No matter how organized we are in the rest of the kitchen, food storage containers always seem to pose a threat to the order, with their varying shapes and sizes, orphaned parts, and frequent relegation to the darkest and lowest corners of our cupboards. Sound familiar? Here's how to tame the clutter.
• First, pull out all of your containers and lids and lay them on a counter or table. Examine everything and recycle, repurpose, donate, or discard any containers that don't have mates or are broken, warped, or otherwise damaged. Also, ask yourself whether you truly need all your containers and get rid of any you realistically never use.
• Sort and store containers by shape and size. Depending on your containers and space constraints, you might want to nest and stack smaller containers inside larger ones and store the lids separately. Or, match lids to containers right away vow to always store them together.
• Store containers and lids in a single location, such as a cupboard or drawer, with room to arrange, stack, and easily access them. The more accessible the space, the easier it will be to keep the containers well organized. Prevent containers from getting lost in the back of a cupboard by installing a pull-out drawer.
• Keep lids together in a box, basket, or zip-top bag, or arrange them standing in a dish rack or napkin holder. If you need boxes to store lids or smaller containers, check out lovelydesign's photos and tutorial for making custom-sized boxes.
• Consider starting fresh with a new, matching set of containers. Look for designs with interchangeable lids or that can nest easily, like these Frigoverre Glass Storage Containers. If space is limited, you might be interested in FlatOut Collapsible Tupperware Storage containers or even the Smart Spin of As Seen On TV fame (we liked ours and only got rid of it because we switched to glass containers).
• Resist the urge to save every take out box, margarine tub, etc. Saving them might make you feel temporarily "green," but there's no point if all they do is clutter your cupboard. (Recycle what you can, and eliminate packaging in the first place by following these tips on How To Live Packaging-Free from our sister site, Re-Nest.)
• Finally, make a conscious effort to put your containers and lids away properly, and ask household members to do the same. Soon, it will become habit and you'll never again have to worry about container clutter!
Related: 20 Tips and Tools for Kitchen Organization and Storage
(Flickr member Rubbermaid Products licensed under Creative Commons)
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I rarely use my freezer, so all my loose containers are kept in there.
We have a lower corner cabinet lazy-susan. We store the containers on the bottom and the lids on top. Everything is easy to get to and is separated by size.
For anyone who is looking to upgrade their tupperware, I highly recommend the Snapware products, both the plastic and glass varieties. I use the glass for leftovers that are staying at home and the plastic for things I bring to work (I'd like to use glass for everything, but it's just too heavy). I also love the reusable Ziplock brand screw-top containers. These are the ONLY food storage containers I have found that can survive a long, jostling subway commute without leaking soup.
this weekend my fiancee and i received a wedding gift of tupperware for which we had registered! it was great to throw away all the old, mismatching pieces (which we did keep and plan on "repurposing" since we are constantly entertaining and love sending leftovers home with our guests).
it did my heart good when i looked in the cabinet adn everything was matching beautifully!
Three words: Plastic. Laundry. Basket. The perfect bin for containing your (smaller, better organized) collection of plastic containers. Get one that fits comfortably in your cupboard or pantry.
And when the basket gets too full . . . time to purge!
"Consider starting fresh with a new, matching set of containers. "
Over-consumption? Throwing away old ones because they don't matchy-match-match?
I keep them in a drawer, lids and bottoms together.
Another issue with saving margarine containers and take out boxes it that the plastic is often an inferior grade and not intended to be reused, especially if it ends up being microwaved or gets run through the dishwasher.
It's kind of dorky, but I have the Smart Spin, and I love it. It fits nicely in the front of my biggest drawer, and all the lids match all the containers. I also wash and keep jars when we use up the pickles or mayo, or whatever was inside, and keep them in the back of the drawer behind the smart spin.
Over time, I have replaced lost and damaged tupperware with nicer glass rectangle ones (I like the Martha Stewart brand) and a set of nesting glass circular ones. They seem to stay stacked better than the plastic variety and last longer, they also fit in our compact fridge more efficiently. I also do a quick straighten of my kitchen cabinets once a month, nothing major, just a minute or two to put things where they should be instead of where they sometimes end up.
