project clean house: part I

First phase of Project Clean House: the junk drawer(s). I have this old hosier in the kitchen. In the past it's been my baking cabinet - where I kept all the four and sugar and such. But when little hands learned how to open these drawers and I tired of vacuuming up spilled sugar, it became a junk cabinet. All the billions of pens that make their way into the house, little pads of paper, take-out menus and old greeting cards galore.

First task was to clear everything out. Had a basket on hand for all those little items that didn't belong in there. It was so rewarding to hit the bottom of each drawer. I'd come across some things and think, why in the world didn't I just throw this away to begin with? (goofy address labels from organizations seeking donations, appliance instructions written in Italian, and coupons coupons coupons that expired months and even, in a couple cases, years ago)

Then I put down some new striped contact paper and I started organizing all the contents. When thinking about containers for dividing pens from paper and recipe cards from catologs, I considered building wooden boxes, but decided against it because I knew that would take too long and become a project all it's own. Then, shear genius occurred to me: baking pans!

My baking pan drawer never opens readily. It's stuffed, and one pan or another always blocks the drawer from pulling out. And how often do I bake cakes anyway? Once, twice, at most maybe three times a year? (yes, this is a problem - there should definitely be more cake) So I started sorting through my pans and found that they were the perfect shapes and sizes for holding post-it pads, paper clips, pens, recipe cards and all that other miscellaneous junk that finds its way into the junk drawer. And when the time comes that I need my baking pans, I'll temporarily dump the junk somewhere else, bake my cake and then organize all over again. So - two birds with one stone: baking pan drawer less over-stuffed and junk drawers are now organized.