What an improvement, Lynn! Busybee's comment resonated with me as well, and I think I'm going to move the items I've got in my one deep drawer (it currently holds baking sheets and pizza trays), and put our plethora of plasticware there instead. It just makes sense, and like you, I'm not sure why it didn't occur to me when I was assigning spaces for stuff when we first moved in!

The best thing I did when we remodeled our kitchen a few years ago was to add deep drawers instead of cabinets. Open and throw in!

Some of my big plastic wear is in the frig, holding leftovers from a party (yesterday), but the smaller stuff is easily stacked in the big ones.

Mine is worse than Lynn's before pic. Imagine a whole corner 'lazy susan' cabinet devoted to that stuff, and no available drawers to take its place. :-(

Great transformation! I knew after struggling with a poorly organized kitchen for 25 years that drawers were a priority in the new one.

I had the same thought as Fori: what's to stop them from partying in the drawers?

At any rate, I am sure that there is some island somewhere where socks from dryers and Tupperware lids are shacking up together, having successfully escaped their confines of dryers and kitchen cabinets!

Fori, yes. I bang them against the side of the kitchen sink to get the loose water of, then put them in the dish drain. They dry very quickly is you do that.

I wish I had some big deep drawers to use this way. I did in our previous home. If I ever get my kitchen renovation done it will have all drawers on the lowers. I have moved my plastic stuff to an upper cabinet I can at least reach into. I can not be getting down on the floor to dig into the back of the deep cabinets. I got rid of a ton of good plastic ware that just wouldn't fit. I decided that stuff is cheap when it gets looking old throw it away and replace. I keep my good real Tupperware of course. But if it gets ugly it's gone. I never save containers that something came in like butter or sour cream etc those go to the trash for recycling. I remember cleaning out mom's house when she was moved to the assisted living there were entire cabinets filled with those kinds of containers , then and there I promised myself not me! My current cabinet is very nice and neat I hope to keep it that way.

ROFL, Tibbie! Yes, I'd like to find that place as I couldn't believe how many lids had just disappeared. You two (Fori and Tibbie) just popped my happy bubble (LOL)! I don't even want to think about a future messy, jumbled Tupperware drawer, but you're right, it probably will . . . someday. Still, nothing can get as bad as my two shelves got. Of course, I may have . . . on a rare occasion . . . been in a bit of a hurry and just laid (tossed) a piece in, closing the door quickly before it could tumble out again. Well, the deep drawer idea is still the better for me.

Oh, and I was on such a tear after I finished the kitchen organization, I spent the next day (Saturday) cleaning out and reorganizing my dressing table drawers and then a cabinet in my laundry room. I do wish that energy had lasted through today, though, but it didn't (LOL).

Yeah ... they probably will continue to party in drawers. And invite friends.

We also have the problem with the not-quite-dry-from-the-dishwasher thing, so we spend at least a little time on most days wiping plastic. ::sigh::

Hoping DH won't fight me on the decision to move into the drawer. This will actually free up a ton of space on at least two shelves, and since I added a few pretty dishes to my little "collection" of dinnerware over the weekend, I want to be able to open my cabinets and see attractive things ... not Gladware.

Mine do party in the drawer, I don't mind as long as I can still open and close the drawer without anything falling out.

Yay, Lynn! I had a similar revelation several weeks ago when we replaced our wire-shelved pantry with cabinets. That got me rearranging the kitchen, and I spent days thinking "Why did this never occur to me before?"

My glass bowls and casseroles went into the lower cabinet double basket thingie, and my plastic storage went in to the upper cabinet. I have the containers on the shelf and the lids on a wire rack that sits over them.

Donna

My last kitchen had those drawers and they are great, but this one doesn't. However, I found the ideal solution. I don't cook!

Looks great! I know you will enjoy the improved organization. I donated all of my plastic ware several years ago and replaced it with several sizes of square glassware with locking lids. They live in a drawer and do not multiply (or party). I am blessed in this house with drawers and roll-out shelves. I give mental thanks to the previous owner often.

you can tell the age of posters by the age of their Tupperware LOL I do wish I had some of that old Tupperware though!!!

We also did a deep drawer under the microwave on the island and it is great at containing them. Only a few pieces are actually Tupperware but it is easy containment And opposite the sink were I am often handling leftovers. When we redid the kitchen I was surprised how many mismatched pieces I had without fitting lids. I stay on top of that now.

