storage solutions

Sometimes good ideas happen completely by accident. I was cleaning my refrigerator the other day and organizing the shelves as I went. Later that afternoon I had to make a run to Meijer for something and was walking through the storage aisle. I love wire baskets and such, and saw these very narrow baskets. I remembered having taco salad this week and trying to pull out the salsa I needed in the back of the fridge. The baskets gave me a good idea: put similar jars in a basket and simply pull the entire basket out when I needed something from that group. It has organized my refrigerator so nicely.

the shelf before....organized but not easily accessible

the baskets with the jars sorted

baskets in the fridge....so tidy

The next storage solution this week was for plastic bags. We have tried using the "green" bags, but still have uses for the plastic from time to time, so we still have to find a place to store them. I have antiques in my kitchen, and one was an old malted milk container - it stands about 12 inches tall. It had been sitting empty for years. I hate to let good storage space go to waste, especially in our old farm house that has very little storage. This week I stuffed all my plastic bags inside and put the lid on. Decoration and functional at the same time! If I had only had this epiphany years ago.

plastic bags

bags in the malt container

no eye-sore bags around. Yes!