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Do you have a man drawer in your kitchen?
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Posted by paulabrady (My Page) on Wed, Sep 1, 10 at 21:31
| I married a 10 year bachelor. We've been married for 2 1/2 years and he has man stuff everywhere. Man stuff meaning walkie talkies, power tools, binoculars, etc. After we remodel I know I'm going to have to dedicate a drawer for his "stuff". ( or maybe a pantry) Do you all do the same? |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Do you have a man drawer in your kitchen?
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| No He, has his garage. Lol |
RE: Do you have a man drawer in your kitchen?
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| No 'man drawer' in my kitchen either. DH has storage in our bedroom that is much like you describe needing for your guy, and, of course, in the carport/shop area. I keep some tools for myself in my desk drawer, though, just outside my kitchen. |
RE: Do you have a man drawer in your kitchen?
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| My mom did. She reserved one drawer for things like a flashlight, screwdrivers, pliers, pencils, small hammer and so forth. In my house, all the drawers are man-drawers. |
RE: Do you have a man drawer in your kitchen?
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| a WHAT? no, no, NO! his stuff goes in the man cave (room in the basement) or out in the garage. kitchen real estate -no matter how large a space is much too precious to house JUNK. you really should have put a stop to this behavior right away but it may not be too late. clear out his stuff, put it in a box and locate it elsewhere. he'll just have to learn. |
RE: Do you have a man drawer in your kitchen?
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| Yes, I have two drawers in the kitchen for my partner's man stuff. Binoculars, various tools, flashlight, seems like about a million different screws and nails...the stuff he needs to access somewhat often goes in those kitchen drawers. At the old house the garage was his, he could do whatever he wanted in there. I hated it. It was always a mess and cluttered but whatever that wqas the agreement!!! We have no garage now and I know he misses it but we'll eventually have one again. As long as I have one space to park I'm happy. I have to pick up after him because he sits down in his recliner and fiddles around with stuff and leaves it on the end table :X |
RE: Do you have a man drawer in your kitchen?
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We have always had a "junk" drawer that holds flashlights, batteries, extra key rings, sewing kit, etc... I try to make a different storage container for each category within the drawer.
I think not planning for a junk drawer would mean that stuff creeping in elsewhere. |
RE: Do you have a man drawer in your kitchen?
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| I do have a large drawer but I don't think he will fit. I'll try though. |
RE: Do you have a man drawer in your kitchen?
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| Well, interestingly enough - yes, we have a "tool time" drawer. It has MY tools in it and they have my name on them. He (DH who literally and almost single-handedly did the entire reno) cannot put my tools back where they belong. He has a wonderfully organized garage and top of the line tool chests that house great tools, but when it comes to returning my 99cent tools, he has a bit if brain fade. I have Harbor Freight tools and (in my little drawer, I use them almost on a daily basis) I have his father's old hand-me-downs (painted pink by him) and my el cheapo tools. I HAVE to HAVE tools handy - it's like having the right slotted spoon for the veggies or the right sized whisk for the sauce. But, YMMV. I crave having the right tool (whether it be garage or kitchen) at hand when I need it. In addition to the small drawer, I have a small portable tool box under the sink that houses all of the other misc. tools that I think we might need. I'm a bit of a tool hoarder and it's okay, ;-) I've come to terms with it. Not sure that DH has, however...but he can always find a Phillips when he needs it. :-D |
RE: Do you have a man drawer in your kitchen?
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| When I was married, we both had our own project rooms and shared the garage. No man drawer in the kitchen...he didn't linger there very long as he didn't cook or do dishes. I do have a drawer for tools in my kitchen though as I like to have a screwdriver or hammer handy. |
RE: Do you have a man drawer in your kitchen?
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| jterrilynn, you just made my day! Would the man drawer be located next to the spice pull out or do you think he would work better over by the ROTS? |
RE: Do you have a man drawer in your kitchen?
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no man drawer but do have a man cabinet...
at least he thinks so...
and he fits! 
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RE: Do you have a man drawer in your kitchen?
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| I wanted to have a man drawer for all his magazines and mail he believes he needs to keep even though he never does anything with it later, but he stubbornly refuses to use it. He likes to have his stuff "handy". What I ended up with is a tiny (21in) counter next to my pantry where he can pile all his junk. I'm not thrilled with it, but as long as he keeps his stuff off my island and other counter workspaces I try not to complain too much. It is his house too, afterall. Totally Confused |
RE: Do you have a man drawer in your kitchen?
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| Yes, and he fits. 
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RE: Do you have a man drawer in your kitchen?
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| I was hoping your picture would be in this thread! So glad to see it again! |
RE: Do you have a man drawer in your kitchen?
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| No man drawer but a basket on the counter. When it gets too full of receipts, tools, sunglasses etc. I carry it up to "his" room and put the stuff on the desk. |
RE: Do you have a man drawer in your kitchen?
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| Darling cat pic babushka:) |
RE: Do you have a man drawer in your kitchen?
