Day 3: Bakeware & Plasticware

Day Three of the 30-Day Power Purge: Declutter Bakeware & Plasticware! Okay, well, I didn't get to the bakeware because I decided to start with the plastics first since they were the worst. (Well, and because I didn't start until 11:40pm. . . ahem. . .) 

I am so excited to have all these lids and containers matched up! On Thanksgiving I had been fairly frustrated when I was looking for containers to split up all the leftovers with my sister-in-law and realized that I seriously could not find a large container and lid that matched! It took me like 5 minutes just to find one that would work. . . . silly. Look at all those lovely containers!

 My favorite set are the ones I purchased a few years ago on "Black Friday" They are seen in the picture above on the bottom right shelf and they are so awesome because the lids all stack up together underneath the containers, so I can actually keep them together! The containers various heights all have the same size lid, so it's really great. I also have a bunch of older and cheaper containers that I just stacked with the lids on. If I had a bunch of matching, I might do the lids separately on the side, but I think this will work for me.

Another great little gadget is the turn-around container holder on the bottom left shelf. There are 3 different sized containers all with the same little blue lids, and it pulls forward plus rotates. Pretty nice. For some reason quite a few of these are missing, so. . . hmmmm. . . . 

Anyway, I was very proud of myself because I actually tossed quite a few containers and lids that had no mates! And that is tough for me, especially if it's a nicer one that I paid a lot for way back when. But seriously, don't you think I have enough? So even if I find some of those lids and containers as I continue the power purge, oh well!

Oh, by the way, I followed the concept of "put the most used containers in the easiest to reach spots" idea for this organizing task. I put all the medium & small-sized nice containers with their matching lids on the bottom where they are easier to reach. The second shelf houses all the larger ones that are easier to pull off the shelf when I'm just barely reaching them on tip-toe. The top shelf is reserved for the little cheap containers that I use for my freezer jam. They are contained in two larger plastic boxes that didn't have lids. That way they won't be all over the place.

Lastly, here is the cupboard beneath the counter: 

Both of these large containers were chuck full of mismatched containers and lids before I started. Now, one has the water bottles, lunch boxes & mini-coolers, and the other one is EMPTY to put my cereal in. We used to do it that way awhile ago, but changed it up because I got some nifty cereal containers so we weren't using boxes. But it wasn't really working as well and I wanted that entire top cupboard for containers, so I'm moving the cereal back to underneath the counter. So the box becomes like a little pull-out drawer for the cereal boxes, and it's easy for the younger kids to reach.

SO - Bottom line - Yay! My containers are organized!!

* * * * * UPDATE January 19th * * * * *

I finally did the cookware! Actually, what I did was on Day Six: Kitchen Cabinets (which happened to be a Saturday), I assigned each of my kids to clean out one cabinet (one of the perks of having seven kids!) So. . . here's the results of my cookware cabinets, thanks to my 17-year-old daughter, Christianna. Notice the shelf paper - it has been kicking around the house for years, it's about time that I used it!