Organizing Food Storage Containers and Lids

Since I do not have a lot of counter space, I work as much as possible on keeping a clear counter.  Optimizing the kitchen cabinets to the best of their storing and organizing abilities is one of my most important tasks, and the corner carousel is definitely getting there.  On the top shelf, I have my kitchen utensils organized in metal mesh letter tray, and the bottom shelf is filled with food storage containers and their lids as well as the pots and pans lids!

I used to have the containers piled into each other, on top of each other, in a cabinet, with the lids on the side, sometimes if possible staked into a larger container.  

Of course, the one container I needed was the one all the way in the back most of the time, and the lids would fall all over the place, on the floor, etc.  I had enough of that mess, as you can imagine...

Better Organization

A deep and wide drawer would have been a great solution to the disaster, but not having one in hand, the corner carousel was my best bet.  And honestly it's been doing as good of a job, if not better!

I admit, I probably have more containers than I need.  When I was in school and working, I used to prepare my lunch at home, put it in a container, and bring it with me every week day.  Now that I'm home, I use less of them than I used to.  But they always come in handy for leftovers or fruits and vegetables I prepare in advance and meats I freeze.

Containers 

On the right hand side of the carousel is the collection of containers...

The glass ones are my favorite.  They are from the Snapware Glasslock set.  They are completely air tight and leek proof; so convenient when transporting juicy foods to school or work.
I wish I had bought them first, before all the plastic ones, because let's face it, glass is way safer than plastic is!!  Health-wise I mean...  I only use the plastic containers to store food that will not need to be heated and that will be eaten in the very near future.  For instance, fruits and vegetables that I washed and cut for an upcoming meal...  I will only reheat and/or freeze food items in the Snapware glass containers.

Lids

On the left hand side of the carousel, I reused an old dish drying rack as a lids organizer.  We used the drying rack in our previous condo, but it was kind of an eyesore, and I had no desire to set it on the counter in this house.  

So reuse, recycle... re-purpose!!!  And now, no more lids rolling around, they all stay in place and are easy to grab one at a time.  Plus, no need to shuffle them to find the one I need.  Instead, I turn the carousel a few inches counterclockwise and here I have my array of lids! Haha beautiful, isn't it?! I'm just joking, we've all seen better looking things than this, but I tell you, this is at least very super-duper practical!

What have you done lately to organize your kitchen?  Do you have any tips to share?  

I very much into getting more advice, so please feel free to leave a comment! ;)