Easy Small Kitchen Junk Drawer Organization

This month I’m so excited to be teaming up with an awesome group of bloggers to help you get your drawers organized. The hop will take place weekly and focuses on a different room of your home. This week we’re starting with the kitchen and dining room. Start here with this easy small kitchen junk drawer organization.

Sometimes you’re not blessed with a large kitchen. In kitchens like mine, where space is at a minimum, organization is essential. The drawers with utensils are easy to keep organized because of the multitude of products available. The other drawers are a little trickier.

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Collage of Before and After Photos of Junk Drawer with text: Easy Small Kitchen Junk Drawer Organization

[bctt tweet=”Begin your organized journey with this quick and easy small kitchen junk drawer organization! ” username=”diyadulation”]

Some people recommend not having a junk drawer but that doesn’t work for us. If you want to get fancy you can call it a supplies drawer. Then you feel more organized (even if nothing really changes).

Luckily, I have some simple tips for easy small kitchen junk drawer organization. This is one organization task you can complete in minutes and is inexpensive to do.


Welcome to the Drawer Organization Blog Hop! For the entire month of April, 12 bloggers will be sharing the process of cleaning and organizing one drawer in our homes each week. To kick off the first week, we’re focusing on drawers in our kitchen and dining rooms!

Drawer Organization Blog Hop - Week 1 Kitchen & Junk Drawer

My PinterventuresIntelligent Domestications

DIY AdulationDomestically CreativeCookies Coffee and Crafts

Domestic DeadlineAcross the BoulevardMichelle James Designs

Mom Home GuideCentsably Creative • Olives & Okra


Easy Small Kitchen Junk Drawer Organization

 

Kitchen Cabinet and Drawers with arrow pointing at top right drawer

Unorganized Open Kitchen Junk Drawer

Disorganized Kitchen Junk Drawer removed from Cabinet

Step 1

Take your drawer out of your counter. This makes the entire process so much easier.

 

Empty kitchen drawer removed from cabinet

Step 2

Next, remove everything from your drawer.

Tip:

Step 3

Now, clean your entire drawer and any organizing containers with a disinfectant cleaner. I love this Clorox spray for the job!

 

Empty Containers Organized inside a Drawer

Empty Containers Organized inside a Drawer

Step 4

Next, find containers to use as organizers within your drawer. The ones pictured here are:

 

Items removed from Kitchen Junk Drawer

Step 5

Take a hard look at what needs to stay in the drawer and what doesn’t. For example, we had a container of extra pegs for book shelves in the drawer. This should be in the garage with similar items.

 

Organized Kitchen Junk Drawer

Close up of organized junk drawer

Close up of organized junk drawer

Close up of organized junk drawer

Close up of organized junk drawer

Step 6

The last step is to return the items you are keeping in the junk drawer to the newly designated places.

 

Collage of Before and After Photos of Junk Drawer with text: Easy Small Kitchen Junk Drawer Organization

This easy small kitchen junk drawer organization will let you knock out a new budget-friendly project quickly. Now it is time to check out the other awesome organization ideas from my friends! By the end of the month, we’ll have all of your drawers clean and organized.

For more kitchen and dining room drawer organization ideas, visit the other host blogs below.

 
 
 

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Collage of Before and After Photos of Junk Drawer with text: Easy Small Kitchen Junk Drawer Organization

How to Make a DIY Family Command Center

A DIY family command center is a great way to get your whole family organized! Find out how to make one on a budget using items already in your home.

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Collage of Family Command Center photos with text overlay: How to Make a DIY Family Command Center

 

[bctt tweet=”Stop losing your forms, keys, important bills, and more with a DIY family command center!” username=”diyadulation”]

Note: We have updated our system. Find the new one here!

It is no secret that being organized save your family time and money. Of course, that’s easier said than done.

How many times have your kids lost field trip forms? Is your husband constantly asking where his keys are?

The worst is when you forget to pay a bill because it got buried in piles of mail.

A DIY family command center helps with all of those problems and more!

The larger (and older) our family gets the more difficult it is to keep track of all of our stuff. I needed to figure out a way organize the whole family in one place because I was tired of homework, coupons, and invitations getting lost.

