My kitchen junk drawer used to be a black hole. Batteries, rubber bands, loose screws, and three mystery keys all sliding around in a pile. I would dig for a minute, find nothing, and shove it all back.

I almost spent twenty dollars on plastic drawer organizers. Then I looked at the recycling bin and realized I had everything I needed for free.

What you need

• Empty cereal boxes or other thin cardboard boxes
• Scissors or a utility knife
• A ruler and a pencil
• Optional: wrapping paper or contact paper to cover them

How to make them

1. Measure the height of your drawer. Most boxes are taller than you need.
2. Cut the box down so the sides are a little lower than the drawer walls.
3. Cut the box into sections, or cut individual strips to make compartments.
4. Arrange them in the drawer until the layout makes sense.
5. Optional: wrap each piece in contact paper so it looks nicer and wipes clean.

Why cardboard works fine

You are not putting these through heavy abuse. They sit in a drawer and hold things in place. Cardboard is stiff enough to keep batteries from rolling into the screw bin, and when a divider gets beat up, you just cut another one from the next cereal box.

I have had mine in for months. The only upgrade I made was wrapping the fronts in leftover shelf liner, and honestly that was mostly for looks.

Best drawers to start with

The junk drawer is the obvious first target, but this also works great for utensil drawers, craft drawers, and bathroom drawers. Anywhere small stuff gets jumbled together.

It cost me nothing and about twenty minutes, and now I can actually see what is in that drawer. That alone has stopped me from buying duplicate batteries twice.