The Good Dish The Good List: Potatoes + Danica McKellar

"Can you find me a pen?"

All these questions sound familiar? The answers can usually be found in the junk drawer! But sometimes it's near impossible to find anything in there. That is where our hosts and our special guest step in! Organization has become a huge hit with shows like "The Home Edit" and "Tidying Up With Marie Kondo." Millions of people all over the world are asking: how can I take the space I have and make it more enjoyable to be in? Follow along below as our hosts and special guest Pia Thompson of Sweet Digs to learn how to turn that junk drawer into the most organized drawer in your kitchen.

1. Empty everything out

First step of any home project is simply dump everything on the table, floor, or counter. When organizing your junk drawer, it is normal to have items from all other parts of your life. Gail tells us some of that is in her drawer, "It's full of batteries and scissors and papers and receipts. There's a stapler. There is someone's house keys. Possibly car keys." Just having the opportunity to see all that is in the drawer will help with the next step.

2. Organize into piles

This is the most important step in the process. When dividing the items into piles, this is the time to decide what "sparks joy," and what is just taking up space. Pia Thompson describes this term as "Whether something sparks joy means does it thrill you, does it increase your energy, essentially."

The other questions to ask are does this item work (i.e. does the flashlight come on when I put batteries in or does this key go to anything that I currently own) , does it fulfill a need my family has (i.e. extra batteries, pens and pencils, safety pins) , and does it belong somewhere else in the house (i.e. is it lost mail that should have gone in a basket by the door or is it an earring that should have gone in the bedroom?)

Piles should consist of like items — scissors with scissors, buttons with buttons.

3. Align the drawers

Aligning the drawers may seem like a useless step, but it could be the difference between the space feeling important or not. Pia reminds us that "you want to make sure not only the things that you have spark joy, but also that the place you're putting it away can sparks joy, so that you'll be more inclined to stay tidy."

When aligning, there is not need to go out to the store or to select the perfect piece of scrap paper. Peel and stick wallpaper can be a wonderful money saver and can help make the space feel more at home.

4. Select your containers

When selecting your containers, it is not always about the most beautiful ones on the shelfs. In fact, you probably have the perfect containers already! Pia tells us, "You can use an ice cube tray. You can store small pins and things in here and it's already partitioned. That makes it so easy. You can even paint this, have a craft situation with your kids, gets a paint in and make this look pretty. You can use little boxes you have at home. Maybe you've gotten some jewelry. You can use the old jewelry boxes. You can paint those as well."

Old glasses cases, cereal boxes cut in half, or baskets from the dollar store can all be amazing options. As long as your containers spark as much joy as the items going inside.

If you are interested in getting professional grade organization storage, check out this $18 16-piece storage set on Amazon!