How to organize a kitchen utensil drawer

     We should spend our limited time creating delicious home cooked meals, not looking for utensils, cookware, ingredients and recipes. That means taking some time now to organize these items in order to save time later. I think most of us have dug through a drawer like this one to find (or not find) that ladle or spatula.

maybe it's in there, maybe it's not

    Let’s make order from this chaos. Let's pick out the utensils we use the most and put them where they will be the most accessible.  Let’s find the meal prep heavy-hitters.
    It’s worthwhile to give this some thought. I determined that the utensils that most need to be near the cooking surface are a metal turner, a large spoon, a ladle, a grater, a peeler, a spatula  and  scissors. In this example the most important utensils are in an organized top cabinet drawer right alongside the stove top.

Notice the "shadow" for the big spoon. It needs to come back home.

   
     Let's build an organized drawer. Tools needed: tape measure (6ft minimum), Sharpie marker, square, jig saw or hand saw, electric or battery operated drill and 1/8" drill bit, 3/4" to 2" long 8-32 machine screws and nuts. Philips and/or straight screwdriver.
   1. Measure the drawer length and width and subtract  an eighth inch from each.
   2. Get a some 1/8" thick sheet material , such as scrap paneling. That's what I used.
   3. Mark and cut the sheet nice and square with a jig saw or hand saw. This material is very easy to cut.
    Now set the utensils down on the panel in a reasonable spacing and make marks for the place-holding hardware. I use 8-32 machine screws and nuts for this. They are cheap and easy to find.  Any local hardware store will carry them  Drill holes where the hardware will mount and mount the hardware. If done properly the utensils will stay put when the drawer is opened or closed.
     
     

Strategically position the screws so the utensils have nowhere else to go

        It's not hard to turn make a kitchen drawer into a very tight, efficient work space.  One problem solved. Next up, the cookware cabinet. 

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