That was exactly why we needed to get our family organized. I didn’t want to spend a ton of money on it but still wanted something both pretty and functional.

Turns out you can make a DIY family command center easily using items you already have.

 

Family Command Center on wall

Determine Your Family’s Needs

The components of your command center will vary based on your family’s needs and lifestyle. Take a minute before getting started to brainstorm ideas for what you need your DIY family command center to do. Then determine the items that will help you accomplish that. Here are some examples:

Find the Items Needed

 

Blue and Green Paisley Cork Board

Cork Board

 

Magazine holders on a wall with calendars

Calendar

 

Owl covered child's homework station

Homework Folder

 

Individual Kid’s Boards

 

Colorful mail organizer on the wall

Mail Organizer

Office Supplies Organizer hanging on the wall

Office Supplies Holder

Getting Your Family On Board

The most difficult part of any system you put into place is getting your family on board. Your family needs to use the command center to make it effective. While I can’t promise that it will happen overnight, I do have some tips to make it easier:

  1. First of all, make it convenient. Put your DIY family command center in a location that is convenient when walking in your home. This will increase the incentive to use it.
  2. Secondly, be excited. Young kids will mimic your enthusiasm and your husband will love how excited you are. Talk about an easy way to make you happier.
  3. Lastly, remember to be consistent. Kids especially will need reminding about the new system. Stick with it and it will eventually become second-nature.

 

Close up of Homework Organizer with text overlay: How to Make a DIY Family Command Center

This DIY family command center doesn’t cost a dime to make when you use items you already own in creative ways. You will always know where bills are located and if there are permission slips that need signed. Your husband will always locate his keys and wallet easily. No more late fees while you are paying off debt and no excuses for someone “not knowing” you had plans. This will free up your time an energy to do things you actually want to do.

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Collage of Family Command Center photos with text overlay: How to Make a DIY Family Command Center

 

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DIY Debt Payoff Chalkboard for Debt-Free Living

A DIY debt payoff chalkboard keeps your debt payoff in your face so that you will not only be reminded of them constantly but also so that you can see your progress visually. That will help you keep your momentum up and propel you forward during the days when the last thing you want to do is cook dinner. 

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Collage of White Framed Chalkboard with Colorful Bar Graphs on it and text overlay: DIY Debt Payoff Chalkboard

 

[bctt tweet=”Keep your debt payoff momentum with a DIY debt payoff chalkboard! #diy #chalkboard #debtfree” username=”diyadulation”]

Getting out of debt takes discipline and dedication. It sucks but the truth is, it takes a lot of work. At this point you’ve set your budget, created goals to propel you forward, and you’re starting to chip away.

When we started this journey it was sobering to see how much debt we truly had. It was additionally shocking to me to see what those original loan amounts were for my student loans.

I have been deferring them for 8 years and while that kept us from having to make payments, it also meant that they continued accruing interested on the initial loan amount. Yikes!

Even though our income has actually gone down (my husband became salaried and lost all of the overtime pay we used to count on), we’ve finally had enough. We paid off our credit cards this month and now only have the student loans remaining.

Because this is such a huge chunk of our debt, I needed to be able to see what we are working towards. We need to see the progress we are making or it will feel like we’re stuck under this mountain. With this DIY debt payoff chalkboard I can see the progress grow with each payment.

 

Wooden Thrift Store Frame with garden scene inside

DIY Debt Payoff Chalkboard Materials

 

Back of Wooden Thrift Store Frame

Step 1

First, flip your frame over and begin disassembling it.

 

Empty Wooden Thrift Store Frame

Step 2

After everything is out of your frame, set the glass and inserts aside for now.

 

White Painted Empty Frame

Step 3

Next, flip your empty frame back over and add a coat of white acrylic paint to it. Allow your paint to dry completely.

 

White Painted Empty Frame

Step 4

After your first coat has dried, add a second coat of white acrylic paint to the frame and let dry.

Step 5 (Optional)

If needed, add a third coat of paint to your frame. Mine required this but lighter woods and unfinished woods will not.

