Smart Storage Ideas for Organising Food Containers
Dividers, rollouts and corner systems can help corral containers and lids and maximise kitchen cabinet space
Mitchell Parker
16 April 2020
Houzz Editorial Staff. Home design journalist writing about cool spaces, innovative trends, breaking news, industry analysis and humor.
Houzz Editorial Staff. Home design journalist writing about cool spaces, innovative... More
Given the restrictions regarding social distancing and working from home, you might find yourself eating more meals at home and storing more leftovers. In turn, you might also be reconsidering how you organise your food storage. The following kitchens offer smart solutions for corralling all those lids and containers.
Dedicated rollouts
If you food storage inventory is relatively small yet still unwieldy, consider a dedicated rollout system like the one shown here. This unit organises lids on a top shelf and containers in a bottom drawer.
If you food storage inventory is relatively small yet still unwieldy, consider a dedicated rollout system like the one shown here. This unit organises lids on a top shelf and containers in a bottom drawer.
This view of the same rollout unit with different items shows how metal U-bars can be arranged in holes at the bottom of the drawer to create custom spaces for storage containers. You can slide the U-bars for the lid slots in either direction to accommodate various sizes and amounts of lids. Talk to your interior designer or carpenter about integrating a unit like this.
Here’s a similar rollout. This unit features small angled shelves for organising lids and a shallow cubby below for containers.
Store food leftovers safely
Store food leftovers safely
If you don’t have deep kitchen drawers, a rollout system might be for you. These systems can replace shelves behind cabinet doors, allowing you to store containers and lids deep inside a cabinet box but still conveniently pull them out.
Typically these systems are configured with two rollouts: one near the bottom of the cabinet for storing larger containers and one near the top for storing lids and smaller containers.
Typically these systems are configured with two rollouts: one near the bottom of the cabinet for storing larger containers and one near the top for storing lids and smaller containers.
But you can also specify a deep rollout that functions like the divided-drawer systems shown above in this article.
Again, talk with your designer or carpenter about which system is the right fit for you and your space.
Again, talk with your designer or carpenter about which system is the right fit for you and your space.
You’ll want to give some thought to the location of your food storage as well. Here, rollouts near the fridge are convenient for when someone is putting food away.
Next to the sink is another good option, offering handy access for someone who cleans and dries containers there.
Or maybe you prefer storing your containers near your stove so you can easily grab them to put away food left on the stove.
In the island might be a good option if you tend to stage your cleanup on the island countertop.
Here’s an interesting option that puts to use the storage at the back of an island that might otherwise go to waste.
How to spot hidden storage opportunities in your kitchen
How to spot hidden storage opportunities in your kitchen
Drawers with dividers
If you’ve got a rather large collection of food storage containers, then a better and more flexible option is a drawer with adjustable dividers. This allows you to create customised slots for organising containers and lids, and gives you the freedom to store other vessels, tops, trays and other random pieces that tend to accumulate in a kitchen.
Drawers are by far the best solution for storing food containers. Lightweight plastic food containers and lids get knocked around if stored on a shelf in a regular cabinet, and tend to eventually end up in a jumbled mess at the back of a cabinet. So all the solutions in this article involve drawers or rollouts.
If you’ve got a rather large collection of food storage containers, then a better and more flexible option is a drawer with adjustable dividers. This allows you to create customised slots for organising containers and lids, and gives you the freedom to store other vessels, tops, trays and other random pieces that tend to accumulate in a kitchen.
Drawers are by far the best solution for storing food containers. Lightweight plastic food containers and lids get knocked around if stored on a shelf in a regular cabinet, and tend to eventually end up in a jumbled mess at the back of a cabinet. So all the solutions in this article involve drawers or rollouts.
This wide, deep drawer shows how adjustable inserts can organise dozens of pieces.
But you don’t have to get too fancy. Try playing with the number of dividers before committing to a solution to see what works for you. Here, one divider at the back of a drawer holds lids, while the larger front area provides space for stacking containers.
Here, two wooden dividers separate lids from containers, creating an incredibly simple but effective organised system in a standard-size drawer.
Three dividers can create two slim slots for lids and two wider areas for containers to maximise organisation in a small drawer.
Keep in mind the depth of your drawer in relation to your storage containers. Tall soup containers take up more vertical space than other container types, so you’ll want to create a drawer that can fit them.
Custom adjustable stainless steel inserts like these, manufactured by Blum, are a smart option. You can pop out these inserts and put them in the dishwasher for easy cleaning.
A good interior designer will take an inventory of all your utensils, pots, pans, appliances, storage containers and the like, and develop dedicated storage right down to the inch for each item.
A good interior designer will take an inventory of all your utensils, pots, pans, appliances, storage containers and the like, and develop dedicated storage right down to the inch for each item.
Here, a custom drawer with custom dividers snugly stores containers of various sizes. A slim pullout shelf above holds flat lids.
Similarly, this slim pullout shelf stores lids above a container storage drawer.
How to keep your fridge food fresh and win the war on waste
How to keep your fridge food fresh and win the war on waste
Wooden dowels are another good way to go. These allow you to quickly and easily adjust the space inside your drawer to accommodate storage containers as you replace your containers with ones in different sizes or shapes.
Here, a wooden box within a drawer stores lids and small containers above larger containers. The box can be slid back and forth or taken out entirely.
Corner shelf systems
Corner systems like this are good options for blind corners. These sturdy metal systems feature wire racks on rollers that you can slide and pull out of a tight, deep corner cabinet.
Corner systems like this are good options for blind corners. These sturdy metal systems feature wire racks on rollers that you can slide and pull out of a tight, deep corner cabinet.
This shallow tray swings out from a corner cabinet.
Tell us
What kitchen items do you struggle to store neatly? Share with us in the comments below.
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Tell us
What kitchen items do you struggle to store neatly? Share with us in the comments below.
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Browse kitchen photos
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I use plastic and glass.
With plastic I try to have all same brand. As we get random, etc, I send those home with leftovers to folks.
With glass they still stack.
All lids are in another bucket, they stack together.
Weird ones that don’t stack (lock top types usually) just keep their lids on them.
It turns out I don’t need the volume of containers that i used to when I had kids taking daily lunches to school.
Be gentle to those of us with plastic, we are getting there.
I love my deep drawers for storage containers and pots and pans. One thing to open and with the high sides nothing falls out!
I want rakee