The 10 Minute Tidy. Shannon McGinnis

the drawer is wiped out and the silverware tray or your organizing bins are in place, decide what you want to put back in. Only keep the utensils that you use. Anything that has been chewed up by the garbage disposal or melted on the stove is trash. There is nothing worse than eating something smooth and creamy like ice cream and then having the jagged edge of the spoon scrape your lip! Throw those away right now! They cannot be fixed and unless you remove them from the kitchen, they are just going to be kept in circulation.

      Also, evaluate how many of each item you really need. How many spatulas does your family use in a week? How many potholders do you really use per meal? Why keep more than two sets of tongs unless you entertain often? Just keep the items you love to use. I have an adjustable can opener from my Gram that I absolutely love, so even though the paint is peeling off the handle, it works just as well as it did 40 years ago.

      So, keep what you love to use; throw out anything scraped, melted, or broken, and donate all the extras. You will have an organized kitchen, one drawer at a time.

      Tip 23 Organize the Junk Drawer

      Most kitchens have a household junk drawer where all the odd items end up that don’t have a home. This is where the flashlights might be with the screwdrivers and extra picture hangers. When you decide to tidy this drawer in 10 minutes, first decide what actually should be kept in the drawer and what can be relocated to the garage, basement, or laundry room.

       The best way to start may be to dump out the drawer and wipe it clean. This is the ideal place for drawer organizers. Use separate drawer organizers for batteries, hardware, and tools. See exactly what you want to keep in here and what actually fits. A hammer may take up too much room and so it might be better located in the garage. If everyone in the house knows where the hammer is stored, then they are also more likely to return it to that place in the garage rather than throw it in the junk drawer again.

      There are also plastic trays that you can buy that have compartments of various sizes. Using this type of drawer organizer, you can decide if you want to separate batteries by size: AAA, AA, C, D, others. Plastic trays are also great to separate household hardware such as screws, nails, picture hooks, and thumbtacks. This type of adjustable tray can be purchased at your local hardware store in the household section.

      Your household junk drawer may be cluttered with keys or sunglasses. Look at all of the sunglasses to see if they are scratched or out of style and donate all the pairs that you no longer wear. Keep your collection down to a reasonable number; otherwise you have too many choices that slow you down when trying to get out the door.

      Keys are often a loose item that end up in the junk drawer. Take the time to check the loose, extra keys with the doors, filing cabinets and bike locks in your home. Check any locking china cabinet, jewelry box and safe before throwing away extra keys. You would know by now if there were something that you weren’t able to get into. If you haven’t used any of those keys in a long time, chances are that you won’t suddenly need to.

      A junk drawer is great, but it’s even better when you can easily find exactly what you need in it!

      Tip 24 Wash Dishes or Empty the Dishwasher

      It is a simple thing to do and yet one that we resist so much! I am amazed at how much better I feel when the kitchen is free of dirty dishes. Somehow a dish drain of clean dishes doesn’t bother me as much as a pile of dirty ones. Do you feel the same way?

      For immediate gratification, set your timer for 10 minutes and wash as many dishes as you can! You can also easily load the dishwasher in 10 minutes. If the dishwasher needs to be emptied, unloading the dishwasher only takes a few minutes and then it’s ready for refilling.

      For the pots, pans, knives, and cutting boards that you don’t put in the dishwasher, washing as many as you can during the remaining 10 minutes will go quite quickly if you race yourself or make a game out of it. This is a great way to enroll children in the process too. Kids can race to see who empties the dishwasher and who clears the table faster. Just be sure that there are penalty points for broken dishes.

      Notice how much better you feel when the kitchen is clear of dirty dishes piling up on the counters or in the sink!

      Tip 25 Match Up All Storage Containers

      Oh, the chaos of plastic storage containers! This could be one of the most satisfying areas to organize in your entire home! Most kitchens have a drawer or cabinet where these containers get thrown, never to be matched up again. Today is the day! Now is the time! This is actually quite fun if you think of it as a puzzle.

      First, decide what your strategy is. Do you want to only keep one kind or brand of storage container? Do you want to store the glass ones somewhere else? Perhaps you want to get rid of everything and start over with a new, color-coded, complete set. If this is the case, I would recommend recycling as many containers and lids as your local recycling program will accept. Then wipe out the area and start with a clean slate.

      Pam uses the “as-seen-on-TV” plastic container system that has all the same lids with 3 different sized containers, all stored on a rotating base. This is such a great solution, I bought one for myself at Kmart™ for about $20. It fits in cabinets easily and I love it!

      If you want to continue to use the storage containers that you have, then start by shape. First match up all of the rectangular containers. Then move on to the square containers. Next are the round containers and there are usually more of these: bowls, cups, and to-go mugs. Again, be realistic about how many you need of each and only keep the ones that have matching tops and bottoms that you will use.

      Any extra tops or un-matched bottoms can be recycled or thrown away. Plastic storage containers that have been stained, melted or scraped should be recycled or thrown away to prevent bacterial contamination.

      Enjoy being able to easily find the matching top and bottom to your plastic storage containers from now on and repeat this 10-Minute Tidy as needed!