12 Tips and Tricks for Organising Your Tupperware

How many times have you gone to reach for a food container or lid, only for all your Tupperware to come falling down? Well, I can definitely relate. Although nothing beats the convenience of Tupperware, they can also be a real pain in the butt to store and organise. Plus, organising containers and lids isn’t even the hard part – it’s keeping them in their new neat and orderly organised fashion that is.

The key is finding the right organisational system that works for you. Whether that means creating separate homes for your lids and containers, or using bins to stow sets (containers and lids) by size, it’s really up to you and the amount of space you have available. However, before you go trying different organising methods, you’ll need to complete a quick pre-organising checklist. You’ll find this below, followed by 10 ways to organise your Tupperware and other food containers. Happy organising!

Before You Start Organising Your Containers

1. Take Inventory and Declutter

Before you begin organising, create a clean workspace and assess the situation. Round up all your reusable food containers, including ones you may have left in the car, office kitchen, or in a backpack or tote. Take inventory of your collection by matching each container to its respected lid. Discard containers that don’t have a corresponding lid and vice versa.

2. Purge Smelly, Old, and Stained Containers

Now that you can see what you’re working with, take things one step further by purging sets that could benefit from a replacement. Toss sets that fall under the SOS umbrella: smelly, old, or stained. If the set has a lingering order, food stains, or is beaten up (perhaps the lid doesn’t fit properly or its scuffed up), add it to the discard pile. Revisit these two steps every few months to prevent your food containers from getting out of control and unorganized.

3. Create a Home for Your Tupperware

For organisational and usage purposes, your plastic food containers should all live in one place. This way, you don’t have to turn your kitchen inside out every time you need to stow away leftovers or pack lunch. Once you find a spot, line the shelf or drawer with nonslip shelf liner to prevent your containers from causing scratches.

9 Ways to Organise Food Containers

When it comes to organising food containers, there is no right or wrong way. What may work for some, may not work for you. Based on space, the amount and size of the Tupperware you own, and your preferred organisation method, there are several routes you can go. Find what organisation tactic works best for you below.

1. Nestle Containers

Generally, food containers are designed to be stackable. If your food containers came in a variety pack, create a nestled stack for each shape. You can do this by placing smaller containers of a similar shape (i.e. round with round, square with square) within those of a larger size. Afterwards, divide the lids by shape and size.

Depending on your available space, place them either vertically, or flat on the shelf. Just like you did with your containers, try to keep lid shapes together in one stack. Take this a step further by placing round lids alongside round containers, square lids alongside square containers, and so on.

2. Have Separate Homes For Containers and Lids

If you have a large collection, extra storage space, and prefer to see items in smaller, individual stacks, you may want to keep containers and lids separate from each other altogether. On one shelf, organise containers in separate stacks by size and shape. On the shelf below, do the same thing with the lids. The two shelves should line up accordingly, giving you quicker access and allowing you to take inventory more easily.

3. Store Containers with Lids on

This is an optimal solution for those who own eight or less sets of containers and lids. Simply, stack same size lids together on top of the matching stack of containers. It’s not the most aesthetically pleasing system, but you’ll never have to dig through a mound of lids or containers to find the right pair.

4. Use a Plate Rack to Store Lids

Stackable containers stand up on their own, but organising lids is a whole separate challenge. Use a plate rack to keep lids neatly divided and arranged by shape and size. Not only is this super simplistic, it’s also visually appealing!

5. Install Pull-Out Drawers

Pull-out drawers will help prevent your collection from becoming disorganised and outgrowing its home (not to mention, back pain from reaching in weird places). For breakables like glass or Pyrex, place lids upwards and rest containers on top. Then, divide a drawer in half for all plastics: nestle similar shaped containers together on one side, and arrange lids by shape and size (or as you see fit) on the other.

6. Use Bins to Separately Stow Different Sized Sets

Another way to keep things extremely neat and tidy is to assign each sized set its own labeled bin. Depending on the size and fit of the bin, either place lids down first then rest containers on top, or lay containers on their side with lids placed vertically. Continue this process for each sized set – large, medium, small, and so on.

7. Utilise Drawer Dividers

When used correctly, drawer dividers are your best friend. In this scenario, nestle containers to maximize your space. Keep lids stored in their own separate dividers to avoid disorganisation. Feel free to categorise the dividers by size, usage, shape, or however you see fit.

8. Install a Door Rack For Lids

Lids are tricky to keep organised, but thanks to their slim frame, they’re super easy to store. If you run out of room, simply hang a spice or magazine rack with hooks on the inside of a cabinet or pantry door! Now, your lids are all in one place.

9. Place Lids Underneath Containers

Keep sets together, but separate, by stacking lids underneath matching nestled containers. If you’re short on space, nestle smaller containers within larger containers. Place the smaller lids either underneath or next to the small containers.