What's in your kitchen "junk drawer"?

[DAVEW0071]

Every kitchen has one; the drawer that's relegated to all the stuff that you don't have a specific place for.

Batteries
Extension cords
Cellophane tape
Small appliance instruction booklets
Flashlight
Egg beater
Humungous ladle
Rulers
Twine

What's in yours?

[jacksen9]

stray business cards
mini cassette tape
batteries
old keys to who knows what
paper clips
twisty ties
clothes pin
phone cord
black electric tape
stretch tie down
10 - 20 pennies
four or five sheets of paper with phone numbers but no names
stress ball / squeezer
screws
band aids
finger nail clippers that do not work


Ha... maybe I should go dump that drawer into the trash.:smack:

[Phlosphr]

Ahem!! Dave - Please use the proper nomenclature, that would be Utility Drawer! :)


And to answer the Q - Everything!!!


My wife and I could probably survive a week in the Amazon with just that drawer...:)

[Q ]

hand tools & computer screwdrivers
glues and tapes (electrical, pipe teflon, cellophane)
rubber bands

That's it

[lorene]

In addition to a lot of the stuff also mentioned, our drawer has a whole bunch of matchbooks from my fiance's first wedding, so they are embossed with his and his ex's name, the date, etc.

It struck me as weird initially, but he has said, "I'm not one to throw out a perfectly good match." That can be interpreted a number of ways.

[TeaElle]

I think the fun of the jun- uh, ahem, utility drawer is the weird stuff in it.

In my case, that'd be a wacky fun straw shaped like a cat, a Kennedy silver dollar (just one) and a recipe for chocolate-cayenne-peanut ice cream.

[lossleader]

hand tools & computer screwdrivers
glues and tapes (electrical, pipe teflon, cellophane)
rubber bands

That's it

[Johnny L.A.]

Stuff and junk.

(AKA "damn' drawer", because every damn' thing you can think of is in it.)

[GKW]

I'm kind of embarrassed to say this but we have two junk drawers in my kitchen. The first drawer got stuck 'cause it was crammed full of stuff. We just started putting the odd screw driver, birthday candles, electrical tape, used check books, etc. in another drawer and before we knew it we had two of them! I wish we were the type of people that outline their tool shapes on peg boards but in my heart, I know they'd just end up back in the junk drawer.

[Phlosphr]

I always tend to get pricked by the thumb tacks all nestled in the back of the drawer, when I stick my hand back there looking for the super glue. ;)

Why does the really sharp/pointy stuff always end up on the bottom and in the back???

[Green Bean]

We don't have a junk drawer. I'm not bragging. It's actually a problem. Since we don't have a junk drawer, all the junk drawer stuff accumulates on the bookshelf--visible! Ideally, we are supposed to clean off the bookshelf periodically. Yeah, right!

[Flutterby]

Y'know.. I don't even know what is in it. I know we have the take out order menus in there, but I never go searching for anything else and they are on the top. The only thing else I know we have for certain in there are a bunch of candles and matches.

[Pablito]

We called it the 'everything drawer' when I was growing up. Recently my witty brother cleaned up our parents' kitchen. When he got to the everything drawer, he taped a note to the front of it, which said something like:

Stop! Do not put anything it this drawer. The only things allowed in here are the following: old batteries, pens, toothpicks (loose), string (unspolled), erasers, pencil shavings, coins, bottlecaps, beads, hair curlers, dried up jars of finger paint, and emery boards. Nothing else may go in here! Unless you think it might be useful or something and don't want to throw it away, or you're not sure where else it could go, or you're in a hurry. This means you!

[twickster]

Junk drawer? Hm, lemme see. There's the "means of attaching one object to another" drawer (string, twine, Elmer's, crazy glue, duct tape, masking tape, clear packing tape, brown packing tape), and there's the "infrequently used kitchen gadgets" drawer (candy thermometer, mandolin, skewers, spoon-shaped tea infuser, nutcracker, etc.). Oh, the junk drawer? Tin from Animal Crackers, three kinds of birthday candles (normal, extremely tall, twisted), two empty 35-mm film cannisters (I haven't had a 35-mm camera in... 6 or 8 years?), three corks from wine bottles, plastic "happy birthday" cake topper, a box of 1000 wooden toothpicks, a bunch of disposable shower caps (???), a candy dish shaped like a vampire's face, plastic placemats (???), and a two-handled kite-string winder (with string).

[medstar]

Hey! I've got an idea for a reality show!

Eight couples (old, young, gay, straight, etc.) are dropped on a tropical island and learn to survive. The catch is, they can only use what is in their kitchen junk drawer. I'm envisioning diesel engines constructed of broken whisks, rubber bands and Krazy glue. What do you all think?

[kirk280980]

I have two junk drawers, one at each end of the kitchen. So, no matter what I'm doing, I can rest assured knowing there's always plenty of crap close to hand :D.

Contents of both drawers include rubber bands, blunt scissors, takeout menus and empty film canisters. There's also a huge bundle of stuff from my days as a salesman, including business cards, keyrings, dried-out pens and bottle openers, all bearing the company logo. I hate to think how much I cost them, judging by the amount of freebies I have stashed away.

[Lissa]

Jesus! An easier question would be what's NOT in my junk drawer. I can barely close it!

