Organization of cupboards

cyclingyorkie

i bought a load of screw top plastic containers from Julian Graves - I keep sugar/cornflour in them. They were really cheap.

Flour/pasta/breakfast cereal are kept in locknlock containers - expensive....but reliable.

greenbee

I have lots of old kenco coffee jars (the ones with the red lids) which I use as storage jars. I don't actually drink it myself, but my parents did at one point, and I got them to keep all the jars for me. They fit into wall cupboards nicely, two deep, and with the cupboards I have, I can have three shelves of them. So it's worth seeing what products you or your friends & family use that come in nice jars and getting them to save them for you! I keep flour, rice, pasta, sugar, dried fruit etc in mine and have done for years with no problems.

For deep cupboards, I buy small plastic crates or wire baskets from the pound shop or similar, and put similar types of things in them. This means that I can pull out the front crate out easily without having to pile up and re-stack loads of stuff.

thriftlady_2

Hi Smithyjules,

I organise my baking cupboard with plastic ice cream tubs which I've collected over the last 14 years. We have a local ice cream producer who sell vanilla icecream in 4 litre tubs. These are really sturdy and ideal for flour and oats. I also use Lakeland's smaller 2.5 litre plastic tubs for other things like sugar and dried fruit. Not very cheap I know but once you've got them, you've got them and they are endlessly useful. I label them and can see everything at a glance. I use the small tubs for things like yeast, baking powder, salt. My baking spices are in a plastic tray.

For your deep cupboard why not get a cardboard box that you can easily pull out? Fill it with the things you use least often and put it at the back.

missychrissy

I never buy containers for food, I always use those that something came in. At present I have several plastic screw top containers that fruit came in from Aldi. They are perfect for pulses, nuts, rice etc. I also have some large glass ex sweetie jars, some came with chocolates in and some from a local shop who were quite happy to give them away. These are good for porridge oats or anything else that come in large bags. I also save small plastic containers with snap on lids that are brilliant for herbs and spices. I just have to stick a label on them. They used to contain wine making ingredients.

I suppose it makes sense to use storage containers that previously came with consumable products in them.

misskool

If there's a coffee club at work, encourage everyone to drink the same brand and soon you'll have a selection of jars that look the same in different sizes. OH work drinks Douwe Egberts and our pantry is lined up nicely with those. They look posh when the labels are washed off.

thriftlady_2

Remember -you waste less space if you use square or rectangular containers than if you use round ones;)

newlywed

I got the kilner type jars from ikea - only about a quid or two each I think.

These: http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/40065867

The 1l size fit about 3/4 of a bag of value flour in.
And nearly but not quite a 1k bag of lentils.

The .5l size I use for soft brown sugar, demerara etc. But they don't stack very safely on top of each other.

smithyjules

Some good ideas there.thank you all for your replies.I have kept some jars from passata and coffee in the past, but often i end up passing them on to MIL who makes jam and pickles lots of things too. Maybe i should start keeping them for myself.
I have my caster sugar in a babymilk tin and that is great, i might go on freecyle for some this afternoon.

maryb

Lidl sometimes do a pack of storage containers in different sizes. You get one large, two medium and two small. They are slightly oval shaped with red lids that have a cap in them which you can lift out so you can pour directly from the container (a bit like cereal storers). They are perfect for stacking in a standard kitchen cupboard with one shelf in the middle. The large containers take a whole bag of flour and you can stack one medium container on top or two small ones and it just fills the space with no waste. They do seem to be just right for the quantities that dried goods are normally sold in.

The other thing I find really handy is the very small glass jars that you get boiled sweets in. They hold a tub of baking powder, or bicarb and the lid is much easier to get off than the original tubs plus you can get a teaspoon in easily. Douwe Egberts small jars are perfect for large bags of peppercorns, chilli powder, curry powder etc from the Chinese supermarket

maryb

Another thing that is useful is a few short lengths of drainpipe leftover from plumbing jobs cut in half and fixed to the roof of a cupboard. This holds rolls of clingwrap, foil, greasproof paper and means they don't take up room on the floor of the cupboard. DH did that for me in our last kitchen but he hasn't got round to doing it since we redid the kitchen. A bank holiday weekend task coming up I think