Our one, small junk drawer is in the laundry room. I find a small drawer is enough. When we had a large junk drawer before, all sorts of stuff was deemed junk and thrown in there. Now we actually have designated places for most of the stuff that was junk so we don't have much real junk drawer stuff. Does that make sense?

Yes, I do. I knew that no matter what I planned, a junk drawer would eventually be "created". So, rather than be in denial, I simply planned for it so it would be where I wanted it and not wherever it ended up.

In my case, it's the drawer over the trash pullout. To me, having just about anything else in that drawer had a certain "yuck" factor, so it was the perfect place! (Yes, there is a wooden divider b/w the trash bins and the drawer above, but still...)

However, I also planned for a drawer for flashlights, batteries, and similar - so they are not in the junk drawer. Ditto for candles.

Junk Drawer:

Flashlights, Batteries, etc.

No junk drawer last house and didn't plan one for this house either, esp since space is at a premium. I keep most of the items you mention in other specific places. For ex, I have a closet where I keep some cleaning supplies, and batteries, lightbulbs and the (beeswax) candles. Garage and basement will have small areas for other storage, but openers remain in the kitchen in the utensil drawers or the coffee/beverage station. I have a designated place in a kitchen drawer with trash and other bags for kitchen twine, etc. and matches are kept in a closet by the most used outside door with emergency supplies; headlamp, flashlights, lantern, etc. I also keep reading glasses/magnifier in a drawer with thermometers, testers....

Our kitchen is small and nothing will be allowed in unless it is food related. A secretary type desk is in the living room with tape, scissors, stapler, blah, blah. Light bulbs, batteries, bandaids, misc go in small totes on a shelf in the laundry closet. House is small so it's a quick walk to get what you need.

I did a weekly thread convo about this a while back.

The consensus seems to be that if you don't plan for one, you generally end up annoyed that another drawer with a specific purpose gets overtaken.

Better to just plan for one IMHO. We ALL have those few spare tools, candles, manuals, batteries, etc that AREN'T big enough to have their own dedicated space but you still need room for them somewhere.

The ubiquitous junk drawer tends to be the perfect space.

We also planned for ours above the trash pullout. It works well and like commented above, I wouldn't want something food related in there. It is also a good place for the cat medicine needed twice a day, and twist ties, scissors, batteries, flash light. Things I do reach for often.

Yes I planned for a junk drawer but I don't really consider the items stored there junk. If it was junk I would throw it away.

Freezer tape, sharpies, twist ties, couple of rubber bands, small bunch of trash bags, my tape measure, my two small screwdrivers, my battery tester. Occasionally someone else drops something in there I tidy drawer drinking my coffee every month or so.

I almost forgot to plan for our junk drawer. But I was sitting in the old kitchen a few days after the cabinet order went in- was getting something out of the old junk drawer. Had a moment of panic, but my KD was able to change the order without a problem. So glad it worked out- we definitely use it.

In my current house, I have a junk drawer in a microwave cart, organized with those plastic bins similar to what's posted above. But, we also started using shoebox-size plastic storage bins in the mudroom for things like batteries, office supplies, and flashlights.

When we move, I want to pick a drawer to use as a junk drawer, but I also want to keep using the bin system in the mudroom, and maybe create more labeled bins for things like tape/glue, random tools/screws that are leftover from projects, etc.

Can you make a toekick drawer?

I can't imagine not having a junk drawer in the kitchen: tape measure, toothpicks, cat treats, matches, rubber bands, scissors, etc. Batteries live in a large box somewhere else. I'm rooting around in my junk drawer all the time. It's a legacy from my mom and I can't imagine where else this stuff would go.

I panicked about this a week or so ago,but realized I have a solution. I have a 36" drawer in the island for foil, wrap, baggies, etc, and that stuff will only occupy half that drawer. The other half will have dividers for things that posters have mentioned above - twist ties, batteries, tape, etc. We keep a large Maglite flashlight mounted under the sink cabinet so I always know where it is.

The things that I was more worried about where the random office supplies we had stored in the built in desk that we ripped out. Then I remembered that we inherited a secretary desk with our master bedroom furniture that 4 big drawers below and bookshelves above.

I agree that what goes into the junk drawer is not junk.... And once something becomes junk, I do remove it. I have a drawer above the trash pullout. Since it is currently not in (and therefore in use) I haven't really thought about it but I think you are correct I will not want to put anything edible or related to food prep in that drawer... so in fact I will have a junk drawer. Phew! I love how organized you are. I think I will add dividers to the drawer so that it will be easier to find things and to clean out. Thank you all.

I also have a junk drawer above the trash pullout; it's a good place for one! Pens, notepad, sharpie, rolls of tape, stapler, measuring tape, ruler, screwdrivers, pliers, hammers, scissors, flashlights, utility knife, various fasteners, spare parts to kitchen cabs... should add matches and batteries. It works.

