5 Ways to Successfully Store the Plastic Lids

Comic used with permission.

Want to minimize the time spent looking for those lids? First of all, make sure you're only keeping the food storage containers you really need, and that they all have lids. Then try one of these strategies:

1. Store the lids on the containers. This can work just fine if you have few enough, and enough storage space.

2. Use storage containers designed to make lid storage easier, such as the Rubbermaid Easy Find Lids; Rubbermaid has created a video showing how these work. You can also look for containers of multiple sizes that all use the same lid, so matching the lids up is easier.

3. Use a lid holder, such as the Place for Seals from Tupperware, or the plastic lid holder from Grayline Housewares.

4. Use a Command organizer from 3M, as Donna Smallin demonstrates.

5. Use a repurposed item. You could use a dish rack, as Donna Huisinga does. [via Decor Hacks] Or you could use a CD rack, as Better Homes and Gardens shows us. [via The Storage Geek] And any number of baskets can serve this purpose, too.

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12 Cool Kitchen Utensil Holders

Many people have some sort of utensil holder — but how many of these express the owner's sense of style? The utensil holder is an everyday storage item that can also be a work of art — or lovely piece of design. Let's look at some of the delightful options out there.

And let's start with this stunning terra cotta utensil holder from Pilliga Pottery in Australia; another design, with birds, is also available.




Mug Heaven has a number of porcelain utensil jars.




I'm enchanted by this pueblo utensil holder from Cacart Southwest Designs.




This sweet utensil jar comes from Rocky Broome, who has three other designs, too.




And because I like whimsy, I'm pulled toward this "Moose Ware" stoneware utensil holder, by Monica Mann of Earth and Fire Pottery.




If you like a simpler look, there's the Fiesta utensil crock, in 15 colors.




And here's another simple utensil holder; it's one of the Ecology brand of products.




While I've mentioned this Sengware utensil holder before, it wasn't in a "utensil holder" post, so you may have missed it — which would be a shame. It comes in eight colors.




Another simple but stylish look is this cheese mould utensil holder from Garden Trading. It's also available in a slate color.




This gorgeous Shaker-style utensil holder comes from Shaker workshops.




And here's a very different product: a wooden spoon holder, sold by Baileys.




And finally, if you have a lot of money to spend on a utensil holder, you could get the large or the small brass tool holders from Mjölk, a store in Toronto; Mjölk also sells online. At the time I'm writing this, there's only one left in the small size, which sells for $200; the large one, which goes for $300, is out of stock.

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How Some (Fake) Grass Can Help You Organize

Organizing products with a grass-like look have sprung up all over the place! The one above, called (not surprisingly) Grass, is the countertop drying rack from Boon. Boon recommends it for baby accessories, and assures us it's BpA-free, PVC-free, and Phthalate-free. There's also a larger version of Grass, called Lawn.





Umbra makes its Grassy Organizer in green and in white. You see it being used to hold toothbrushes and toothpaste, and to hold pens and other desk items. Vat19.com no longer carries this product, but it has a nice write-up explaining why it thinks the Grassy Organizer is awesome.




Pratonzolo is a pencil holder — or desk organizer, since it could hold more than just pens and pencils — designed for by Matteo Mocchi of BBMDS and Max Battaglia of Givingshape for Stylemylife. It's "a little piece of fake grass" made of "natural bristles and wood."




Finally, there's the Kikkerland Grass Charging Station in white or black; you can also get a mini charging station.

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Cookie Jars for Holiday Treats: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

If you're baking a lot this holiday season, you may be interested in some cool cookie jars. This one — "the ugly" — is actually one of three Uglydoll cookie jars.




And let's look at one more cookie jar designed to make you smile: the Zombie Head cookie jar. [via ThisIsWhyImBroke, which I found through Nancy Wisser]

The bad? Those are all the cookie jars I'm not subjecting you to, that I sorted through before writing this post! So let's go on to a whole bunch of "good" ones, in a wide range of styles.




Emma Bridgewater makes a number of biscuit bins, but the one I like the most is this Big Love one. You can also find it in blue. The Emma Bridgewater site says it has a "tight fitting lid to keep all your biscuits very fresh."




Another fun biscuit bin comes from Creative Tops; I found it here and here. Again, the sites say there's a "tight seal."




Brabantia has biscuit barrels in neutral colors. You can find them many places, including here and here. Kitchen Critic explains the appeal of this one, beyond the nice looks: "The ingenious Brabantia Keep-Fresh lid features a compartment filled with moisture-absorbing crystals. Even better, the crystals never need replacing. Every couple of months you just pop them in the oven for a few minutes and revive them! The clever design even has a handy calendar to remind you when they need refreshing."




The Guzzini biscotto container, made from molded plastic, comes in five colors. Forma in the U.K. carries it in green, orange, red and yellow. [via Retro to Go]





And I'll end with the drop-dead gorgeous cookie jars from R Morales Pottery — so lovely I couldn't pick just one to show you. [via Apartment Therapy]

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Little Organizing Tools: Refrigerator Door Magnets

Turns out I'm the guy who forgets to remove objectionable fridge magnets before Mom comes to visit. — John Fugelsang

Want some nice magnets you won't need to remove from the fridge when your Mom visits? Let's start out with the set above, from Katie of Kitschy Hippo. Katie's magnets are made from vintage ephemera, so they are one of a kind.