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| I'm not sure why you would want to store walkie talkies, power tools, binoculars, etc. in the kitchen. We have tools and binoculars and other stuff like that and we have a place for that stuff. Just not in the kitchen. I think that things that aren't used in the kitchen shouldn't be stored in the kitchen. That's what makes a kitchen cluttered and inconvenient. Now, if you have extra space on what might be called the outskirts of the kitchen, or you have a dedicated area, again, outside (even if it's JUST outside) the kitchen. Fine. I keep all the tools in a storage unit in my utility room. Granted, we don't have that many tools, so that space is ample. I think if you/DH have a lot of tools and are handy type of people, you'd want to keep those tools where you use them: in the garage or workshop or whatever. Certainly he doesn't use his power tools in the kitchen. Binoculars and walkie talkies and other stuff like that can easily be stored almost anywhere in the house. Those things are used occasionally and don't need to be in the handiest spot. |
RE: Do you have a man drawer in your kitchen?
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| Those are cute pics! LOL Yes we do have a man drawer lol. I never thought of it like that. I have what i call 4 junk drawers that are kind of to the side of the kitchen. And one of the junk drawers is the man drawer. Which just means if he's got stuff sitting on the counter like wallet, keys, walkie talkie, sunglasses i put it all in his drawer:) Then my counter is clean. |
RE: Do you have a man drawer in your kitchen?
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| You made me smile jterrilynn & kitchenkelly and I always love a good cat photo. We have a "utility drawer", as my husband calls it. Right now it has twine and some packing tape (and a bowl I can't seem to figure out where to put :) since we are slowly moving back in. I am looking forward to having a place for screw drivers and such so I don't have to shlep down to the basement if i need to change a battery in my kids toys (yes that is when I am most likely to need a screw driver these days - lame :) I also have as standing desk with a top drawer and I am glad the tools will not bleed into that. I shutter when I think about my mom's "junk drawer" - it was 80% used rubber bands and twist ties and I recall an ancient bar tool and broken egg slicer. Come to think if it she had three of them, always so stuffed that you couldn't even open them - old birthday cards, candles, ice cream scoopers, a grave yard for unused & broken kitchen tools. One of the drawers was my dad's with tools and such and mom wasn't allowed to touch it :) But she was/is a really good, "make do" kind of cook (no Cooks Illustrated magazine for her :) I love how some of these threads really unearth the "kitchen baggage" for me. |
RE: Do you have a man drawer in your kitchen?
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| I don't have one - we now have a very small junk drawer. But I wanted a trash chute to the basement that would lead to a clean 40 gal trash can. That way, I could just push all of his mail and pocket debris into the chute and he could sort it out later. "I carry it up to 'his' room and put the stuff on the desk." If this was me, it would read
"I flounce up to 'his room' and dump it all over his keyboard." |
RE: Do you have a man drawer in your kitchen?
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| I do, but only because I'm not using all my space. I'm working on moving that stuff to the basement. And there's no man in my house. It's just my electrical stuff. |
RE: Do you have a man drawer in your kitchen?
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| In the old kitchen my DH had a 6" drawer. This kitchen he got a 29" drawer for hammer, screwdrivers, small nails, tape, tape measure, etc. I probably use it as much as him. He has other areas (basement, garage, etc.) for tool belt, tool box, power tools, etc. |
RE: Do you have a man drawer in your kitchen?
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| We used to have a man (or junk) drawer but its now in the laundry room :( I have my own tools tho - in a neat pink bag and I LOVE it! no more looking thru his tools in the garage for what I want. here's the one I have.... |
Here is a link that might be useful: pink tools/bag
RE: Do you have a man drawer in your kitchen?
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| lowspark, the reason we have man drawer/junk drawer with binoculars, flashlights, screwdrivers, etc. is because, like many old houses, our kitchen is at the back of the house and also acts as a gateway to the back yard and the driveway. So any time we go outside we go through the kitchen which means it is much more convenient to have said items there than anywhere else in the house. Plus our kitchen is 18x13 so I'm not concerned about a lack of space. My partner has no assimilated the countertop near the windows for his various tools and other items and I'm not happy about it but oh well! At least he gets up and does something instead of sitting all day right! Now if only he could finish what he starts... |
RE: Do you have a man drawer in your kitchen?
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| Babushka, your kitty is so beautiful! I would make a drawer/cabinet for that man any day! |
RE: Do you have a man drawer in your kitchen?
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| thanks mirz2000 - he loves that cabinet and will not be happy when it goes with the reno. will have to find a new cozy spot for him... |
RE: Do you have a man drawer in your kitchen?
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| bmorepanic, I almost spit my coffee on my keyboard...that is just how I feel! Want a shute to send all DH's "important" things to a trash can in the basement. My kitchen is the gateway to the house and leads to backdoor and breezeway to detached garage, so my island is the debris catcher! I have no space to prep bc of DH's mail and pocket debris. I have two "junk" drawers and they don't hold it all, but I am not allowed to touch it for fear I may misplace. We are planning a remodel and I am already telling him "no more island drop zone!" I think you definitely need a man drawer if your kitchen is the gateway to the house! But I also need to put a stop to the behavior. I just look around and can't figure out where else it will go! GOOD LUCK! |
RE: Do you have a man drawer in your kitchen?