I have found that I really don't need to keep so much in my junk drawer -- when I cleaned it out, lots of it really was junk (usually bits and pieces that I thought I would have a use for, but never did). Now I have 2 spots where I keep stuff -- the 15" drawer over the dog food storage has pens, paper, batteries, scissors, rubber bands, band-aids and wipes, twist-ties and matches. The narrow pullout under the sink has a flashlight, tape measure, packing tape, screwdrivers, clean dustcloth, and actually room for more but I don't want to put anything else in!

Yes, we have one, the top drawer in an 18" stack to the at the far end of the galley (open on both ends) kitchen. I wish it were as neat as buehl's - maybe a project for the rainy season! We keep scotch tape, bag clips, pens, small pads, take-out menus, small tools, tape measures, a couple of small flashlights (I found some LED flashlights last Xmas that are fabulous and bought them for everyone!) and the like in it (anecdotally, we too should have matches - last year I put out the menorah and candles for Chanukah and then had no way to light the candles, and we have an induction cooktop . Eventually found the BIC lighter LOL). Batteries are elsewhere because there are so many of them.

But I don't want to go to the garage for a sharpie marker or a tape measure or the birthday candle lighter?! I am a point of use kinda girl.

We have a small junk drawer that is the one above the trash pull out. It is a mess, no where near as nice as buehl's. I will organize it some day - it is on 'the list'. It has all those things that I use frequently that really aren't kitchen things.

I also have a cabinet in the laundry room for light bulbs, a hammer, a Philips and flat head screwdrivers. My dad gave them to me when I moved out to go to college forever ago and I like them in the house where I can get at them quickly to do the kind of things I do vs. out in the tool cabinet wayyyy out in the barn. I use them more frequently than you'd think and likely for purposes that are not originally designed for those tools but they work! The other side of the cabinet is used for the actual laundry related items.

Most of the junk will go in the pantry/office area. In one 33" deep drawer next to frig, I have chips/snacks etc and put an empty plastic coffee can in there to hold chip clips. The top 33" shallow drawer is a Hodge podge right now, holding all vitamins and some scrap paper and pens since all other forms of office stuff is in pantry.

Not in the kitchen. Noooooo. It was something of an afterthought, but we ended up putting one near the entries (our "front" and "back" doors are really not that since our entry is on the side.) Most of the stuff listed above is not kitchen-specific, so I figured the office-supply stuff and the measuring tape and flashlight could all go near the door. Also made a shelf for a charging station there. I really want to have cleaner counters and nothing not kitchen-related in the kitchen. We'll see how long that lasts, but I am not giving up a drawer. Even though I have about 20 of them...

I have three young kids, so yes, I have a junk drawer. One is more for mail/office supplies and the kids' homework supplies like a hole punch, sharpened pencils, erasers, rulers, etc. And the other is where I keep placemats, and take-out menus. They are on the back wall in my kitchen, right behind my peninsula, where my kids sit to do homework so it's very convenient. I usually go though ever few months and weed out things that don't belong or trash stuff that accumulates there that we don't need like tchotchkes from birthday party goodie bags, etc.

DH insists on one. Personally I could do without it and find a place for all of that but he'd probably be a hoarder if I wasn't around. LOL.

Point of use. Autumn.4, thank you. That's exactly it. Sharpie, glue stick, stained wood touch-up pen, extra key rings. It's not junk, it's stuff, and I need it right there in my kitchen, which is the heart of my house.

I bought a see through plastic container. It's about 14 inches long by 8 inches wide by 6 inches tall. This is my designated junk drawer. I keep it on a shelf in the laundry room. That's all I am allowing for junk.

I have "desk" drawers in a pantry wall; they are big enough for office supplies, as well as batteries, chargers, flashlights, check blanks, etc.

I also have a "junk" drawer in the kitchen, though I'm like a lot of others, and it's more of a tool drawer than junk. I have a tool bench in the basement, but it's nice to have a spare screwdriver, tape measure, pliers, matches, rubber bands, etc. upstairs.

Here's my junk drawer (next to my super-convenient potholder drawer!):

In our previous house, DH had a junk drawer and I had a "house" junk drawer. They were always a mess. In our new house, DH has graduated to an office and I have a small junk drawer above one of our trash pull outs. Amazingly, it's working this time. I'm convinced DH was the issue. Now if I could only get him to leave his wallet in his office rather than on the island, I would be happy.

No junk drawer. Most of the stuff mentioned above is in our desk in our office (paper clips, scissors, mail) or at the workbench (screwdrivers, duct tape) in the basement. Batteries are in a drawer in the tv stand in the living room. Since they are mostly used for the remotes it makes sense. I admit the top of the desk gets a little messy with the huge amount of mail and paperwork that enters are house, but the drawers with dividers keep things organized.