What is it with plastic and the way water clings to it? Why doesn't it air dry/evaporate like glass or ceramic?

I know what I am going to be doing tomorrow (hanging my head in shame).

Raven - I can't bring myself to throw away quart size sherbert containers. They make great freezer containers for soup and chili, plus I use them to send holiday and special occasion left-overs home with my kids - they can toss them when they are through with them.

LOL, Tuesday! I totally understand. I save the large Greek yogurt containers for that same reason. Of course, I don't reheat anything in them, but they work great for freezing soup .

so glad my comment made a difference in your kitchen organization, lynn! (i'm curious, what is the sunflower hanging on your cabinet door?! :)

drawers are just so much easier to store stuff in, to keep organized and to retrieve stuff from!! i don't know how many times i had to sit on the floor and attempt to reorganize the stinkin plastic when it was all in a cabinet- but then to take anything out was such a pain, and maintaining it is too!! we will be building sometime in the next 5 yrs and i will have mostly drawers in that kitchen! i cut and put in a plastic drawer liner in certain drawers- the plastic drawer is one- just in case they are still a little wet from the dishwasher... i am not johnny on the spot for unloading the dishwasher tho and often times i'll just leave the plastic in there a while longer til it air dries...

One of my organizing moves several years ago was to get rid of all the mismatched stuff and go for a very limited number of sizes from a single brand, most of which can share lids and stack neatly.

Recently I stacked a small number of them in a skinny pullout in the underused corner cabinet. I have a larger batch in the utility room for the next time I make 10 Pound Chili or chicken broth, but only enough for leftovers in the kitchen.

Pullout:

http://www.leevalley.com/US/garden/page.aspx?p=55168&cat=3,43722,43723&ap=1 

Oooh, I like those pull-outs! I have two, that have the integrated cabinet fronts on them that I use for baking supplies, oils , vinegars, etc. But, those you show are really handy to fit inside already installed cabs. I love to make (and eat) homemade soups, but for most of the year it's just the two of us. Storage containers that I can freeze and hold enough soup for one meal for DH and myself work great for me. Storing them when not in use is another issue (LOL)!

Lynn, your reorganized plastic cr*p looks great (for anyone who doesn't know what 'plastic cr*p' is, Google Dixie Longate, the funniest Tupperware 'saleswoman' gig around). Although I have several deep drawers, I use them for pots and pans and other cookware and heavy stuff. My plastic stuff looks almost exactly like yours, ravencajun. I figure if it's going to fall out on the granite countertop, it won't break like my precious Le Creuset baking dish would. And we are tall so I can reach for things easily enough.

Great idea! When I refreshed/organized the pantry about 2 years ago I devoted one top shelf for the plastic horde and made a firm commitment to only 3 sizes and all identical, so all the small fit inside each other, same with mediums and large, they all stack together in one spot, next to them is a lid holder that keeps all the plastic lids for them, not all that organized but they're all in the same place.

My hub likes to save large yogurt containers to put leftovers he cooks in so those all stack on the other side and an automatic ice cube container holds those lids (couldn't find another lid holder like the other one so whatever, it works). If I had drawers I'd likely stack them in one but this kitchen didn't come with them and the man isn't in the way of remodelling the kitchen any time soon so I'll likely remain drawerless for the foreseeable future. ;)

A secret to dry plastic from the dishwasher is to open the door as soon as the dry cycle begins, let the steam out and shake excess water off the plasticware, return to dishwasher and wait for cycle to finish!

Yes! That's what mine looks like too now. Love drawers!

I don't have any deep drawers in my kitchen, and now I wish I did!

I do not put plastic in the dishwasher. I used to, and noticed the heat caused the plastic to change over time. Then I learned about BPA and threw out almost every plastic item I had and only use it for cold storage. I replaced some with glass containers. The covers just rip and get gross on those.

These drawers are much larger than what they appear to be in the picture, and now I'm embarrassed at how much wasted space I have by using two drawers for probably one drawer of plastics. Containers like pie, cake holders, large bowls w/lids are elsewhere.

This is called Being in a Hurry to Unload the Dishwasher. :)

Too funny, Oakley! That's usually what causes mine get so messy, when I'm in a hurry unloading the dishwasher. I need to remember that it can happen in a drawer just as easily. The stacking/nesting works so much better in a deep drawer for me, though.

Mine was stacked at one time. :) I think I'm going to stack without the lids under each container, and set them to the side. Much easier I think.