I have tried to replace mine with all the same, etc., but it never fails, lid by lid they go lidless, the lids disappearing into the same Neverland with the odd socks...
I keep all my lids in a big, plastic popcorn bucket and then stack up the containers. Putting the lids in one place was one of the smartest space saving moves I've ever thought of.
I standardized - bought disposable/reusable ziploc stuff that allows you to use the same lid for multiple sizes of container. This way if something happens to it, it isn't the end of the world and you can recycle it. I can give leftovers away in any container and not wonder about whether I'll ever get it back. Helps the hubby who claimed to never be able to find the right lid. And when all else fails and you can't find the lid - I have some free hotel shower caps I keep in the drawer - works like a charm (also great for covering those bowls of salad or whatever instead of plastic wrap)
I also got rid of the round containers that just took up space in the fridge/cabinet no matter how cute they wear. It isn't a "non-green" solution if you give them away like I did. Also any temporary container (margarine, etc) is set aside and either recycled or depending on condition given away/returned.
I still have a few "odd specialty" containers (tofu, pickles) but these are usually in use in the fridge so aren't as big a deal.
I use glass jars. I can't believe I ever used anything else! You can't microwave in the plastic anyway, so the shape doesn't matter. I do keep a few of my old plastics around for salads, since my husband is rather obsessed with salad. Our container drawer gets a little hectic, but the occasional cleaning takes care of it.
My favorite jars are the ones that Green Mountain Gringo salsa comes in. They'll actually re-seal (button pops down and everything!) if you pour hot soup, chili, or tomato sauce into them.
After we moved and lost our beloved "Tupperware drawer" we had to devise a new system. I picked up two Rubbermaid totes that would fit in our new cupboards and designated one for containers and one for lids.
It's not a perfect system; the bins require occasional rearranging, but it's way better than having the pieces loose and falling out of the cupboard all the time.
I had an epiphany one day: why do people store storage containers?! They are meant to be used for storage, not to be stored! That got me to think about just how many containers I use in an average week as well as which sizes. I now have three empty containers available for leftovers and and four for extra batches of things I make and freeze (in addition to all the 'working' containers that hold grains and other food items). My three empty containers live in my fridge. Voila, clutter problem eliminated.
I agree with the "plastic laundry basket" and Rubbermaid tote comment - I use a medium-size Rubbermaid storage bin that takes up one large lower shelf.
In a typical week, I'll use ten to fifteen containers, so I have a lot between lunches and leftovers and food storage.
I also have the "Smart Spin" set. I think it saved my marriage :-) My husband used hate, hate, hate all of the mismatched pieces and how much room they take up. I bought the Smart Spin kind of as a joke birthday gift for him. I can't tell you how much we love the thing. I'm not kidding. It's been four years and still once in a while he will say "this is the greatest thing ever!" Exaggerating aside...it really is convenient and takes up about 1 square foot.
I love tupperware. The other stuff is just not as good. I just had a problem closing a rubbermaid box, damm, I wish I had tupper that size. Need to go to a tupper party. I also have a problem with muesli. I need to get a box, hate those open bags.
Barbara from http://www.homemade-cake-recipe.com/
My husband hates plastic storage containers, so most of our are now Pyrex with the plastic lids. They can go in the freezer, oven and microwave, and no worries about plasticizers leaching into the food, and because they are see-through, it's easier to identify leftovers and use them before they go bad.
The one plastic container I can't seem to do without is the quart container used for wonton soup from the local Chinese place; I probably have three dozen, most of them storing soup or stews in the freezer, and a few for homemade ice cream.
I have a large-ish deep kitchen drawer, and I only keep as many containers as will fit in it; any more and I either make some soup for the freezer or toss them out. :-)
When I moved in with my aunt and uncle they we're having a hard time downsizing from large kitchen with a lot of cabinets and drawers to a much smaller kitchen with a lot less of everything. One small improvement I was able to make was taking all their tuperware and putting it into a large plastic laundry basket. The basket then fits easily onto one of the shelves in a large cabinet.
It was great, because with two messy kids in the house that shelf always looks clean and everything is easy to get to and keep in one place. No more diving to the back of the pantry for a lid. :)