Welcome to Day 7 of my month long series “How to Organize Your Kitchen Frugally in 31 Days”. Every day during the month of October I will be sharing an organized space in my kitchen with you. My goal is to inspire you and give you ideas on how you can organize your kitchen.
If you missed it, you may want to read why I’m embracing my outdated kitchen. It might give you a little perspective on why the pictures of my kitchen organization won’t be “magazine worthy”, but helpful for real life organization.
I’m so excited to share this tip with you today, because it’s one of my favorites!
Today’s tip is one of the easiest ways to organize in the kitchen. Leftover and storage container organizational solutions are all over online, but have you ever tried to just stack your lids next to the containers? It’s simple and free, and works fabulously.
I have been storing my leftover containers this way for as long as I can remember. Are you wondering if they ever fall over? They don’t. It’s so easy to grab the size container you need and the lid to go with it. Simply stack them from smallest to largest. I’ve had these containers for 16 years and have never lost a single lid.
By the way, these containers (affiliate link) are the only food storage containers I own. In my opinion, some things are worth spending a little extra money on. These are not the most expensive containers by any means, but they aren’t the cheapest either. If you are into dollar store containers – go for it, but try to see if you can get all the sizes you need that stack nicely. If you want a nicer matching set, ask for them for your birthday or Christmas!
I love having all the different shapes. It it simple to put food away in just the right sized container.
So what do you do if you can’t lean the lids against the side of your cupboard? Simple. Lean them against whatever is on the other side. The lids on the lower shelf (above picture) are leaning against the plate rack in the other half of this cupboard.
But if you notice the lids on the left side of the middle shelf, they are leaning against the glasses. What?!?! Yep, and I’ve never had a single glass fall. The lids are so lightweight, they barely rest on the glass. If we ever need every single glass at the same time and the cupboard is empty, just lean the lids against the storage containers. Simple.
I know people with excessive numbers of leftover and food storage containers and they have every size and shape imaginable. Please do yourself a favor and get rid of them. Choose to keep some of your favorites, ideally those that stack well, and get rid of the rest.
I keep a small supply of disposable leftover containers in my pantry to send home with friends and family when they come for a meal, but I never incorporate those into my everyday storage. That way my cupboard is always neat and organized. It’s also simple for kids to put away the containers and lids when they are emptying the dishwasher. 😉
So how do I keep track of the leftovers in my fridge with these containers? I discovered the solution one day and it is another one of my most favorite tips. Crayola makes Dry Erase CRAYONS for white boards, but they turn out to be the BEST thing for labeling leftover containers! They are not like regular crayons. They write on the lids perfectly, don’t smudge off, yet can be cleaned off easily by wiping with a wet paper towel. You can check out my original post describing it here.
Well, I hope you’re inspired to get your containers organized! Tomorrow we’ll be looking at how I store baggies, wraps, and foil.
HOw awesome! Dry erase crayons…off to Walmart I go that’s GENIUS!
I do both of these things. Although, I use a dry erase marker instead of a crayon. But it helps to keep track of food in the fridge. And the lids next to the containers was the only way that ever made sense to me. 🙂
I am really loving this series! So many wonderful suggestions/ideas! I look forward to the new post every day. Thank you for pointing us to some of your other links too…like the refridge organization.
I was looking for permission to toss all of my stained disposable/plastic food storage containers and migrate to glass ones so thank you for validating my decision. I look forward to learning what containers you use when packing lunches for school/work. Thanks for the great series!
I have been storing my leftover containers and lids this way for about a year now. I don’t know why I didn’t do it sooner…I love the convenience and how neat it makes that cabinet look.
Thank you so much! I am glad you pointed out, too, about the glass storage with lids…I am so over plastic! I have trouble asking everyone keep my system, once in place. And, how do you feel about wire kitchen shelves if you don’t have enough cupboard space? Thank you!
What type of containers do you do for lunches or would you sugget for school or work lunches?
I just found this post via pinterest. What a great idea! I’m putting dry erase crayons on my list immediately.
Will have to check out the dry erase crayons! I’ve used dry erase markers before. They wash right out, but can smudge if you are not careful. The other day, I couldn’t take it any more and had my son go through all of our food containers. All those with lids are going to my mom’s. The rest are going in to the recycling bin. We use plastic storage containers (never thought of glass ones), and we have a drawer dedicated to them. I saw online (while looking for something else) that Ikea was selling food containers (17-piece set) for $4.99, so we grabbed two sets. These have green lids (my favorite color) and will remain here at home. We bought different container (blue lids) for taking lunch or giving to someone. If they come back, great. If not, no big deal. The drawer now makes me smile!
Trying to save money for new flooring and don’t want to buy a new frig until after the flooring is checked off, but, my current frig has crisper drawers that no longer function due to the railing breaking. Anyway, with a good third of the frig unusable, the rest is pretty packed to say the least. I recently came across a tip to store leftovers in ziplock bags instead of containers because they take up MUCH less room that way. I’ve been doing that for a few days, standing the bags inside one of my frig bins, and it really does save on space.
Trying to save money for new flooring and don’t want to buy a new frig until after the flooring is checked off, but, my current frig has crisper drawers that no longer function due to the railing breaking. Anyway, with a good third of the frig unusable, the rest is pretty packed to say the least. I recently came across a tip to store leftovers in ziplock bags instead of containers because they take up MUCH less room that way. I’ve been doing that for a few days and it really does save on space. P.S. I have the same set of Pyrex containers and have had them for ages, too, according to Amazon since 2007! 😀
Woww, everything looks so organized! Oh, I wish I was more like you… for the sake of the whole family, lol 😀 Anyway, thanks for sharing and for motivating me!
I’ve been storing my food containers this way for years. It’s the one cabinet in my kitchen that is actually organized! It won’t be that way for long since I have found your blog 🙂