Ray Troll has a large selection of magnets with a fishing theme.




Snug, located in Hannover, Germany makes umbrella magnets from wood; you can also get matching raindrops. Snug also sells the umbrellas through Etsy. [via the Lolalina gift guide, in turn found via Jess Constable]




You can get magnets covered with handmade paper from Meg Bollinger of Calyrew.




And finally, for Facebook fans: Fridgebook magnets. They come with a dry erase pen for making wall posts, etc. [via Kitchen Critic]

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Kitchen Organizing Goes Green: Compost Bins

Collecting kitchen scraps to add to the compost bin? Here are some good-looking containers to help you out. The one above is the Ecology brand; you can find it at Alfresco Emporium and Quintessence in Australia, and Divertimenti in the U.K.




Garden Trading has a compost bucket, available in four different colors. Alas for those of us in the U.S. — this one also comes from the U.K.




Simple Human has an "odor-absorbing" stainless steel compost pail. [via Ask MetaFilter] For a simpler stainless steel bucket, take a look at Lee Valley Tools.




Williams-Sonoma has a stoneware compost pot with a plastic liner pail.




I've always liked Beth Mueller's work, with her whimsical drawings; I own a bowl and a coffee mug that she made many years ago. So I was delighted to see she makes some countertop compost containers, sold by Uncommon Goods. There are two designs: "grow" and "simplify."




If you don't want your compost container sitting out — no matter how good it looks — I've got some ideas for you, too. Take a look at the Fuccillo freezer compost bin — which you can buy directly from Fuccillo, or from online stores such as Generate.




And for a very different approach, there's the NatureMill automatic compost bin, which allows you to do your actual composting indoors: in a kitchen cabinet, the laundry room, the garage, etc. [via Springwise]

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Does Your Refrigerator Door Need Some Cool Magnets?

Where do you use magnets? I'm a traditional refrigerator-door person myself, but some use magnetic boards or put their magnets on metal file cabinets — or any number of other metallic surfaces. And if you use magnets, wherever they go, they may as well be magnets you love. The one above is part of a marvelous collection of magnets made from recycled soda cans, sold by apmemory on Etsy.









Boulder Pass Metalworks makes a variety of nice magnets from heavy-gauge steel, with a "natural rust finish that has been sealed."









Fans of the Saturday Night Live "More Cowbell" skit — such as organizer Janine Adams — might like this magnet, available from the NBC Store and Patina.









And for those with different musical tastes, here's another magnet, this time featuring Mick Jagger - found at the National Portrait Gallery web site. Not surprisingly, the gallery's store also has magnets with portraits.









Ballard Designs provides us with this set of 12 city magnets.









This royal magnet comes to us from Peleg Design in Israel; you can buy a set of three from Animi Causa.









I found these "flag magnets" on a site called Not in the Malls.









Iveta Pari of Pari Design makes pure wool magnets in some stunning colors - you can choose from her 18 color options.









Carolyn Graham of The Mosaic Garden makes magnets from "mini hand-painted ceramic tiles." There's a wider range of products available on The Mosaic Garden's Folksy site, where you can find Carolyn's Union Jack magnets in a range of colors. These puffin magnets are available on both sites.









Cat lovers might like this Wonder Cat magnet set from Cathy Peng. [via Moderncat]









Finally, I'd like to re-acquaint you with the animal magnets from Papillon — which I've mentioned before, but not in a magnet-focused post. From the elk to the sheep to the hedgehog shown above, they're all wonderful.



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Food Storage: Alternatives to Plastic

Some plastic food storage containers are safer than others, as I've noted before. But if you were already concerned about plastics, the latest research might increase those concerns; it indicates there may be problems even with BPA-free plastics.

I'm not trying to tell you not to use plastics; that's very much an individual decision, based on the imperfect knowledge we have now. But for those who do choose to avoid or minimize plastic food storage, let's look at some of the alternatives — beyond those I've listed before.

1. The storage bowls from Fishs Eddy are a fun choice. That's one of them, at the top of this post. They come in 16- and 24-ounce sizes, in a variety of patterns.




2. Duralex, from France, also has glass storage with plastic lids. You can also see them at the Duralex USA web site. One place to buy them is Chefs.




3. Sanctus Mundo has a number of interesting storage choices, mostly stainless steel. But the company now also sells airtight glass storage with stainless steel lids, which you can buy at Life Without Plastic. These containers come in several different sizes. [via Care2; thanks to the friend who sent me to this blog post]




4. If you like the idea of glass storage containers but don't like the plastic lids they often come with, take a look at the fabric food covers at Hunter Gatherer. [via Remodelista]




5. You can also get reusable bowl covers in a whole range of patterns from Taila Custom Designs.

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