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krycek,
That makes sense. My point was not to store stuff in the kitchen that doesn't belong in the kitchen. In your case, it probably does belong there. But so many times, maybe because the kitchen is sort of the heart or center of the home, things just sort of end up there, even though it might not be the ideal place for them. I used to have two junk drawers in my old (pre-remodel) kitchen. When I was assessing how that kitchen functioned and what I wanted to change in the remodel, one of the things I looked at was what was being stored there. The reason there were two junk drawers is because the way that kitchen was laid out, those two drawers were totally inconvenient to the cooking area. The crazy thing is, I needed more drawers! But I didn't use those for kitchen stuff, I used them for all the odds & ends that I didn't know where else to put. IMO it's all a matter of planning what works best for you. If the kitchen (and that's why I noted above, the outskirts of the kitchen) is the best place for your tools, AND you can store them there without taking up the space that should be used for cooking equipment, then great! Plan it that way. But if you're putting those things in the kitchen because, well, that's where they've always been and it never occured to you to put them elsewhere, then think more about things like where they are used and if storing them in the kitchen is taking up space that might be better used with kitchen stuff. |
RE: Do you have a man drawer in your kitchen?
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I am with kateskouros on this. Not necessarily about having a junk drawer or not, but that one really should have put a stop to this (any) behavior right away (hopefully its not too late : ). I believe in the Barney Fife theory of life, pet or child rearing, dating, and marriage ...
You gotta nip it ! Nip it in the bud ! ... Nip it! You go read any book you want on the subject of child discipline, and you'll find that every one of 'em is in favor of bud-nippin'... Only one way to take care of it.
Andy Taylor: "Nip it."
Fife: "In the bud."
And my friends are all jealous of what an awesome husband I have. LMAO jterrilynn & kitchenkelly !!! And what a beautiful babushka kitty. Poor baby is going to be so upset when he loses his spot. Definitely include him in your kitchen plans - it's obvious he likes to be there near you. Wonder if these people are planning the same thing for their kitchen (see the last picture in her original post to the right of the fridge) http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg0816105522662.html - http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa54/sunshinefromcate/P8300114.jpg Lowspark has the right idea IMO ... everything has a place and everything in its place. Easier said than done. : ) |
RE: Do you have a man drawer in your kitchen?
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| DH gets a bay in the garage for real tools, but we do have a drawer in the mudroom where we keep batteries, picture hangers, anchors, tape and all that stuff we'd otherwise lose. Our last kitchen had a junk drawer to the same effect. It held the above plus matches, 3m hooks, refills for my air fresheners, etc. I was very particular about keeping it organized with those little white plastic baskets. |
RE: Do you have a man drawer in your kitchen?
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| my ginger "man" in one of his spaces |
RE: Do you have a man drawer in your kitchen?
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| Since my DH is a foot taller than me, the pull up cabinet over the sink is all his. He likes having it - so it's a good thing! |
RE: Do you have a man drawer in your kitchen?
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No, I have a WOMAN drawer for my kitchen.
It has my tools (hammer, screwdriver, paint can opener)
along with tape, masking tape, clear tape, stapler, ruler,
tape measure, a few ear ring backs, lip gloss, extra keys,
pencils, pens, note cards, post its, an old comb,
sharpie, coaster, scissors, old driver's licence,
lots of stupid insignificant things that matter to me.
THE WOMAN DRAWER. Maybe I should label it? DH has a man cave media room, I have my kitchen. : ) |
RE: Do you have a man drawer in your kitchen?
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| I didn't know this was unusual until I went to a friend's house and asked her if she had something to write on in her junk drawer. She looked at me like I was crazy and said "I DO NOT have a junk drawer!" Well, I have 2! One has office supplies: notepads, stapler, paperclips, scissors, etc. The other, I guess you would call the "man drawer" It has superglue, some odd nails, hammer, screwdrivers, tapemeasure, etc. But honestly, I probably use it more than DH or I have him hang a picture or whatever. I like having it because I can have him fix whatever I want and everything is right there for him to do it. We do have a garage for all big tools, though. |
RE: Do you have a man drawer in your kitchen?
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| The junk drawer gets a bad wrap. Maybe we should collectively rename it the NECCESSITIES drawer, or the MISCELLANEOUS drawer, or the "All of these things do not go together, but none of these things has a home otherwise" drawer. Ours is an 18" one just above the pullout trash. Is has a combo of keys, batteries, matches, coupons, box tops for school, office supplies, "found" hardware, cough drops, screwdrivers, etc. And I am with boxer! I have a whole other drawer that is actually in my sideboard of all places, that houses an assortment of small tools. I had more tools than DH when we met, and I am picky about having my favorite hand tools AT hand. Although it is fully operational yet, we created a phone niche (similar to Buehl's size) that will have a couple of shelves that will house the darn cell phone chargers, etc. It will eventually have a shutter over it (still looking for an antique one) to hide the mess. |
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