Ask Lemmy

I'm too anal about cleanliness and organization, my house typically doesn't have a drawer like this. My favorite mantra in the home, which my chronically disorganized wife is tired of hearing me repeat, is "a place for everything and everything in its place."

However. I inherited my childhood home when my dad passed away this year (my wife and I had already been living here for a few years, in a separate apartment in the house) and my dad had a junk drawer like this. As a matter of fact, my dad was extremely messy and almost every drawer in his house looks like this. It's probably the reason I'm so anal about organization in my life; having to grow up in a constantly messy home.

Growing up in this house, though, my family always had 2 drawers side-by-side in the kitchen which were always filled with random junk. They're still here. I haven't gotten to them yet. So yes, my current house has a couple junk drawers. But if I have my way, they will be organized and cleared out. If there's going to be any messy containers filled with miscellaneous junk in the house, it'll be boxes stored in the garage or basement - not a random drawer.

Sepparate utensils into three groups. Prep and baking tools should be near the largest counter space. Cooking tools should be near the stove. Single use tools should be near the curb.

This is all of the drawers in our kitchen.

Bench / pastry scraper next to the end grain cutting board on counter (that's how I clean it most often). Microplane and pizza cutter (Italian chef knife) get hung. Funnel covers a teacup protecting it's rare use from excess dust / atomized oils in the kitchen. Garlic press is a waste of money when you have knife skills. -Citrus juicer likewise (cut 1/3 slabs around the core using the geometry to make squeezing efficient).

Most of my drawers are junk drawers. IDK how I find anything

Looks good

I’m lucky that my drawer like this is actually inside a cutting board cupboard. The inconvenience helps give it purpose: awkward unnecessary crap we rarely use

In my house it’s a whole room instead of just a drawer.

You can at least make some compartments so it's not all jumbled together

But yes, I do have a couple of those drawers

A drawer full of emergency makeshift weapons? Yes. Also a junk drawer? Yes, more than one.

Yeah, I've got that drawer

Ah yes. The “nonsense drawer” as my youngest labeled it. It has stuck. In my parents family it was called the junk drawer.

I’ve got four of those.

Edit: wait, that’s a useful disorganized kitchen drawer. I’ve got two. I should do something about my four junk drawers, and today’s the day, goddammit!

just take the pizza cutter out

Yes. It's so common that it's been a well known joke in the UK for the last 16 years: The "Man" Drawer.

you have too much stuff. time to minimalize!

I have an entire spare dresser that has nothing but these drawers

I don't have this drawer. The ambiguous items just get a place assigned to them with their less ambiguous brethren. And some of these more three dimensional things I keep in a cabinet, like the funnels. I usually keep my scale out on the counter at all times because it's part of my coffee setup in addition to just baking/cooking

I have a large silverware drawer with a silverware tray. The area around the silverware tray is that drawer though

Yeah it's a thing. I've made wood box type things to separate the drawer out and try to keep it slightly organised.

Yes, all homes have this drawer. Only way to get rid of it is to move. Just leave it all behind.

I by myself only have a single drawer(don't need/have more) but for my parents this is devinetively true. They have one for metal pieces, one for plastic pieces and one for cutlery. The fourth drawer is for all the stuff that isn't really needed that often or simply to big to be put into one of the other drawers.

I'd just point out that most of that drawer could be replaced with a good knife. I mean is cutting garlic really so onerous you need a fancy doodad? Even the zesters functionality could be done with a knife. I hate to be judgey bastard, but that drawer smacks of consumerism and excess. With the exception of the mixer prongs and the scale I'm not seeing anything needed in a residential kitchen.