Pens, markers, boxes of checks, extension cords, batteries, potpourri, CO2 cartridges, stamps, address lables, various kitchen gadgets which have not, and probably never will be used, candles, keychains full of keys to god-knows-what, dog medicine, nail clippers, a broken pair of scissors, two chess pieces, a flashlight with no batteries, a dried-out roll of masking tape (which makes me swear whenever I try to tear off a piece,) lighters, loose change, shoe laces, a pack of gum which has probably been there since the Clinton Administration, assorted "pieces" that must go to something, and other forgettable junk which should have been disposed of long ago.

It will be, when I move. In my new residence, I will then desingate a new "junk drawer" and the collection process will begin anew.

[koeeoaddi]

I have two junk drawers, too. One has a screw driver, old keys to God knows what, wind up toys, inkless pens, colored pencils, electrical tape, string, picture hooks, gem setting pliers, dog tags and a ruler.

The other is filled with shimmering ectoplasm. We keep that one closed.

[flodnak]

One of the few organizing tips I've managed to implement and stick to has been to get rid of the junk drawer. Actually our old kitchen was very short of drawers, period, so we had piles of junk on top of the microwave. Not good. When we remodeled our kitchen, I picked a cabinet with three small drawers just below eye level. The drawer on the left holds all the "fastener" things - rubber bands, ball of twine, etc. It's also where we keep the box of little parchment squares that go between open-faced sandwiches in packed lunches. The middle, larger drawer holds batteries and film. The right drawer is for pens and note paper. This system works so much better for us than a junk drawer!

Now if only I could get the rest of Casaflodnak so organized.... :rolleyes:

[Geek Mecha]

We also don't have a junk drawer. I don't think I've ever had a junk drawer, nor have my parents.

The little table I built for our keys and loose change occasionally gets piled with random receipts, ticket stubs and other papers, but the rest of the apartment is fairly tidy. Pretty much everything has a place it belongs.

[BrotherCadfael]

Our junk drawer (given the contents, the word "junk" is technically preferable to "utility") is called the "little" drawer. This is not because it is any smaller than any of our other drawers, but because the junk drawer in the house I grew up in was about half the size of all of the other drawers.

The name has stuck through about four other houses since then.

[TelcontarStorm]

Man. I gotta get off my arse and go to the kitchen...
We moved in in Febuary, so there really hasn't been enough time to collect too much stuff. YET

Sammich Bags, Garbage bags, Grocery bags(plastic), Measuring devices (more scoopy than cuppy), Power cords for a few of the horde of electrical apliences, Spices (those belong in the drawer below!)Partial package of yeast (Damn, I thought we were out),and last but by no means least important (At lunch time anyhow) Canned Cat food,

We've a second drawer one could call another utility drawer but it's sole responsibility is to hold those really sharp knives. No mixing with the regular silverware for those dangerous things...They might hurt someone...:p

[dman]

A few years back I saw a song performed by an Australian called Jimeoin as part of a Buskers Festival ...
Ah, I love the internet - here it is
http://www.lyricsfreak.com/j/jimeoin/59963.htm
(beware evil pop-up)

Strummed in an extremely laconic and conversational tone:In my kitchen there's a draw at the top
'Sgot cutlery: knives, forks, spoons the lot
Second draw down's got big knives and an egg whip
Things that should go in the first draw - but they just don't fit
But the third draw down
From the top
Is just full of shit

Aha... and there's tons of it...

Elastic bands and tally-hos that don't stick
Dried up glue, false teeth, something stolen from a hotel
Things that are broken that you know you'll never fix
But you put them in the third draw,
'cause you just don't got the heart to throw them away,
It's the third draw down
From the top
An' it's full of shit

Bum-bup-a-bum,
Bum-bup-a-bum-bum-bum,
Bum-bum,

Blu-tac and cellotape that's been hit by a truck
One chopstick, an ashtray from Canada
Paid bills and envelopes
Things that you think'll come in handy - but they just never do
It's the third draw down
From the top
An' it's full of shit

Bup-a-bum-bum-bum,

In the third draw,
It's full of shit...
And the fourth draw down
(that's the one below the third)
It's got plastic bags in it

And that's it.

;j
The last two lines are my fave - had the entire crowd crack up with sympathy/empathy (some word that means you know exactly what that's like). I think there may have been more verses depending on his mood.
Then I put my mum onto it - her whole house is the 'the third drawer down from the top' - it's now a family expression.

[dwc1970]

Shitload of rubber bands, all colors and sizes
Pens, some of which no longer write
Markers, some of which are dried out and thus no longer write
Pencils of varying length from nearly new to little stubs. Some either have no eraser left, or the eraser is hard and too worn to be of any use
Jar of marbles
Matchbooks (I don't smoke or have any other reason to light matches in my house)
Screwdrivers
Screws
Nails (some are bent and rusty and had been pulled out of the wall in the last place I lived)
Those twist ties that are used on the cords with new electronic items
A collection of the plastic things that hold a bread bag closed
Popsicle sticks
A few receipts and ticket stubs
Cassette tape (recorded contents not determined as of this writing)
And several other things (though since I am at work right now I can't check to see what's all in there.)


Also, here's a semi-related Onion (http://www.theonion.com/onion3902/new_economy.html) article.