Let me show you my drawers

I need to finish two book chapters, which are definitely getting there, while also working and having children and whatnot, and also following world events. Which means home organization has become the most fascinating, escapist thing in the world. I am struck by everything just being sort of thrown into closets (of which there are few, a possible source of the problem) in heaps, whatever the original intent. There are things in storage bins that should be in closets and vice versa. There are clothes in one child’s dresser that should be in the other’s, as well as an increasing number that could go in either, as their sizes converge. There is no obvious way to organize my own t-shirts (white-black-striped, in three piles? or by sleeve length?) that doesn’t immediately lead to the heap re-forming in their drawer. And don’t get me started on sweaters and jeans. Nothing short of Marie Kondo herself showing up at my door would make a difference.

But it is the kitchen that preoccupies the most. The renovation is done, so I can focus on more important things, like… cutlery organization. There was this moment during it when I remembered how my dream had been to properly organize our cutlery, and with that in mind, agreed to purchase a customized cutlery inset that would fit the non-standard-sized drawer. It was maybe $150 (which seemed nuts but I was like, maybe?) and the stupidest thing I have ever purchased. Oh, it fits, all right, but with unusable filler that effectively turns a large drawer into a smaller one. It’s also this sort of crappy-looking plastic thing that looks cafeteria-style in a not-so-good way.

I have been sitting with this, wondering if I could justify purchasing a better one, and what one even would be, given that the drawer isn’t standard-sized, which was how I got into this mess to begin with. I would try to look this up on Amazon and quickly lose interest because cutlery organizers are the most boring thing in the world, despite being endlessly compelling. I can’t explain it.

But I decided, as a little experiment, to find something with dimensions that were close enough (as in, a bit under if need be), and buy it for our other identically-sized top drawer, the one that had been a mess of miscellaneous kitchen utensils. The idea being, if this works, to buy a second one and put one of these in both.

It doesn’t 100% fill the drawer but WHAT AN IMPROVEMENT:

At least, I see it as one. Bamboo, and yeah quite a bit less than $150. If I could turn baaack tiiime, I would unpurchase the plastic one (a customized item with zero reuse value to us or anyone else) and have just gotten two of these bamboo ones, but we all live with the sum of our decisions, good and bad, kitchen-related and otherwise. One must press on.