Sometime in the midst of our 5 moves in 6 years, I decided that it wasn’t wise to buy a bin that fit perfectly in a kitchen only to find that it wouldn’t fit at all in the next kitchen. It felt wasteful and was definitely annoying. I purchased a few small, multi-purpose bins that are able to fit in any kitchen. When we move, those bins find a new home and purpose quickly. But for larger storage, I’ve chosen to repurpose items I already have. Lately, I find myself repurposing a lot of food packaging materials.
One of my favorite repurposed organizing bins is the lid from plastic vegetable containers.
Plastic lid corrals jars on the top shelf of the fridge.
A plastic lid contains loose items so they don’t get lost in the back of the fridge.
Plastic lid catches the drips from bottles in my cabinet, keeping the cabinet from getting gross and sticky.
Since every house we’ve lived in has had a different sized pantry (and a bunch had no pantry), I repurpose containers for organizing the food and snacks in my current pantry.
I use jars that popcorn comes in to store noodles and pastas. (see my earlier post about these great jars).
Gotta love Costco for supplying an organizing mom with an amazing selection of organizing boxes! I’m currently using a Jif box to hold my breads and rolls. I’m on the lookout for something prettier, but the Jif box works just fine for now.
I use a Go Go Squeeze box to hold different fruit snacks for my family to take in their lunch boxes.
I use another Costco find, an empty animal cracker jar, to store individual serving lunch box snacks. The jar is perfect for my pantry because 1. it’s square and conserves space on my shelf 2. is clear so we can see what snacks are available and 3. has a large mouth so it’s easy to reach in and grab the snack you want.
That Go Go Squeeze box is a great size. I use another one in my freezer to keep bags of frozen vegetables together.
I’m also using the bottom of the produce box (the one I took a lid-tray from aearlier) to hold bags of chopped spinach.
Using the boxes to hold bags of frozen food helps keep the freezer organized and prevents everything from falling out on me every time I open the freezer. It also help prevent a bags of vegetable from getting lost in the dim recesses of the freezer.
More Costco boxes help me store items on the top shelf of my cabinets.
I also reuse plastic buckets from ice cream, laundry detergent or my favorite Zippy’s Chili!
It may not be glamorous, but it’s useful AND cost effective, oh, and earth friendly, too.
I’m a mom of 3, a veteran and military spouse. I’ve moved into 20+ homes all around the world. My passion is helping busy people make the space and time for what’s really important to them.
Ashley @ Bride on a Budget says
Great idea! If you ever want to fancy up the boxes some, you could always cover them in fabric or wrapping paper to match them to your kitchen.
Susan@Organized31 says
You are so right. I periodically think I should decorate those boxes, but somehow haven’t gotten to it yet. 🙂 I’ll have to put it back on the “to do” list and see if I can get around to it. Can you remind me in a week or so? 🙂
DogsMom says
I think you are a genius!
Susan@Organized31 says
Aw shucks. I think it’s more of combination of a tightwad and a treehugger. 🙂
Lauren says
I love your idea of reusing food containers. I do the same thing. I save everything: jars, cereal boxes, tea packages, etc. Swiffer boxes are great for organization.
Lauren
Organizing on a Budget
Susan@Organized31 says
Great minds must think alike. 🙂
Healthy Branscoms says
Great ideas!! 🙂 We love repurposing things too!
Susan@Organized31 says
Thanks. I’m glad to know that I’m not the only one repurposing. 🙂
Mandy Jean says
Awesome job re-purposing! I love that!
Take Care,
Mandy
shailendra dhakad says
nice…
Chaney @ May Richer Fuller Be says
This is great! I love using old containers for new purposes. I may even be guilty of hoarding “good” containers (my husband doesn’t really appreciate them like I do 🙂 ). Thanks for sharing these great ideas!
-Chaney (Came over from IHeart Organizing)
Casey Osmundson says
Great ideas!! So many smart tips — I may start tearing into my messy fridge right now!
Anonymous says
Great ideas. I do love the boxes we get from Costco for so many things! Another thing that I have used in the pantry under my oils and syrups is an older kind of beat up cookie sheet w/ sides. I wrapped it in foil, and every couple of months I check it… if it has suffered from some drips, I throw off the old foil and put new on.
Susan@Organized31 says
Love the idea of using an old cookie sheet rather than throwing it out!
Wholesome Womanhood says
I love this idea! I’ve been needing to organize my pantry and refrigerator. I had never considered reusing lids from other containers.
Reservoir Slob says
Excellent ideas! Thank you.
Anonymous says
i have recycled hundreds of Velveeta Cheese boxes over the years! They are great drawer dividers, hold medicines & spices, silverware in picnic baskets and refrigerator codiments. They’re good for colored pencils and just so much more!
Mary from Mary Organizes says
What a frugal way of organizing. Looks so much better – what a difference a little organizing can make! I’d love for you to share this at my link party “Organize My Life” that opens every Monday night. Stop on by http://maryorganizes.com!
Mary says
Thanks so much for linking up!
Mary