# What's in your kitchen "junk drawer"? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 6, 2003, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-in-your-kitchen-junk-drawer/166858 "2003-04-06T13:07:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DAVEW0071](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e19b73/32.png) [@DAVEW0071](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DAVEW0071)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2003, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-in-your-kitchen-junk-drawer/166858/1 "2003-04-06T13:07:15Z")
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? ---
**Author:** ![jacksen9](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ce73a5/32.png) [@jacksen9](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jacksen9)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2003, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-in-your-kitchen-junk-drawer/166858/2 "2003-04-06T13:16:38Z")
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: ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2003, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-in-your-kitchen-junk-drawer/166858/3 "2003-04-06T13:31:47Z")
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…🙂 ---
**Author:** ![lorene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/65b543/32.png) [@lorene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lorene)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2003, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-in-your-kitchen-junk-drawer/166858/5 "2003-04-06T14:05:59Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![TeaElle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8491ac/32.png) [@TeaElle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TeaElle)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2003, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-in-your-kitchen-junk-drawer/166858/6 "2003-04-06T14:17:05Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2003, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-in-your-kitchen-junk-drawer/166858/8 "2003-04-06T15:27:26Z")
Stuff and junk. (AKA “damn’ drawer”, because every damn’ thing you can think of is in it.) ---
**Author:** ![GKW](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d9b06d/32.png) [@GKW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GKW)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2003, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-in-your-kitchen-junk-drawer/166858/9 "2003-04-06T16:09:31Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2003, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-in-your-kitchen-junk-drawer/166858/10 "2003-04-06T16:26:10Z")
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??? ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2003, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-in-your-kitchen-junk-drawer/166858/11 "2003-04-06T16:33:41Z")
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! ---
**Author:** ![Flutterby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Flutterby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flutterby)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2003, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-in-your-kitchen-junk-drawer/166858/12 "2003-04-06T18:44:44Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Pablito](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@Pablito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pablito)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2003, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-in-your-kitchen-junk-drawer/166858/13 "2003-04-06T19:01:18Z")
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! ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2003, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-in-your-kitchen-junk-drawer/166858/14 "2003-04-06T19:12:18Z")
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). ---
**Author:** ![medstar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f07891/32.png) [@medstar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/medstar)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2003, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-in-your-kitchen-junk-drawer/166858/15 "2003-04-06T20:29:25Z")
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? ---
**Author:** ![kirk280980](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c77e96/32.png) [@kirk280980](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kirk280980)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2003, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-in-your-kitchen-junk-drawer/166858/16 "2003-04-06T23:11:54Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2003, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-in-your-kitchen-junk-drawer/166858/17 "2003-04-06T23:27:17Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2003, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-in-your-kitchen-junk-drawer/166858/18 "2003-04-07T04:43:34Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2003, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-in-your-kitchen-junk-drawer/166858/19 "2003-04-07T11:49:34Z")
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: ---
**Author:** ![Geek\_Mecha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecae2f/32.png) [@Geek\_Mecha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geek_Mecha)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2003, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-in-your-kitchen-junk-drawer/166858/20 "2003-04-07T12:20:41Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2003, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-in-your-kitchen-junk-drawer/166858/21 "2003-04-07T12:42:03Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![TelcontarStorm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3ab097/32.png) [@TelcontarStorm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TelcontarStorm)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2003, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-in-your-kitchen-junk-drawer/166858/22 "2003-04-07T12:48:21Z")
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…😛 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-in-your-kitchen-junk-drawer/166858.md?page=2)