How To Repurpose Jars For Clever Storage In Every Room Of Your Home

Glass accounted for 4.2% of the gross municipal solid waste (MSW) generated in 2018, as per the United States Environmental Protection Agency. To put this into perspective, glass products — including liquor and soft drink bottles, jars of food, packaging for cosmetics, and electronics and other consumer goods — led to 12.3 million tons of waste generation. Unfortunately, only 3.1 million tons were recycled, with 7.6 million tons being relegated to the landfills and the rest combusted. These numbers have likely risen, but the 2018 report is its most recent study. Since glass can take anywhere between 4,000 to a million years to naturally break down, it's good for the planet to reuse old glass jars around the house for clever storage instead of chucking them out. For instance, you can upcycle your old food jars to keep your makeup brushes organized.

Regardless of how you'll use them, you'll first need to clean them prior to giving them a new role. To do so, peel off the sticky labels and get rid of sticker residue to enhance their aesthetic appeal. Once the stickers are out of the way, clean the glass jars. All you have to do is shake out the dust hiding inside prior to washing out the jars (along with their lids) using a warm water and dish soap solution. Rinse them inside and out with clean water to remove all residue. Finally, dry them with a clean, lintless cloth. Need ideas on how to upcycle your old jars and go green? Here are a few ways to repurpose them for clever storage in every room in your home.

One of the easiest ways to repurpose old glass jars in your kitchen is to use them to organize your messy pantry and countertop. Instead of hunting down individual items and reading their labels to find a specific product, store your dry goods, such as grains, legumes, nuts, biscuits, and dried fruits, in these transparent jars to save time and effort. However, if you're not a big fan of their utilitarian look, follow TikTok creator @mcrespin1's simple DIY to prettify your old jars and proudly display them in your pantry or on your countertops.

Condiment packets come in handy when you have to quickly assemble food on picnics and long-haul trips. Unfortunately, buying a handful at your nearest grocery store (or sneaking a few in your purse from an eatery) is only useful if you can find them when required. Otherwise, they can go bad and you'll have to dump them out the next time you declutter your kitchen. To avoid such an outcome, neatly store all the packets in a glass jar. Ensure you have a jar dedicated for each type of condiment for easier organization.

If you're like Ross Geller from "Friends" and can't stop yourself from grabbing the tea, creamer, sugar, and coffee packets every time you stay at a hotel (or visit your nearest cafeteria), you need someplace to store them to avoid cluttering the countertops, cabinets, and drawers in your kitchen. Simply categorize them and pop them in an old glass jar (preferably one with a lid) to keep your loot organized. You can also use them to easily access store-bought coffee pods, flavored tea bags, and creamer powder.

It can be hard to keep track of the fruits and vegetables in your fridge. If you're tired of throwing away spoiled perishables, store them in sterilized glass jars. The transparent containers will make it easy for you to see what's inside your refrigerator and consume them before they go bad. They're more elegant than grocery store plastic or brown paper bags. Plus, they're a cheaper alternative to aesthetically pleasing storage containers. Be sure to dry your fruits and veggies before storing in glass and covering — otherwise, the moisture inside the glass can lead to quicker molding.

Storing your pet's food and treats in their original packaging might be convenient for you, but the colorful bags will stand out like a sore thumb in your organized kitchen and pantry — moreso if you buy this common household item in bulk to save money. An alternative is to ditch the unsightly bags and decant the contents in an old glass jar. Bonus advantage: Glass jars are easy to handle, stack, and pour food from. Choose a jar with a dedicated lid since you don't want the food to react with bacteria or moisture in the air and spoil prematurely.

You might like keeping a few extra hand towels and cleaning cloths in the bathroom for easy access. This is especially useful when you have guests over so that each person has their own towel to dry their hands. You don't want to just leave out a folded pile of towels, though. There's a better — and more attractive — storage solution. Draw inspiration from TikTok user @desireyourhome and grab a wide-mouthed glass jar to stockpile all your rolled-up towels.

Decluttering and organizing your bathroom goes far, but you can also add a touch of glamour to make your master bath feel like a luxury oasis. Don't worry; you don't have to buy expensive containers from home stores to achieve the desired look. Decanting essentials — like shampoo, moisturizer, conditioner, salts, oils, and bombs — into matching glass jars will do the job. You can also use smaller jars to store travel-sized samples. For the ultimate spa-like experience, upgrade your simple glass jars following @mishkashoe's tutorial video.

Even if you dedicate a bathroom drawer to your makeup and accessories, chances are it'll look like a raccoon's habitat sooner rather than later. To ensure your drawer looks like a dream and you don't have a hard time finding the matching pair to the one earring in your hand, categorize items into broad groups — such as safety pins, eyeliners, foundations, lip stains, cotton pads, eyeshadow, acne essentials, costume jewelry, and hair accessories — and store each of them in a separate glass jar.

