Do You Really Need a Junk Drawer?

In my experience, no one ever finds what they’re looking for in a junk drawer. If I sound bitter, it’s due to all the times I failed to find and then extract a miscellaneous (most often incredibly tiny) item my mom needed from beneath a jumbled mess of screws, coins, frayed dish towels, cords, restaurant menus, and packets of expired soy sauce. Was the drawer really that disorganized, or did I simply lack the dexterity, speed, and laser-precision eyesight required to complete the task? Either way, the mere thought of a junk drawer feels like a gateway to Hoarders and, also, an inefficient way to store the little ephemera that truly has no other place in my house.

If you want to organize your junk drawer, there are plenty of ways to go about it. But no amount of cutesy organization tips will convince me to maintain one of those ill-purposed pits. For anyone else in search of junk drawer alternatives—whether you abhor them or simply can’t fit one into your space—read on for solutions from interior designers Courtney Cole of TileCloud, a tile company based in Australia and Becca Stern, cofounder and creative director of Mustard Made, the makers of cheerful, colorful storage cabinets.  

Function First

Because a junk drawer is inherently an eyesore, the temptation to replace them with something more aesthetically pleasing makes sense. But Cole cautions against eschewing functionality altogether. "If it looks stunning but doesn’t actually work for your daily life, then it will end up cluttered anyway," she says. "The key is to choose things that are beautiful but also purposeful."

Instead of tossing a bunch of random items into a catchall crater, never to be seen again, Cole recommends relocating your junk drawer contents to a more structured setup—such as a multipurpose organizer under the sink or inside a cabinet. "This will make it way easier to have a specific ‘spot’ for items like keys and other knickknacks," she says.

For an elegant and effective storage solution, Stern suggests grouping items by category and separating them into baskets. "If you have the space," she says, "these can neatly organize things like tools, chargers, craft supplies, and all the other little things that typically end up in a junk drawer."

And if bins and baskets feel too practical, consider more elevated options such as multifunctional furniture with hidden compartments, stackable trays, acrylic cases, or lidded boxes made from high-end materials like brass, marble, and glass to keep your essentials organized. "It allows you to easily see and access your belongings," Stern adds.

Too Much Junk in the Trunk?

If you simply don’t have the space for a junk drawer, Cole recalls a solution she came up with for a client with a small open-concept kitchen that offered virtually no drawer space. "When we were planning, she told me she had a tendency to get a bit messy with storage," Cole says. "One way we addressed this was by including a slim pullout cabinet next to the fridge where she could store things like notepads and small tools. Essentially, it was an intentional junk drawer!" In short, if you’re renovating, use the opportunity to get creative with customized options.

For renters, small spaces such as the entryway can present a unique organizational challenge because as Stern points out, it’s an area where we tend to collect random items as we come and go. Fortunately, that’s easily resolved with the help of a well-placed shelf or a storage bin. "One suggestion for keeping this piece of chaos under control—add a locker near the door," she says. "On the top shelf inside, you can keep a basket that catches the ‘junk’ you know you’ll need later, keeping it organized and out of sight until it's time to use it."

Keep it Simple! 

When nixing your junk drawer for a more structured alternative, avoid overcomplicating your organizational system. "One of the biggest mistakes people make is making storage harder than it needs to be," Cole says. "If it takes more effort to put something away than it does to just leave it on the counter, then it’s not going to work."

Instead, she advises keeping things as intuitive as possible and being ruthless about which items go and which to toss. "Once you’ve narrowed it down, think about where those items actually get used, and then move them into places where they will actually get their use. By changing the perception of the items from ‘junk’ to ‘I use this object for x,’ you will be less likely to put all of them in the same spot."

Top photo by Johnorob/Getty Images

Related Reading:

We Asked the Experts How to Work With—and Maximize—Every Inch of Space in Your Home 

I Turned My Chaotic Pantry Into an Oasis of Organization