What’s in the Real Junk Drawer?
Fun April 15th, 2008
Not that anyone would care, except for Lee, who wanted to know what’s in my real junk drawer — here ya go! Just the usual suspects: batteries and more batteries, scissors and tape, checkbook, address book and a few other things I may or may not ever need again.
I suppose the stupidest thing we have in here is our old doorbell. My husband Dave showed his handyman prowess last summer when he installed a new doorbell. What should we do with the old one? Why, of course! Put it in the junk drawer. You never know if the new one will fail and we won’t have $8 to buy a new one and will have to re-install the old. Um. Yeah.
Every now and then Dave makes us sift through all this junk and clean house. We’re due for another sweep, don’t you think?
So, what’s the dumbest thing you’re holding onto in your drawer?
Stumble it!
April 15th, 2008 at 6:44 pm
one half inch ratchet wrench..several keys for I don’t know what..two monopoly pieces (might come in handy) a door knob..plus three of those styrofoam peanut things you get for packing in boxes..
April 15th, 2008 at 6:50 pm
I’m not sure if I mentioned it when I originally raised the idea of your “real” junk drawer, but there are at least four junk drawers in our kitchen. I will give credit where credit is due, and tell you that my wife did clean them out about a month ago. But there are still recipes printed out from the internet on an old dot matrix printer that we haven’t had for at least 10 years.
April 15th, 2008 at 7:01 pm
We don’t have much interesting in our junk drawer. Just the normal stuff. A hidden candy stash… tape… a hidden wine stash… the usual…
April 15th, 2008 at 7:03 pm
– Do you have a tree in your front lawn ? You can install your doorbell in the tree (unplugged ofcourse) and watch how many people try to ring it !
– You dad’s PC restoration CD’s seem to be the most important thing in the drawer
– What the pre-made salad bad ?
April 15th, 2008 at 7:43 pm
What’s the dumbest thing in my junk drawer? I don’t know, I can’t see it for junk – and that’s the truth!
I live with someone who will throw anything and everything in the junk drawer, including screws with no thread left on them, blobs of blu-tack, receipts that date back years. She just hates throwing anything out!
The worst part is, she will also fill every vase or pot in the house with junk! I have to go around throwing stuff out when she isn’t looking :O)
babs (beetle)’s last blog post..London and it’s treasures.
April 15th, 2008 at 8:39 pm
Fascinating to see what lies in a fellow bloggers drawer.
I have a bunch of buttons. Buttons that I saved ‘just in case’, but I don’t think I could match any of them up with the shirt they originally came with. That is, if I even have the shirts any more.
StephanieC’s last blog post..a dilemma
April 15th, 2008 at 8:44 pm
I have the spare buttons from my 5th grade raincoat. And now I’m 40 so I should probably think about letting them go…
Felicia’s last blog post..Sunny Saturday
April 16th, 2008 at 4:58 am
robert bourne — Your drawer actually sounds interesting. I love the randomness!
Lee — I have sheets and sheets of assorted recipes stuffed in a recipe book I never use. Of course, each one is stained by one or more ingredients used in said recipe. You reminded me I really have a junk drawer and a half. There’s a mini drawer in the kitchen that holds important papers, like restaurant menus and tags we cut off new furniture. Why do we never throw them out?
Regan — Your drawer is not so usual. Sounds like stuff I’d actually use!
Jaffer — The drawer is probably the worst place for the CDs, but if I move them now, I’ll never remember where I put them. As for the salad thing, here’s what happens. Dave opens the drawer to get the scissors, to cut the strip off the bag. The strip falls in the drawer and it gets closed. I remove a bunch of them every so often. He has a system.
babs (beetle) — And that’s pretty much how a junk drawer works! Stuff and stuff until you can stuff no more. The vases, though? Careful she doesn’t stuff money in there. You might throw it out by mistake!
StephanieC — I have buttons, too. Some thread to go with. And the tags that came on clothing, with the little plastic thing still attached. When I can’t remember what they go with, out they go.
