I conquered the lids

Socks and lids. They make me insane! They need two parts to make a whole and there's always a partner that doesn't make it back to where it belongs. Since it's a new year and the kids are still out of school and I've had the luxury of a few days at home where I haven't had to leave the house, I've been on a mission to do some clean-up and organizing.

Tupperware or Rubbermaid or Gladware or plastic storage containers are all over my kitchen and pantry. I took a look around. Six shelves of kitchen cabinets and every one had a container of some sort. There were a few lids mixed in. The lower cabinets also had some of both. I had one whole drawer in the kitchen with nothing but lids. A few strays were in the pantry. Some held various items - some with lids, some without. I had to get it under control.

I also have a bad habit of collecting Redneck Tupperware -- you know, empty butter dishes, cool whip containers, bowls from restaurant soup, yogurt containers with lids. Stuff I should throw away, but I end up keeping. In my defense, I send a lot of leftovers and meals to my parent's house and I don't want to give up my "good" storage containers in case they don't make it back, even though they usually do.

This is less than half of what I had when I decided enough was enough. I vowed to match stuff up and store the lids with the containers and throw out any piece that didn't have a match. I filled two large paper bags of stuff to get rid of. It filled an entire recycling bin. The redneck Tupperware is gone. The lids and containers are matched. It takes more room, but I decided I would put lids on the containers and store them that way. I filled a paper bag that's in the corner of the pantry. I'll have to figure out a better method, but this will work for now. I had so many lids with no idea where the matching containers went. I remember several being used in the summer to catch lighting bug -- which were covered with foil, no need for a lid - and then discarded. I had sippy cup lids for cups that were long gone, melted in the microwave or otherwise damaged - and it's been a good 2 or 3 years since my youngest has used sippy cups. So, I now have more cabinet space and containers ready to use. Such a relief. Now on to some more cabinets, shelves and drawers. Lots more work to do.