The problem with storing nails, screws, bolts, and nuts in a single container in your garage is it'll take you ages to find what you're looking for unless you empty the whole thing. Worse, you might have to buy items twice since doing inventory would be a nightmare. Save your future self some time and money by housing the items in old glass jars. The see-through jars will help you tally what you need from the hardware store for your latest DIY project against what you already have. Stack the jars vertically or affix the lids on a horizontal surface in your garage like @beercanmike.

Your children's drawers and cupboards can often look like a mix between a hoarder's den and a candy factory explosion. Encourage them to keep their belongings, like stationery and candies, organized using recycled glass jars. If that's too plain for their tastes, free up an afternoon and follow along with @athomewithshannon's DIY video to give your old glass jars an adorable makeover using paint, cute figurines, and some glitter. You can even involve your children in the project; just keep the can of shimmery powder out of their reach to avoid a full-on glitter war.

The last thing you want to do after a tiring day or night out is sort all your gold or diamond jewelry and other valuable accessories after taking them off. So, place an old glass jar on your dresser or bedside table to keep your valuables safe until you're ready to properly organize them. Remember to pick a jar with a lid so that you don't have to worry about the stored items falling out and getting lost.

Why pay for an outrageously expensive sewing kit when you can keep your loose threads and pins organized using old glass jars? Just put the spools inside a jar and plop a pincushion on top of the lid to safely house the pointed needles. Or place two small magnets under the lid to keep the needles in place like @craftfactory. Don't shy away from adding other sewing necessities to the jar (or breaking out more than one in case you have a lot of items) like buttons, a mini pair of scissors, clips, thimbles, and needle threader.

Old glass jars are the perfect example of household items you can repurpose for a functional laundry room. Say goodbye to drab powder detergent boxes and pour the detergent into the jars instead to make your laundry room look stylish. Follow a similar process for stain removers, laundry pods, liquid detergents, fabric softeners, mesh laundry bags, and dryer balls. Don't forget to label the jars so that you know exactly what's in them. If applicable, you might even want to jot down the products' expiration dates on the labels, to avoid using anything that's past its prime.

An organized desk is key to establishing a productive office at home. You may need to take some time out of playing "Mario Kart" on your desktop and clear the mass of pens, pencils, paper clips, sticky notes, USB drives, highlighters, and staples littering your home office desk. Simply grab a few old glass jars, sort the items on your workstation, and drop them inside. This clever storage idea will help you maintain an organized desk for a long while, and it's budget- and eco-friendly.

Your entryway is one of the first things guests notice upon entering your home. To keep things neat and to make a good impression, clear clutter near the door in case surprise visitors drop by. A good way to achieve this is to repurpose an old glass jar to store your loose change rather than heap it carelessly on a table. If you have a lot of loose coins, have separate jars to hold pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters. This way, you won't have to spend money on a digital piggy bank counter. When the jar(s) is full, empty it and treat yourself.

Tea lights are a great way to add a warm glow or a decorative effect to a room. However, if you store them willy-nilly in your attic or basement, you'll have difficulty unearthing them all. Additionally, improper storage will adversely affect the lifespan of the tea lights. Not to mention the time and effort you'll have to expend cleaning them if they gather dust. Since candles should be stored in a cool and dry spot, manage your tea light collection by stocking them in an old glass jar. You can follow a similar strategy while storing string and fairy lights, too.

A helpful tip for cleaning your attic is to avoid carelessly tossing items in boxes. This does more harm than good since you'll constantly lose small items, like holiday decorations, among the clutter of the bigger ones and may end up having to replace them. So, don't let the trinkets from your travel adventures, special events, and other memorable days die a slow death. Instead, repurpose small glass jars and house the trinkets inside prior to arranging them in a big box. You can even label them to make retrieval easier.

You might look forward to spending a few hours each day (or week) in your craft room to explore your creativity. But if you find yourself spending a good chunk of the apportioned time sorting your pointed paint brushes from the round ones, it's time to manage your art and craft supplies. The good news is you don't have to carve out time for an elaborate DIY or buy expensive containers. The glass jars you have laying around are ideal for storing your smaller paint jars, brushes and applicators, adhesives, glitter boxes, decorative beads, colorful fabric, and more.

Once you have popped on your "gardener" hat and are ready to get digging, it can be quite vexing to take time to find the seeds you need. Well, TikTok user @joesgarden has a clever storage solution to your dilemma: keeping seeds within easy reach using old glass jars. All you need for this DIY are two screws, a screwdriver, and a small glass jar with a lid. This solution is a space saver, but you can also store the small jars on top of the gardening shelf instead of under.