Felicia — Nah. Wait til you’re 60. Never know when you might need them.
April 16th, 2008 at 6:07 am
Kathy,
Are you sure that’s a sewing kit? It looks exactly like my rosary beads case!
Kat
Poetikat’s last blog post..After thoughts
April 16th, 2008 at 6:12 am
Oh, I should clarify, that the rosary’s not in my junk drawer.
I have got the cat collar and the unused batteries and the pens and an old inscribed door knocker given to us by our realtor as a gift for our old townhouse.
My problem really is that I have more than one junk drawer.
Kat
Poetikat’s last blog post..After thoughts
April 16th, 2008 at 9:22 am
I have a junk closet—does that count?
I love the old doorbell. We also have batteries we’ll never use, pens that don’t work (but we keep them, just in case they magically work some day!), candles for birthday cakes, take-out menus, A MELON BALLER(!!!), a cork, various hooks and wall-hanging paraphernalia, and a checkbook.
Funny how the checkbook ends up in the junk drawer!
JD at I Do Things’s last blog post..I Hulu so you don’t have to
April 16th, 2008 at 10:32 am
Ya Know, I have to admit, for a junk drawer, your drawer looks awfully neat…..
Bruce’s last blog post..The Dip-Shit – Lesson #10
April 16th, 2008 at 10:47 am
I’ll let you know what’s in mine as soon as I can get it open again…
Maureen’s last blog post..I Root For The Under-Coyote
April 16th, 2008 at 11:17 am
My junk drawer has all the usual suspects in it. I just took a look and found a crushed Xmas candy cane from some Christmas long ago, a disposable camera, electrical tape, one of my son’s old action figures(he’s 27 now), a condom wrapper, old phone cords, an old floppy disk, an expired cat food coupon from 1994, among many other things. There’s so much crap crammed in there, I could hardly pull the drawer open.
Libertine’s last blog post..The FLDS Compound Raid: Identifying the Correct Root of the Problem
April 16th, 2008 at 11:18 am
I have to agree with Bruce, your junk drawer is a lot neater than mine, as mine has cat hair, dust, salt granules from an open salt packet gumming up everything in there.
Libertine’s last blog post..The FLDS Compound Raid: Identifying the Correct Root of the Problem
April 16th, 2008 at 11:22 am
That junk drawer is kid’s stuff. Like Lee, we have at least 4 of them going at any time – each one containing treasures of a different category. Then we have 2 junk cupboards containing millions of burned/unburned CDs, music CDs, DVDs, software CDs, as well 10,000 electronic gadgets, power cords, various USB connectors, software manuals and on and on.
The oddest thing I have in one of my “personal” junk drawers is my sash from when I was in Boy Scouts that has all my old merit badges sewn on. For some reason I can’t seem to toss it.
April 16th, 2008 at 1:35 pm
Wait a minute, a hidden wine stash?! Which drawer are you peering into!? I was looking for that wine….
April 16th, 2008 at 3:59 pm
Poetikat — It is indeed a sewing kit, which is stupid because I almost NEVER sew. Maybe one button a year. It’d be better if I put rosary beads in there. Those would do me more good. Between you and robert, we almost have a door. Anyone got a peephole?
JD at I Do Things — What kills me about all the batteries in my junk drawer is that none of them are the right size for the red (and dead) flashlight you might have noticed to the left of the doorbell. Ironic. And stupid.
Bruce — It only looks truly neat for one or two days a year after a good cleaning, and then within a week it turns to crap.
Maureen — Would robert’s ratchet wrench help with that? Boy, robert’s got everything.
Libertine — We used to have a disposable camera, too. Couldn’t figure out where it came from and too old to bother. I trust your junk drawer is worse than mine. In fact, I’m kind of scared of it. I dare you to clean it!
Jeff — I’d bet at least they’re clean and organized. I’ve seen pictures of your garage. I bet your junk drawers are just as stunning. Merit badges. Oh, wow. What a flashback. I earned badges for some of the dumbest stuff. Wish I still had the sash.
ann of the shampoo bag — I couldn’t tell if Regan was just being funny, or if she was using the blog to inform me you have a drinking problem. I’m going with funny.
