I Asked a Pro Organizer to Fix My "Nightmare" Kitchen Drawer, and Her Simple Fix was Brilliant

"When my boyfriend and I moved into our new apartment, we put things in the general area where we wanted them to go and agreed that once we were finished moving in, we'd properly declutter and organize the kitchen. That was - checks notes - more than a year ago, and what was once a fine solution for a future problem has become an ongoing kitchen cabinet nightmare."

"One drawer in particular has become our default catchall. It houses everything: all of our kitchen utensils and tools, plus everything else that we just don't know where to put. And while it's manageable (I know where everything is, regardless of how poorly it's organized), it's cluttered beyond belief. I even went so far as to tell people I thought the drawer was an eyesore and "fugly." (I stand by it.)"

"The cabinets in our new apartment are different from our old apartment, so part of the reason I didn't want to deal with everything all at once when we were moving in was that it meant buying more stuff, and moving is already expensive enough as is. I also didn't want to deal with starting over with a new kitchen layout and facing the pressure to buy all new things, so I was doing my best to reuse everything (if I could)."

"The tipping point was realizing I had not one, not two, but three pairs of scissors bouncing around in that drawer. Why? I have no idea. So I knew it was time for a change. I reached out to Jean Prominski, certified professional organizer and owner of Sparkle Home Organizing, to help me."

A new apartment kitchen was initially set up with items placed roughly where they would eventually go, with plans to declutter later. More than a year passed, and the temporary arrangement turned into an ongoing cabinet problem. The cabinets differed from the previous apartment, and the goal was to reuse existing items to avoid extra purchases and the pressure of buying a new kitchen setup. One drawer became a default storage area for utensils, tools, and miscellaneous items that lacked a clear home. The drawer stayed manageable but looked cluttered and disorganized. The realization that multiple pairs of scissors were bouncing around triggered the decision to seek help from a certified professional organizer.

Read at Apartment Therapy