One of the golden rules of organizing is "a place for everything and everything in its place." Even if you try to live by this principle, though, you'll likely find that the place for quite a few things is a receptacle called the junk drawer.

Despite the pejorative name, a junk drawer usually holds useful things. But junk drawers also serve as a catch-all area for small items that can't be conveniently stored elsewhere. You might open the drawer to look for a battery and have to dig through loose cough drops, various lengths of wire, near-empty tape dispensers, and countless pens and pencils before you find one.

It's easy to get into the habit of tossing random objects into the junk drawer, to the point where it becomes difficult to open or shut. A little organization will help declutter the drawer and make it much simpler to find what you're looking for.

Start by dumping out the drawer's contents. Beltmann Relocation Group, a Minnesota-based moving company, recommends placing items on a white towel so you won't overlook anything.

Once the drawer is empty, it's a good time to give it a cleaning. A quick dusting can do the trick, although a thorough washing may be necessary if anything has spilled or otherwise left a mess.

Look through the items from the junk drawer to see if any of them can be discarded. You may discover plenty of things, such as expired coupons or dead batteries, which are no longer useful.

Sort out the remaining items. It helps to keep similar things together so they can be grouped when you refill the drawer.

See if anything can be moved to a different location. Stephanie Booth, writing for Realtor.com, says you may find that some items are better suited for another area of the home. If you discover that an item was kept in the junk drawer because there was no space in its preferred location, you may need to extend your cleaning efforts to make room there.

Plenty of people have multiple junk drawers, so it helps to organize them by purpose. Elizabeth Larkin, writing for the home design site The Spruce, says you might separate items so some of them can be stored in the kitchen and others in a desk drawer in the office. You might also put aside items for a specific purpose, such as scissors, tape, and other simple tools.

Try to limit the junk drawer to items you use frequently. Booth says that if you only use something sparingly, it can be stored in a more out of the way location. If you have copies of certain things, like an extra tape dispenser, you can keep it elsewhere until the one in the drawer is no longer useful.

Once you've sorted out which items you want to keep in the drawer, it helps to keep them organized. Measure the drawer to get its dimensions and determine what sort of organizers will fit inside.

There are many ways to keep a junk drawer ordered other than purpose-built organizers. Taryn Williford, writing for the home design site Apartment Therapy, says some options for upcycled organizers include egg cartons, muffin tins, flatware trays, and mint tins. You can even use the bottom of cereal boxes—perhaps papered over to create a more pleasing appearance—as a simple means of organization.

Some items, such as phone chargers or paper clips, can create a mess even if they're in an organizer. Rubber bands are useful for keeping cords under control. An adhesive band can be used to wrangle items like binder clips.

Once a junk drawer is organized, schedule a regular tidying effort to help keep it under control. Larkin says some options include cleaning the drawer once a week, once a month, or any time you do a major housekeeping effort.