Here's What I Use Instead of a Junk Drawer

Marlene
by Marlene
3 Materials
$5
30 Minutes
Easy

None of the kitchens in any of the homes I've lived in have had enough drawers for me to designate one of them as a "junk drawer." My current rental has a sum total of four, all of which are in use for kitchen necessities such as utensils and silverware.


However, there is ample cupboard space, so I devised a place for my odds and ends using a large shoe box.

For this project I used a large lidded shoe box, decorative peel 'n stick, scissors and three small storage bins. You may also find a pencil and some invisible tape useful.

Begin by sitting the shoe box on top of the peel 'n stick and measuring to see how much paper you will need to cover the outside of the box. Use a pencil to mark where you will cut.

Make sure you leave enough paper to fold over onto the inside of the box. After cutting the required size remove the backing from the paper so that it lays flat on the work surface and center the shoe box on top of it.


Peel 'n stick is fairly easy to work with. I found that I could easily remove the paper from the box when I didn't get it centered properly.

Once you have the box positioned correctly, use scissors to cut slits at the end corners and smooth the paper over the inside edges of the box. Smooth the paper onto the sides of the box.

After I'd secured the paper to the ends and sides of the shoe box, I ended up with corners looking like this. icon

I pulled that flap forward over the side of the box, folding it over and into the box. I used the scissors to cut a corner slit and smoothed the excess on the end into the interior of the box, too.

Here's how the corner flaps should look when you're finished tucking and trimming.

I used invisible tape to help secure the inside edges of the paper. Finish the lid of the shoe box in the same way.

It's not necessary, but if you're like me and want a more finished look for the inside of the box, measure and cut four pieces of peel 'n stick for the sides and one for the bottom.

These three small bins were found at a dollar store and fit the length of the box perfectly.

The space along the edge of my junk box is a good place for larger items like my set of mini screw drivers, eyeglass repair kit and the rest of the "might-need-it-sometime" in my home.

All neat and tidy. You might want to make more than one of these to keep other small things in your home handy but out of sight. They're cheap to make and would be pretty sitting on a closet shelf or wherever else you need extra storage. Much nicer than a plain shoe box!

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Marlene
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