how do you store your plastic containers?

I have this wonderful system where I open the drawer, lob said item in then shut door. It works in as much as I know the matching pair are in there somewhere - doesn’t usually take long to find stuff 😉

I have two very large baskets that fit under my sink that I store lids in one and containers in other. Works well for me.

Individual portion size. I have about 30 round-wider-short deli containers...they thaw out quicker and stack better (than what I first had > taller-thinner, didn't stack well, took longer to thaw out). They stack one within/on top of the other. Lids stack on the top container. I have two stacks. The stacks sit on top shelf in a closet.
When I use them, once they are clean and dried >> 1-2 days worth sit stacked on the kitchen counter, until I put them away in the closet. It's part of my nighttime routine to do a general pickup and put things away, so they don't generally sit for long.

I have an assortment of other size containers.... small(six), medium(three), large(two), the small and medium go in a pull drawer caddy that's in a kitchen cabinet, the larger two sit on top of the drawer caddy. 

I am single, and trying to live simply.
I only use 1 or 2 at a time for takeout leftovers. I food prep so all my meals are frozen or stored individually. The big containers I only use when doing my food prep and am cooking a big batch. They get washed(and left on dish drying rack...then put away) as soon as I portion it into individual containers.

For years I had a bunch of containers(at least 50+), many sizes and shapes (most never got used). It was a bit of trial and error figuring what I used and how many to keep, once I did...I gave the rest away to my Nephew when he was moving into his first apartment at the beginning of his Sophomore year of College. Felt good to downsize. He was grateful to receive them. 

My first set of individual containers I gave away to a friend, once I purchased the ones that work better for me.

I keep mine in a drawer.  The containers are nested by size.  The lids are kept in a larger container on the top of the stack. 


Container drawer. by Christine C68, on Flickr

I have my square pieces all stacked in one pile. Circle piece in another. The lids all go in a large square tub arranged by size. I bought the nice clear pieces of storage and their lids all snap to each other.

I also have a basket in my linen closet for cheap pieces of plastic that I use to send home leftovers with my kids. Those just get tossed in there when they return them.

I use the same method but store mine in a lower cabinet under a utensil drawer. I also have put a letter on the container and matching lid. All containers of the same style get the same letter.  Really helps all of us finding the right lIf the 1st time.

My mild ocd puts like lids together in basket-not jumbled together.

I keep mine matched up with lids on the containers. They go in two pull-out shelf/drawers in a lower cabinet. I am way too anal about organization to keep the bottoms and lids separate.

I just buy these..Rubbermaid
Onky 3 different size lids and the bins all stack nicely in my island drawers.

When I only had cupboards in my kitchen, I would store all of my Tupperware etc with the lids on. It was so much easier, but took up soooooooo much more room. When we renovated out kitchen I made sure we had plenty of huge drawers to store stuff, rather than cupboards. So now all of my plastic containers are stored in one drawer. The similar sized and shaped containers are nested inside each other, and the lids are stored together to the side of the containers. So I have about 10 or so stacks of containers, and the lids next to them.

It's not a fail-proof system, especially if someone else empties the dishwasher and puts them away, in which case everything just gets chucked in willy nilly. I find myself tidying it up once a week or so. 

I saw something on Pinterest or a blog on the weekend where the woman had put dividers in the drawer - there were wide spaces for the containers, and narrow spaces next to them for the lids. So similar to my set up, but probably a bit neater. 

In my dream kitchen, I have a HUGE butler's pantry for all of my appliances, and a separate HUGE butler's pantry for all of my Tupperware, which of course is stored on the shelves with the lids on, so nothing ever gets lost or separated! 

I got rid of all the crap that didn’t nest and stack before we moved in 2012. Now I have a couple sets of three larger sizes of microwaveable Tupperware that all takes the same sized lids and three sizes of smaller microwaveable Tupperware bowls that all take the same sized lids. So I have six sizes of containers and two sizes of lids that interchange.

The containers are nested by size in a lazy susan corner cabinet all on one shelf, the lids are stacked vertically on end next to them. Sometimes they shift around so I probably should find a shallow container big enough to hold the lids upright where they go without shifting around or falling over, like in the picture someone posted.

I also have a very few even smaller lunch containers that also nest and stack on the same shelf.

LOL, the dumpster fire in my kitchen is the “appliance garage” in the corner near the cooktop between the upper and lower cabinets. It is full to overflowing with cookie cutters and it’s a disorganized mess.   I can’t find anything in there, and most of the time I can’t even get into it because DH likes to pile up a bunch of junk right there. 

When we moved I donated most of my old plastic wear and bought new. Dh can’t take glass into work (department of corrections) which is what I really wanted since it doesn’t stain, but alas my dream is still a dream. I bought plastic snapwear. The lids are snapped onto the containers and stored like that on a shelf in my kitchen. I have zero floating lids anywhere. It drove me crazy to have to dig for lids. . We don’t really have a ton of leftovers. I’ve learned to make enough for dh and I with only one portion of leftovers that he takes to work the next day. It works for us.

I changed 3 months ago to storing the container with the lid attached. I have one section for glass and another section for plastic. I got rid of anyone without a mate. I love it! I never have to search for a lid after filling the container and then not finding the lid!!