Beat Messy Container Lid Kitchen Clutter With This Genius Dollar Tree Hack

Many people have food storage container lids of all sizes, shapes, and materials scattered throughout their kitchens. These lids can be difficult to stack or store neatly due to the large collections that take up so much space in most kitchens. They often end up lost or misplaced: You may end up tossing containers when their matching lids go missing, and replacement purchases can get costly. Did you know that a simple Dollar Tree cooling rack placed inside of an appropriately sized container can keep these lids neatly organized? 

All you need for this money-saving hack is a metal cooling rack with slots large enough to fit your lids, and a rectangular plastic container that you can lay the rack inside of. Dollar Tree has a variety of these available for you to choose from, such as these large rectangular containers that come in a variety of colors and sell for only $1.25 each. As of this writing, there is only one cooling rack option available on the Dollar Tree website, but your local store may have a larger variety. This rack is also priced at $1.25. Who knew that those unorganized piles of lids could be easily sorted and stored using affordable supplies from Dollar Tree?

Ensure the metal cooling rack you select fits inside of the container with enough room to place the lids in the slots before making your purchase. Simply place the rack inside of the rectangular containers you think are the appropriate size until you find a match. The rack should be just small enough to fit inside the container and stand upright. If you prefer to purchase the supplies online, you will need to look at the measurements for each item to ensure that the rack will fit in the container properly.

To assemble this convenient storage solution, just place the cooling rack inside of the container and insert each storage container lid into the rack's slots. If you are more of a perfectionist, you might prefer to organize the lids even more thoroughly by inserting them into their own columns according to size, shape, and material.

Once the lid organization system is fully assembled, it should fit inside a cabinet or drawer so that it's hidden away until you need it. You may also choose to place the accompanying containers in their own storage bin nearby. This makes it super easy to simply open up a drawer or cabinet and pull out the lid and container you need without having to search through an unorganized pile of food storage supplies.

This Dollar Tree container lid storage hack is particularly thrifty because similar storage solutions are not nearly as affordable. Amazon sells a pricer storage container lid organizer for $19.99. Ashley Furniture also offers a drawer organizer for $27.99. Some cabinet manufacturers even sell cabinets with built-in organization slots. For example, Dura Supreme offers a drawer with a plate rack that could also double as container lid storage. 

Although this might seem like a good solution, this option comes with a few drawbacks. A built-in plate and lid organizer is not only likely far more expensive than the Dollar Tree solution, but it also is not nearly as versatile. This organizer cannot simply be relocated to another drawer, cabinet, or even stored on top of the kitchen counter. The Dollar Tree option is also portable. You can bring the bin and rack holding the lids and the accompanying containers along with you if you need to pack a large amount of food following a birthday party or other event.