Easy Silverware Drawer Organization
When was the last time you organized your cutlery drawer? Mine was overdue for a thorough purge. A couple of weeks ago, I discovered a – new to me- product; an in-drawer knife block which led me to the organization of the silverware drawer.
Since I had two knife blocks on my kitchen counter, I decided it was time to declutter the counter and make room in the flatware drawer to fit the new drawer knife block. However, before I made the purchase, I designed the arrangement and organization of the silverware to ensure that everything would fit in the drawer.
So here’s how I organized the flatware, the knives using the new drawer knife block, and other silverware and utensils I use on a daily basis. If you prefer, I also made a time-lapse video of this organization. You can watch it here.
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Declutter the silverware
As always, the first step was to face the clutter and purge. Decluttering the silverware drawer brought me to tears. I am sentimental like that. For the last 10 years, I have kept our son’s toddler years silverware in this drawer. The reason being, we have friends with little kids that come to visit, and it is always good to have a set of flatware for little mouths.
But, the time has come to rid the drawer of things that are not useful anymore. So, whenever I am organizing a drawer, my rule of thumb is to get rid of anything that has not been used in the last year. And organizing the cutlery drawer was no exception to this rule.
Measure and make Templates
I was motivated to organize our flatware because I wanted to relocate our knives in a drawer knife block. This way I tackled two projects at once; decluttering the countertop (where I had two knife blocks!) and the organization of the silverware drawer.
So, before I purchased the drawer knife block, I traced a template of its size using the dimensions shown in the product description. And I did the same for this silverware drawer organizer.
Other Trays for Organizing silverware Drawer
Before I started organizing the cutlery, I also brought in a couple of trays I had left from a previous purchase. These Bino trays come in 2-packs, so I had some left from another organization project.
Because our habit is to reach for the silverware on the left side of the drawer, I placed the template of the cutlery organizer on that side. And the template of the drawer knife block in the far right.
I placed a 3-section organizer in the back of the drawer, and a larger 4-section organizer in the middle. Everything seemed to fit just well, and I had a small room to spare.
Place Things Back in The Drawer
The rest of the silverware organization came naturally. I placed the least used utensils in the back of the drawer. These are corn holders, spreaders for appetizers, and seafood cracker tools.
Once I was happy with the arrangement, I purchased the other two pieces. And here is the final result.
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HOw I USed the Drawer Trays for the Silverware Organization
I was happy to find the silverware drawer organizer that matched the two other trays I had on hand. The uniform look on the trays makes the silverware organization look seamless and made the drawer complete.
The 4-compartment tray was perfect for organizing other cutlery items such as serving spoons, serving fork, measuring cups, and measuring spoons.
I placed the 3-compartment tray in the back of the drawer to store the least used utensils. These are organized in such a way that they’re easy to spot and easy to reach, but out of the way. Before, I had bigger trays with fewer compartments, which made reaching out for utensils really hard.
The in-Drawer Knife Block
As I mentioned before, I jumped into the organization of our silverware drawer because I wanted to relocate my set of knives in a drawer knife block.
There is a wide variety of in-drawer knife blocks, but this one has the perfect profile for our flatware drawer. It’s long and narrow, so it fits the depth of the drawer perfectly.
Lessons from Organizing the Flatware
One of the things I taught myself when I started this journey of decluttering and organizing is to let my organization tools (i.e.: drawer inserts, knife blocks, baskets, etc.) set the limits on what to keep.
In other words, if it doesn’t fit, it has to go. It takes a lot of compromises, but it is absolutely liberating, and it makes everything easier and prettier.
In this case, I minimized my knives down to 11, even though the description says I can store up to 16. I was able to set limits on the amount of least used utensils, and I donated measuring cups and measuring spoons duplicates.
Other things that had no rhyme or reason like straws, random mason jar lids, wine toppers, and bottle brushes, I either tossed or relocated.