How I Organized My Junk (Using Free Stuff From My Recycle Bin!)

Hurray! I’m finally getting our house more organized for the new year. I gotta say, it feels AH. maz. ing. I love opening cupboards and closets and seeing clean, fresh, organized, and labeled items. I do a little happy dance inside, because I’m a weirdo and it really does excite me. Ok fine, maybe I actually do a little happy dance on the outside, too.

Main picIf you read my post 15 Ways We Decluttered our Life (which you can read about HERE), then you remember one of the ways we are getting organized is to go through and clean out our junk drawers. You’re probably thinking, “Uh, Amanda, organizing a junk drawer is certainly nothing new.” Well, you’re right! We’ve definitely all done it, and probably to the same drawer over and over again. Why don’t those little suckers ever seem to stay clean? Anyway, today’s post is more to share with you on how I organized my junk for free, and help you to think outside the box in doing the same for your “junk”.

There are a billion super cute organizing holders, bins, and containers out there to use in your junk drawers. But they all have one thing in common (besides the cute part); they all cost money. Sometimes these containers, and usually the super cute ones we fall in love with, can cost quite a lot of money. Because we’re trying to spend less AND be more organized, I decided to go diving through my recycle bin instead of buying something new to organize all my junk. Hey, it’s better than dirty dumpster diving, right? I found a bunch of perfect items that would work to organize the random odds, ends, and everyday-used-things in our catch-all kitchen drawer.

Here’s a before picture of our classic “junk drawer:”

SONY DSC It seriously makes me cringe. Underneath that mess is actually a metal silverware organizer that was holding our pens, but it was just too big and took up so much space in the drawer. Out it went! This is what I found to replace it and organize everything:

SONY DSCThere’s a few random small boxes leftover from Christmas, old empty check boxes, yogurt containers, glass baby food jars, and a tiny tin can. Woohoo! All this loot was perfectly sized for our junk.

SONY DSCI also had leftover spray paint from other projects, so the insides of all the containers got a pretty coat of gold paint (because clearly I’m overly obsessed), and the outside of them all got painted white. Price for all of these pretty new organizational pieces? $0. Zilch. Nothing. FREE. You can use anything you have to make them pretty; any leftover paint, scrap book paper, washi tape, whatever!

SONY DSCBefore organizing everything into their fresh new homes, I lined the drawer with faux wood paper. I had to cut and piece it together so it’s not perfect. But it’s soooo much better than the previous stained drawer bottom!

SONY DSCNow my drawer is beautifully organized with pretty gold containers with my junk all in its own little perfect home. No more cringing upon opening. Now, I do another little happy dance! Yes, I have several. 🙂

SONY DSCSo, next time you’re throwing something into the recycle bin, think about how you might be able to save money and reuse it for organizing. I actually keep a little stack of the plastic yogurt containers handy. They are great for random little things you need to organize, anywhere in the house!

SONY DSCIt feels so good to start off a new year all clean and organized. What things/rooms in your house have you been organizing?

I hope your week is going lovely!

I link up at these fun parties!

 

74 thoughts on “How I Organized My Junk (Using Free Stuff From My Recycle Bin!)”

    1. Thank you friend!! Haha, yes, everything needs to be GOLD! 🙂 I’m totally organizing everything, and it’s amazing! Thanks so much for checking it out!

      Reply

    1. Thanks Natalie! I love good junk drawer organization, too! Oh heck, I love ANY organization! 🙂 Good work on keeping it clean! I’m really hoping this new system will help us, I’m tired of it getting messy within a week! 🙂

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    1. Thank you Amanda! The glass jars are perfect for organizing! I decided to leave them unpainted so I could see through them, too. 🙂 I so appreciate you coming by to check this out!

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    1. Thanks Katie! So glad I could help inspire! Junk drawers are the worst, and always seem to stay messy! I’m hoping ours will now stay clean. 🙂 Hope your week is great!

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    1. Thank you Anne Marie! Ha, kids are too funny. 🙂 Junk drawers are just the worse, and somehow out of nowhere they just get to be a MESS! Hope you can get yours organized, too! For your kids sake, it sounds like. 😉 Happy weekend!

      Reply

    1. Haha! Thank you, Lauren!! It makes me happy to see someone else excited about organization, too!! 🙂 Thanks for stopping by. Have a great weekend, girl! 🙂

      Reply

    1. Thanks Chelsey! I agree, I hate buying expensive bins, too! Especially when we can make pretty ones ourselves. 🙂 Thanks for stopping by! Happy weekend!

      Reply

  14. Amanda, I like how you colored the inside gold and the outside white. It’s the little details like those that I will have to steal . . . since I wouldn’t have thought of it.
    Great ideas! I may have some Halloween themed organizational things I’ve been meaning to re-cover since … well, November 1. (Don’t look too surprised. I’ve moved since then.)
    Julie V. (Somebody’s Dinner) recently posted…Revel BarsMy Profile

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    1. Thanks Julie! I thought it’d be fun to make the inside a different color, to give it some more pizazz. And no worries, no judgement here!! Moving never helps that either! Have a great weekend. 🙂

      Reply

    1. Thank you so much, Samantha! I agree, those little boxes and jars are SO handy! I use them in our pantry for little things, too. And it saves money! 🙂 Thanks so much for taking the time to visit! Hope you have a great week. 🙂

      Reply

  17. I loved this. I saw your pic on the link-up and had to check out the organizing for free. Genius, really! you’ve inspired me. last time I organized my stationery stuff, I put them in plastic boxes but I much prefer this idea because it looks way more attractive and I can put everything together so they’re more handy. I am definitely doing this project! Pinning it.
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    1. Thank you so much! I’m so glad I could help to inspire!! Plastic boxes work great too, that way you can easily see the contents! I do love spray paint too though, it gives those recyclables a fresh new look. 🙂 Thanks so much for the pin! Hope your week is great!

      Reply
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    1. Thanks Celeste! It’s amazing how much time it really does save, not to mention all the headaches and stress about seeing a messy drawer! 🙂 Thanks for stopping by, hope your week is great!

      Reply

    1. Thank you, Meaghan! That’s a great idea, organizing a classroom gets EXPENSIVE! Coming from another teacher. 😉 Yogurt containers are seriously the best for organizing stuff! Hope you’re having a great week! 🙂

      Reply
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    1. Thanks, Cat! Ha, we all have our junk drawers. And they totally all need to be organized. I guess it’s kind of an oxi-moron; “organized junk…” Oh well. 😉

      Reply
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  33. Hello cute lady! Great post. Pinned and tweeted. I’m stopping by to let you know that Amber picked this as her favorite and it was one of the most viewed at our last party! Woo Hoo! We will be featuring it at our party on Monday at 7 pm. I hope to see you there. Lou Lou Girls
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    1. Cereal and cracker boxes are a great idea! I also have been saving these clear plastic gelato tubs we have; they are the perfect little storage container! I love free! 😉 Thanks SO much for the feature, friend!!

      Reply

    1. Thank you, Amy! It felt good being able to reuse stuff AND save a little money! Beside, gold makes everything look better, no matter what it is! 🙂 Hope you have a great night!

      Reply

    1. Thank you Lara! I totally used to feel like that too. I always wanted to go buy the cutesy organizing stuff, but in reality, it sits in a drawer and doesn’t really get seen very much! I’d rather save money. 😉 Thanks for stopping by, hope your week is going great!

      Reply
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