If I said this is a 10 Minute Tuesday post I’d be lying; but 17 Minute Tuesday just doesn’t quite have the same ring to it. When I dove in, I had every intention of only spending 10 minutes on this project, but I guess I don’t know my own tools.
Last week I conquered the lower 2 drawers of my tool cabinet and even those small changes left me anxious to get the top drawer in similar shape. The top drawer needed the most work of all three drawers, so that’s why I chose to tackle it separately from the other two. Even though this drawer is used the most, I really had no idea what was in there!
Before starting, I chose a plan of attack. I wanted the front (and easiest to reach) compartments to hold the most used items. I already had all the batteries housed together, but I decided to separate them by type, with the most used type closest to the front. You know I love to re-purpose containers, so it wasn’t long before I cut apart the battery box to create individual little holders for each of the smaller sizes.
The back 3 compartments are filled with a collection of random “stuff” that I didn’t even recognize. Where or what do these things belong to and how did they get in my top drawer? A few are contained in a bag labeled with a sharpie but most are unique extra parts for some piece of Ikea furniture throughout our house.
Since my husband is not around to discuss what to toss and keep, I am opting to keep it all. At a point of transition (like moving or buying new furniture), we can go through all the odds and ends and decide what we still need. For now, a system of labeling incoming spare parts in a bag will be implemented. And I’ll also keep them in the back compartments, since I’m not going to access them any time soon.
I am happy to purge some box cutters. I was unaware we had acquired such a collection. Two are off to my husband’s work and one will find a use at our local Goodwill.
After 17 minutes of sorting, purging, deep cleaning and reordering, the drawer is more functional with the most used items in the front.
We can quickly grab what we need; and if we are looking for a special part we know there is only one place to look.
The 17 minute time investment was worth it for all the time I will save when I am looking for something.
What have you organized lately that has been a time saver? Do you have any mystery items lurking in your tool drawers?
Drawers are a big challenge when you are looking for one item. Then there is the problem of no time to sort and how to do it. Looks like you hit the nail on the head.
Great job.