Organizing Lazy Susan

This lazy susan is the primary location for my baking supplies  but it also collects all sorts of other odds and ends. It is always messy — partly from my habit of flipping it open and shoving just one more thing in, like that bag of brown sugar laying on top of the popcorn container.   It seemed like there was never enough room and I could never find anything quickly. 

That changed with a Kohl’s sale and a 30% off coupon.  I saw a set of these  see through canisters with pop top seals  and the little light bulb above my head flashed on!!

Maybe it wasn’t just my bad habits that made this cupboard difficult.  Maybe it was the way things were stored!

I let the box of canisters stay on the shelf while I completed my rounds and then circled back.  Hmmm — certainly a lot more money that a dollar store container.  But I liked that they sealed.  And that they stacked.  And that they were square. And that I had a gift card in my pocket.  I toured the table linens and then the bedding section — then I snatched up that box and headed for the checkout.

When I got home, I washed the canisters and pulled everything out of the lazy susan — it looked even more messy  in real life!  I cleaned the shelves and cut a new liner.   Liners save tons of time scrubbing and cleaning, I think.  I’ve used all sorts of things to line these shelves — gift wrap, kraft paper, newsprint, wallpaper.   This time I used two sheets of dollar store poster board and used the old yucky liner as a pattern.  All clean and ready to go.

If you look below you’ll see my problem. . . .

. . . . too many different and odd sized containers.

I began shifting supplies to the new  containers.  Those are tea bags in the spaghetti jar — see how much less shelf room it requires than the container on the left!   The salt container takes up a bit more room than the jar, but I can keep a half teaspoon measure in it AND stack other small containers on top — something I could not do with the jar.   The square container with flour takes up less space than the old rectangular one and the brown sugar is much more compact than the big round tub.  Moral of the story . . .  look for containers that are square, can be stacked, have an easy to use airtight lid and range from tall to small.  A “set” is a bonus, but knowing those few tips will help you choose even from random sources and have more functional and efficient storage.  Like this . . .

 And yes, that’s  four cans of cooking spray on the top shelf.  Who needs four cans??  Someone who has such a disorganized cupboard they don’t know what’s in it, that’s who!!!

In keeping with the square mode, the oatmeal was transferred to big square jars in which  almonds are purchased.  I found plastic lids for coasters under the messy bottles of oils and sticky stuff.  It’s amazing that there is actually room in between items and that I even had space to add a few new baking supplies from the overstuffed upper cabinet!   A half hour well spent .   I’m working on breaking  the habit of just stuffing things in so that it will stay organized!

Disclosure:  This post was not written for compensation.

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