10 Brilliant and Inexpensive Ways to Organize Pot Lids
If we were giving out awards, we’d give the prize for Most Annoying Kitchen Item to Organize to … drumroll, please … pot lids! They are seriously so tough to organize! You can stack them up, but know that you’ll probably have some sort of clang-y avalanche in your future. You can spend a small fortune on a pot lid organizer, only to realize it doesn’t solve your exact problem. You can store them on your pots and then have to devote many cabinets to your cookware. See? Not a lot of great options. Unless. Unless! You stick with us.
We’ve got 10 affordable, smart ways to get those pot lids under control. Here goes.
1. Use Command Hooks to store them on cabinet doors.
The backs of your cabinet doors are waiting to be put to good use. You’ll just need two Command Hooks per lid, and you’ll want to work out your positioning before you start sticking things on. Once you have a general idea where things should go so that the cabinet can still close, affix a hook at 8:00 and 4:00 (pretending your lid is a clock face) and slide your lid in.
Read more: The $8 Trick to Miraculously Making Space for Your Pot Lids Where You Thought There Wasn’t Any
2. Use a pot rail.
How brilliant is this? You can just slide your lids in between a pot rail and the wall and the lids’ knobs will hold them in place. And, of course, the rail is still useful for hanging pots, pans, tools, and more.
3. Use a magnetic knife strip.
Who says knife holders are just for knives? If your lids are magnetic, you can pop them on a knife strip instead.
4. Hang them.
You can still hang most lids — yes, even if they don’t have a loop. See, most lids have a raised lip around the rim where they sit on the pots. And that’s usually enough for a hook to grab onto.
Related: The Great Kitchen Pegboard: How to Build and Hang the Ultimate Kitchen Storage Solution
5. Put the top of a wire shelf to good use.
We loved how this Kitchn reader used the slats on the top of her wire shelf to stack her pot lids. So smart! Don’t have a wire shelf? You can get one for just $50.
Buy: AmazonBasics 4-Shelf Shelving Storage Unit, $50
6. Try the bestselling pot lid organizer on Amazon.
This popular organizer is way sturdier than it looks and it has 10 adjustable dividers to hold more than just lids (think: pans, platters, cutting boards, and more). It expands from 12 inches to 22 inches to fit inside any cabinet and has non-slip feet to keep the whole thing squarely in place.
Buy: YouCopia StoreMore Expandable Cookware Organizer, $40
7. Turn to IKEA.
Our resident advice-giver, Marge Perry, has a couple of these in her drawers and swears by them. They work accordion-style, which means you can expand it or contract it to fit your space and they hold pot lids in place as you open and close the drawer. You know, if you’re lucky enough to have drawers instead of cabinets. Although this organizer could still totally work in a cabinet!
Buy: VARIERA pot lid organizer, $7 at IKEA
8. File them like office folders.
These racks make us think of file folder holders that you see in offices and in your doctor’s office. These are great if you have wall space to spare in a pantry or even on the side of a cabinet.
Buy: SimpleHouseware Cabinet Door/Wall Mount Pot Lid Organizer Rack, $15 for two
9. Make a simple, $4 investment.
Our Staff Writer, Lauren Masur, swears by this cheap little guy. She was giving up hope before she found it but says it was just what she needed to get her cabinets in shape. It’s a similar idea compared to number 6 above, only even less expensive.
Buy: 4-Sort Divider, from $4 at The Container Store
10. Store them on top of a pot rack.
A long time ago we featured this idea to store lids on the top of a pot rack. It’s not a perfect solution, but it does get them out of the way.
How do you store your pot lids?