April 16th, 2008 at 4:04 pm
I’m only allowed to have one junk drawer…damn
Hey, I like the idea of putting the old doorbell on a tree and then watch the passersby…lol
Lori’s last blog post..Wednesday’s wealth of blog fodder
April 16th, 2008 at 4:28 pm
I have different categories of junk drawers, but here’s a cross-section of some of the objects:
* A see-through bright green mini-fan/squirt gun for use if we have another hurricane-related power outage (it comes in handy when there’s no AC)
* Packets of seeds so old, I’d be scared to see what kind of mutations would grow if I planted them
* 10 feet (minus the one-inch strip I actually used) of peel and stick magnet tape
* A dried-up bottle of very expensive glue for mosaics (too expensive to throw away, even though it’s useless)
* Zebra-patterned “photo safe” (whatever that means) Scotch tape that I bought on sale and have absolutely no use for
* Huge gobs of cat fur and dust
Good lord, how embarrassing.
Carla @ WordPlay’s last blog post..Mother’s Day Gifts for Moms Who Blog
April 16th, 2008 at 6:39 pm
1) A rape whistle.
BigNerd’s last blog post..Test Driving ‘EverNote’
April 16th, 2008 at 7:23 pm
The dumbest thing in my junk drawer is a Sharpie from several years ago that’s all dried up. I don’t know why I haven’t thrown it out.
Corrina’s last blog post..Yes, Please.
April 16th, 2008 at 8:04 pm
I wish I had that much space left in MY junk drawer. In fact, I wish I only had ONE junk drawer! 😉
Don’s last blog post..Holding Hands with a Martian
April 16th, 2008 at 9:27 pm
How about a random assortment of half burned birthday candles, Mardi Gras beads, 2 tubes of super glue (just how much did we think we needed?) a laser pointer with dead batteries, a trick fake ice cube, assorted pens, markers in various stages of dryness, a ring of ancient keys (have no idea to what, or where they came from) 150+ heart shaped tags with out names on them (from the wedding), assorted batteries, about 6 various types of corkscrews (not saying anything here..) a hoof pick, laces from a bodice, and assorted cards.
Of course we not only have more than one drawer, we currently have a junk room, where everything we don’t know if we want to keep or not is tossed, in sort of a holding pattern until we decide, keep or trash.
April 16th, 2008 at 10:42 pm
All I can picture is each one of us going to assess our respective junk drawers. Hummm… what IS in there?
I found the usual plus a huge bottle of expired NyQuil and the special screwdriver I use to get candle wax out of votive holders. But now I want a door bell and a hoof pick. Maybe someday.
April 17th, 2008 at 4:42 am
Lori — Yeah, but I bet it’s the size of a toy chest. Junk drawers should be that big.
Carla @ WordPlay — I have to say, I would probably hold on to those things, too. They sound valuable. Never used, but valuable. I want magnet tape! Between the seeds and the cat fur, maybe you can make a Chia pet?
BigNerd — In your junk drawer? Strange.
Corrina — Throw it out now! You’ll feel so much better. Go ahead — do it! p.s. Thank you for buying a spot in my Top Spots!
Don — Don’t worry. There’ll be a point where we can’t get the drawer opened or closed. That’s when the sweep happens.
Shadowsrider — You win. If it weren’t for Dave making me periodically clean stuff out, we’d have two junk rooms, a junk basement and junk garage. Thank God he makes me do it or I’d never get out of my house.
Amy — I did too! Funny! But the question is: Did anyone actually clean theirs out when they went poking around? You can have our doorbell. I can’t throw it away, but I just might give it away to a good home.
April 17th, 2008 at 8:19 am
That drawer looks fantastic! So wide, so deep. I wish ours was like that. Ours is short and narrow and stuffed to the gills.