 

Glass Insert from Frame

Step 6

As your paint dries, pull out the glass insert from your frame.

 

Glass Insert from Frame

Step 7

Thoroughly clean your glass insert. If yours has the price written on the glass and Windex doesn’t remove it, try a little rubbing alcohol.

Tip:

  • Do not skip this step. You may think it is unnecessary since we are covering it but the contact paper will not stick securely if it isn’t clean.

 

Rectangular Piece of Chalkboard Contact Paper

Step 8

Next, cut a piece of chalkboard contact paper slightly larger than your glass insert. You want at least an inch of overlap on every side.

 

Chalkboard Contact Paper Being attached to Glass Insert

Step 9

Begin attaching your contact paper by peeling back a small piece of the backing and firmly pressing it to your glass insert. Smooth out any air bubbles as you go.

 

Glass Insert Covered in Chalkboard Contact Paper

Step 10

Continue attaching your contact paper, smoothing out the bubbles, until your glass is completely covered.

 

Glass Insert Covered in Chalkboard Contact Paper

Step 11

Now, carefully turn your covered glass insert over.

 

Folded Edge of Chalkboard Contact Paper on the Back of the Glass Insert

Folded Edge of Chalkboard Contact Paper on the Back of the Glass Insert

Step 12

Fold up the overages on the sides as pictured above.

 

Glass Insert Covered in Chalkboard Contact Paper

Step 13

Again, flip your glass insert back over and be sure that all of the air bubbles are removed.

 

White Painted Empty Frame

Step 14

After you have finished covering the glass insert, set it to the side and seal your dry frame with acrylic sealant. All the sealant to dry completely.

Tip:

  • Be sure to do this in a well-ventilated area.

 

Back of Chalkboard Insert inside of frame

Step 15

Next, flip your dry frame over and place your glass insert back in with the chalkboard side facing out.

 

Cardboard backing inside of frame

Step 16

Then return your cardboard backing to your frame.

 

Close up of back of frame with prongs pressed down

Step 17

Re-secure the backing of your frame according to its design.

 

White Frame with Chalkboard

Step 18

Now turn your chalkboard over and pullout your chalk and ruler.

Note:

  • You also want to have your debt snowball list in front of you. Don’t know what a debt snowball is? Read all about it in The Total Money Makeover.

 

Close up of chalkboard with multicolored horizontal lines

Step 19

Use your ruler to create horizontal lines across the bottom of your chalkboard. You need one line for every debt.

 

Chalkboard with colorful horizontal lines and a bar graph on the right

Step 20

Begin creating your bar graph starting on the far right of your chalkboard. This should represent the largest debt you have. Each line on my graph represents $500.

 

White Framed Chalkboard with Colorful Bar Graphs on it

Step 21

Continue creating your bar graph from right to left, working your way down to the smallest debt. The rectangles at the top of some of my bars represent an uneven amount that is less that $500. I tried to keep the representational of the extra amount but did it by hand.

Step 22

Next, fill in the name of the corresponding debts at the bottom of each bar graph. Add the total debt amount to the top of each bar graph.

 

White Framed Chalkboard with Colorful Bar Graphs on it hanging on a wall

Step 23

Lastly, hang your DIY debt payoff chalkboard somewhere prominent in your house. We hung ours by the front door so we will see it daily.

 

White Framed Chalkboard with Colorful Bar Graphs on it

White Framed Chalkboard with Colorful Bar Graphs on it and text overlay: DIY Debt Payoff Chalkboard

Now that we have this visual representation of our remaining debt the next little goal I’m looking forward to is erasing one of these paid off loans from the board. Even better, when you are finally debt free this chalkboard can be used for reminders or love notes to each other. No use creating something that can’t become a permanent piece of useful decor. How does it feel seeing all of your debt laid out? Is it shocking or better than you expected? Let me know in the comments and soon we’ll dive into lifestyle changes that will keep you from ever being in this place again.

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Collage of White Framed Chalkboard with Colorful Bar Graphs on it and text overlay: DIY Debt Payoff Chalkboard

 

More Ideas You’ll Love: