Spring cleaning is in full force in our house now that the snow has started to melt. There is something about this time of year that always gets me in the mood to re-organize every closet and cupboard in the house. I think it is a way to prepare myself for all the time I will be spending outside come the spring and summer. It is nice to know the inside is organized and clean before doing all the outdoor chores.
The main area I want to focus on today is the drawer where all the food storage containers live. For some reason this drawer has a tendency to become really crazy looking throughout the school year. I think it is just a high traffic drawer and with lots of hands going in and out of it for school and work lunches, it can get messy very fast. I have developed a very simple method to get this drawer back to an organized state quickly and with very little (if any) money spent.
Table of Contents
What is the first step to organizing my food storage containers?
The first thing I do when organizing any drawer or cupboard is take everything out. I pull it all out and place it on the kitchen counter or clean floor. You will be amazed at what you discover by doing this. This round I found an awesome old sauce/soup container that I forgot I owned.
Next I go through each item and make a keep pile, a donate pile, and a garbage pile. The keep pile consists of items that are in good condition that I use regularly or intend to use more regularly (i.e. the soup container that was found). The donate pile consists of items that are in good condition but I just haven’t used or don’t think I will use enough to be worth taking up space in the drawer. The garbage pile consists of items that are damaged or missing lids etc.
How to properly clean my food storage container drawer?
In order to get the wow factor from your food storage container drawer you will want to make sure you clean it out. This is another reason why I take everything out.
My cleaning routine goes like this:
- Vacuum the whole drawer.
- Wipe out any additional bits the vacuum didn’t get.
- Use an antibacterial cleaner to wipe out the drawer.
- Allow the drawer to dry completely.
- Place a liner on the bottom to help keep the drawer looking nice and to help the containers to stay in place.
What is the one simple tip to keep my food storage containers organized?
Doing this one thing will change the look of your food storage container drawer and it will keep it so much more organized and easy to manage.
The one simple tip that has made my food storage containers so much more manageable is separating the lids from the bottoms. It is so simple!
I take a separate bin (or cardboard box) and place all the lids in it on their side. The trick is keeping them on their side so you can see exactly where each lid is. This way you aren’t rummaging around for ages trying to find the exact right fitting lid. You can see it right away and everything stays in place.
Do I need to spend money on organizing my kitchen and food storage containers?
No!
Oh my word this is something that I have come to learn over time. You can be organized without spending a fortune on organizational hacks and tools!
For this particular drawer organization, all you need is one extra bin that will fit your lids. You can even use a cardboard box and cut it to the dimensions you need. To get really fancy, you can cover the cardboard box with some cute paper or let your kids draw pictures on it to get them involved.
Another quick note on money and organization. It can be tempting to think that life will be easier if you buy all new food storage containers that are all the same size and shape. However, just think about it, sometimes we need the extra large one or the tiny one or the one that perfectly holds an onion. Am I right?!
So don’t fool yourself into spending more money when you have perfectly good containers in your home already. I am guilty of this and I am really trying to be grateful for what I already have and to be creative in how I can use what I have.
How to fit everything back into the food storage container drawer?
Next, I organize all the containers by size and style. This way they will fit nicely together once in the drawer.
Now it is time for a bit of trial and error. Get the lids out of the way by placing the lid bin in first and then all the lids inside of that on their sides. Then take each type of container stacked within each other and fit them in the drawer where it is convenient and where it looks good to you.
What are some other cool ways to organize my food storage containers?
- Use a food lid organizer instead of a bin to keep things looking even more tidy.
- Use a wire cooling rack over a bin to better organize and space out your lids.
- Try pull out drawers if your food storage containers live in cupboards instead of drawers.
Thank you for taking the time to read this post! It means so much to me that you spent some time hearing what I have to say. In full transparency, I am not claiming to be an expert on anything but I am a full time stay at home mom who spends a lot of her days trying to get her house to be more organized and efficient. I am so happy to share with you what I have learned so that you don’t have to waste your time trying to figure out what works and what doesn’t.
I would love to hear if you have any additional tips, tricks, or cool gadgets that can help keep food storage containers more organized!
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