The most unusual thing in it is a piece of something. It’s black metal, has a hole in the center, and a folded clip like thing. I’m sure it’s important. I’m sure the day after I toss it in the trash I’ll find what it belongs to.
The Muse’s last blog post..Challenging My Muse with a Flash ©
April 17th, 2008 at 3:24 pm
I’ll be right over to clean that up for you 🙂
Let’s see, dumb things? Um actually I can’t stop cleaning out my junk drawer, I got nothing. Zilch. Zippo.
Natural’s last blog post..No Money, No Problem
April 17th, 2008 at 6:00 pm
The Muse — Well, I do have a second junk drawer (half a drawer really, more for show). We shove as many papers in there as we can. It’s long overdue for a cleaning! I just know you’ll need a black metal thing with a hole in the middle some day. I say keep it.
Natural — You have a NEAT drawer then? Lucky woman!
April 18th, 2008 at 11:01 am
At least you could get your junk drawer to open!!!! Sometimes, I have to pry mine open 🙂
KFJ’s last blog post..’80’s Fix Wednesdays
April 18th, 2008 at 6:49 pm
KFJ — That’d be our half drawer. The one with all the papers screaming to get out. You’d think after all this talking about it, I’d go and clean it, wouldn’t you? Nah!
April 20th, 2008 at 6:20 pm
If you can see the actual bottom of the drawer, than yes … it’s too neat! lol
DrowseyMonkey’s last blog post..It’s Official … I’m Old
April 20th, 2008 at 6:20 pm
damn, now I remember what I have to do … fix my gravitar!!! 🙂
DrowseyMonkey’s last blog post..It’s Official … I’m Old
April 22nd, 2008 at 12:21 pm
My only authentic junk drawer (unless you count my entire desk and all its nooks and crannies) is the top drawer in my capacious bedside table. I peered in there just for you, Kathy … turns out we have many lagniappe-sized containers of eye and face creams (why do I still have wrinkles?) … we have a long-expired bottle of Tums … we have badges made of pictures of my son when he played little league … we have rubber bands, paper clips, safety pins, tooth whitening strips, and lots of small plastic bags containing buttons, sequins, and thread from various and sundry purchased garments.
And I only opened the drawer about three inches!
Jenny’s last blog post..Red Means Stop, Y’all
April 22nd, 2008 at 6:36 pm
DrowseyMonkey — All the interesting stuff is at the bottom. The things that haven’t seen the light of day for years. I’m scared to go there. And get crackin’ on your cool gravatar, woman!
Jenny — Eek! The question is…. if you hadn’t looked in there, would you ever have known to look there for something if you needed it? At least now you know what you have in stock.
May 1st, 2008 at 7:04 am
i’m impressed that you only have ONE junk drawer. we have three, one of which is primarily electronic stuff: batteries, old remote controls, various ipod pieces and parts and two broken flashes for a camera that i don’t have anymore. the analysis of the contents of someone’s junk drawer would be a great topic for someone’s doctoral thesis: How Your Junk Drawer Shapes Your Life.
john’s last blog post..Hate: The Number of Words on the Shampoo Bottle
May 1st, 2008 at 5:41 pm
John — What kills me is all the broken stuff we still keep. I see it’s broken, I know it can’t be fixed, and yet there it lays. It’s a disease, really. Great thesis idea. What’s that saying? One’s junk drawer is a window to the soul?
January 6th, 2009 at 9:26 pm
Hi, Kathy. I have just started a website in DFW and am writing an article on decluttering. I want to show a pic of a real junk drawer and loved yours. Could I possibly use it? I’ll link back to your blog obviously. You can check me out on http://www.momsoutloud.com … I basically write everything right now.
January 7th, 2009 at 7:29 pm
Rebekah — Oh, absolutely, please use it! I’m flattered my junk is worth publishing. Well, you know, my other junk.
November 11th, 2009 at 11:54 am
LOL I love this post! Thanks for posting!
November 14th, 2009 at 5:45 pm
It looks a lot better then my junk draw!
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