Ignore me if this doesn’t work, but maybe you can think about this in the context of KonMari clothing storage. What she says for clothes is that instead of using a drawer to stack all your t-shirts flat, like you’d see in a clothing store, you should fold them so you can see each vertically, as if you were looking down at the bindings of books. In your case, you are basically trying to make two shallow drawers out of your one deep drawer - a flat layer on the bottom and then a second tier of things lying horizontally. This is tough because something is always on the bottom. So instead, can you get most things vertical so no category is “under” any other category? Forks and spoons upright in a caddy. Towels stacked all the way to the top (not under the second tier). Gadgets more vertical if at all possible so you’re seeing them by their handles. Plates oriented on their sides with their edges up, not stacked flat. I don’t envy you, this is tough. Answer from snowboard7621 on reddit.com