junk drawer and as far as I am aware it's an inevitability. However, I will say it's odd that you have utensils in there. Most junk drawers I've encountered are filled with random crap that rarely if ever gets used.

We all have one . Mines right next to the oven so I have quick access to various things I use

We have this drawer. Full of kitchen utensils that don't fit nicely into other drawers.

My parents did not have this drawer. Or at least, not nearly to this extent. Idk how they did it with a smaller kitchen than we have.

I have to sat that the additional of a scale to that drawer is a wild choice

I lack the space for a drawer like this, instead this exists as a plastic tub in the kitchen cabinet under the sink.

Wow. Yours looks really clean. We have two of these drawers and they're maxed out double as full.

Pretty hard to avoid the drawer. Maybe find a new home for that scale (maybe sideways in a deep drawer?), throw a few rarely used tools into a ziploc bag, and introduce a caddy or two to corral the small stuff.

We have a space for that in our cutlery drawer, as well as a basket of miscellanea in a shelf where it doesn't matter if they get dusty.

In reality you live in a junk drawer cozy. Just support the junk drawer and everything will probably be OK.

I have one of the drawers and I'd consider myself organized. I try to keep it organized with one of these rather large Ikea Stodja drawer organizers. I used to use silverware organizers but stumbled upon this thing, 14"x20". They come in other shapes and sizes too but is a lot handier than using a regular silverware organizer because the compartments are pretty large.

Pens and notepads/post-it notes in one, batteries and an Eneloop wall charger in another, hair ties/lip gloss/rubber bands in another, big compartment holds a roll of packing tape and various other tapes, and another slot has a couple pairs of scissors.

I'd recommend getting a larger organizer just so you can compartmentalize larger things together, something a silverware organizer usually can't accomplish

Every family has at least one packing drawer of course!

I sort of have 3 variations of this drawer. One is fully named “the junk drawer” and contains things like rubber bands, batteries, scissors, garden snips, things that are sort of odd one out in other spots, but I feel are still relevant to my kitchen. Then I have one that is this but specifically things used on the stove and for mixing. So that puts spatulas, whisks, and such into their own mess. Finally is the “kitchen gadgets” drawer which looks very similar to yours. No organizer tray because everything is odd shapes, but also honestly sees little enough use I don’t really mind digging through it.

Thanks, I hate it.

Yep, this is a junk drawer at its nascent stage.

My mother got into the pampered chef selling bulldonkey when I was young, and despite the dozens of items we got from them, only four really stood out, and she still has three of them. The ice cream scoop (how hard is it to make a shaped chunk of metal, after all), the kitchen shears (which were actually good quality), the slap-chop before there was a slap-chop brand (the one that is now missing/broken), and the kitchen organizer thing for the countertop: pic related. It was great for the longer shaped things, like some of what you have in the drawer. If the drawer bothers you that much, consider something that goes on the countertop or on the wall (or even a hanging pot organizer, which I love above a kitchen island.

I have three small awkward necessary crap drawers, and my apple slicer doesn't fit into them. But my kitchen is so small, I call in the galley (facetiously, it's not actually on a boat).

To say what others have said in a different way. Yes, in almost any categorisation system, you're gonna need to deal with some misc haha.

Where else could these things possibly go? (minus the scales, which in my opinion belong on some flat surface in a cupboard of countertop somewhere, since I use my scales all the time)

We have one of these drawers at home, also. I think your wife is right on this one friend.

I have this drawer.

I am proud to say that I don't have this drawer. I grew up in a house with this drawer and always hated it. Nothing new is added to the kitchen without considering the actual need and anything that goes unused for any length of time is getting reevaluated.

Could you un max out other areas? Eliminate duplicates elsewhere so things in this drawer could be moved to the newly made space?

If you already have a maxed out sharps drawer, then you probably don't actually need any of the knives in this drawer. Like how often do you actually use the pizza cutter? I just cut pizza with a chef knife. Or the egg cutter? How often is that used? Sometimes the answer is to go through all your drawers and see what can be tossed to make space for the things you actually do use.

I see enough squish things tools to designate it the squishing drawer.

Every family has a junk drawer. Just accept it and move on in your life.

She's right. Always.