Hey! Have you missed me with this Organized Home series? I know, I know. I completely dropped the ball. Our family troubles got the better of me and my organizational efforts ended up getting the back burner. So…instead of beating myself up about it, I’m going to pick up where I left off. Did you quit when I quit? Jump back in with me. It’ll be worth it! Our houses will thank us! We will be much more at ease, too!
It is (finally) time to organize my storage containers. Let me tell you, that is my least favorite cabinet in my kitchen. If any cabinet is going to be a mess, that will be the one. It is the cabinet where we open the door, throw the containers in and shut it as fast as we can so that hopefully they don’t come back out. Not a good plan, I know. There have been many days where I am walking through the kitchen and see that cabinet wide open, with a bunch of lids or containers sitting on the ground in front of it. Ha. Such a welcome site. This is what my cabinet looked like at the beginning of this challenge:
My problem is this. My containers have no rhyme or reason. I keep old ice cream containers, I sometimes keep old yogurt containers and I usually buy a pack each year on Black Friday in hopes that they’ll last until the next Christmas. It seems like the lids always last and who knows where the rest go. What a mess though, right ?
In asking on Facebook what other readers like you do to keep their food storage containers organized, this is what they said:
Louann said: “I buy lots of zip lock containers in two different sizes. They all use the same lid. Never have to search for a lid. They all stack in less than a foot of space and I have close to 50.”
Kelly said: “I have all the same brand, threw out all the mismatched different ones. They stack/nest nicely together in the cabinet and the lids are stacked/snapped together in a drawer.” Tracy said: “I actually just cleaned and organized my stuff because of your list! I had to think of something for the clutter so I actually pulled out my huge popcorn bucket and put all the lids in there. They all fit perfectly. Made a huge difference in the cupboard as I used to try and keep each container’s lid under it – all that did was get crazy.”
Around the web….
Ginny at Organizing Homelife will put her lids next to her containers, leaning against the cabinet walls. She is also sure to only buy containers that stack nicely, getting rid of the rest. Check out the post she wrote about it here.
The Kitchn.com suggests the following: “Keep lids together in a box, basket, or zip-top bag, or arrange them standing in a dish rack or napkin holder.” Read more about how they do it here.
Your To Do List:
1. Go through your food storage container cabinet or drawer and make sure each container has a lid.
2. Get rid of any that do not stack well or that you do not use often. Get rid of any extra lids.
3. Throw away any containers that are damaged or lids do not fit on well.
4. Store containers and lids together in a single space. Decide how you plan to do this and keep them organized. (Use a method from above, or another completely different one that works better for you.)
5. Commit to putting them up correctly, to keep them organized.
6. Consider starting over with a new set, to give yourself a fresh, new start, making it easier to keep them organized! You may be interested in the following products from Amazon (click on photo to view on Amazon):
What I did:
You know how they say you can do anything for 15 minutes? Yeah. I totally cleaned out my cabinet in 15 minutes. Why did I wait this long? I decided to go back with my old method and put all the lids on top of the containers. While I realize that I’m not saving a bunch of space by doing this, it helps me to know what I have. I do have enough storage space to keep them that way, for now. I also threw away at least 50 lids. 50! I did keep several that had no match, because I’m not convinced I don’t have some of them around the house in weird places yet. I put them in the back, inside of the 2 ice cream buckets I kept (we tend to use these occasionally and it’s nice to keep them on hand, however, I had no need for 10 ice cream bucket lids, lol). I will throw away my straggler lids if they don’t find matches soon. I’m still contemplating completely matching my set…but if I do, I’m waiting until Black Friday. Here’s my final product:
Much better, right?
Do you use another method for organizing your plastic and/or glass food storage containers? Leave me a comment and let me know how you do it. We’d all love to hear! 
NEXT WEEK:
We’re going to be working on our silverware and utensils. Do you have a great way to store your silverware and utensils? How do you decide what to get rid of? How many utensils is enough? Please share here with me, email me or share with me on Facebook, so I can share your ideas. Pictures are always appreciated, too!
Also, if you want to see what you’ve missed and what’s coming, just go here: 52 Week Organized Home Challenge.
