These Affordable Dollar Tree Containers Are Perfect For Kitchen Storage

Cooking is always a joyous activity in a clean, organized kitchen primed for efficiency. But let any amount of clutter sneak in, and it becomes a hectic nightmare. We need to know exactly where everything is when we're juggling a multi-dish spread, or dinnertime can quickly spiral out of control as we waste time looking for items. According to an Eagle Woodworking survey, over half of respondents feel stressed from a messy kitchen. In order to cope, over two-thirds said they're prioritizing drawers — an excellent starting point for managing utensils, recipe cards, and kitchen towels, which are common storage challenges. While it's always nice to keep kitchen towels organized in style with a ladder or rack, not everyone has open display space, putting a premium on backup drawer space. Making smart use of kitchen drawers is an easy and inexpensive solution, and all it takes is a trip to Dollar Tree!

For this simple and affordable hack, just grab a few Dollar Tree plastic storage bins. Measure your drawer space, getting the height, width, and depth of the cavity to narrow down what will fit. Then, decide how you'd like to organize your kitchen towels. If you want to separate them by season, material, size, color, or another feature, determine how many bins you'd need to maintain them. You may opt for a wider tray, like the Essentials Shallow Rectangular Slotted Plastic Tray, if you only have a couple of categories to separate. Or, choose a set of narrower Essentials Woven-Look Plastic Storage Baskets to manage several types of towels.

After measuring your drawers and deciding the best bin arrangement for storing your kitchen towels, don't forget the aesthetics. Although they'll be tucked away most of the time, a coordinated set of bins shows an extra level of thoughtfulness in a cohesive interior design. And Dollar Tree has a ton to choose from. Choose bright and bold colors that mix with your current kitchen tones. To play it safe, you could instead stick with versatile neutral options, like these Essentials Tall Rectangular Slotted Plastic Baskets, that pair well with just about everything. You can also opt for Straw Woven Baskets, supplying a cozy, cottage texture, or wire baskets for maximum durability.

With the baskets in place, you can focus on folding. If you're managing a multitude of hand- and dish-drying implements, use Marie Kondo's folding method to keep your kitchen towels in check. Generally, you'll want to fold the towels lengthwise. Then, fold them in thirds horizontally. Turn the towels on their sides with the fold facing up so they can stand freely and provide a clean, tidy look when you open the drawer. You may have to adjust how you do your initial lengthwise fold to perfectly fit the storage bin's width. For instance, you might fold some towels in half a couple of times to fit them snugly between the sides. Meanwhile, smaller towels may fit perfectly with a tri-fold. Play around with different folding and rolling approaches to find what works best. Pair this with a smart trick to hide used kitchen towels, and you'll never have to worry about them contributing to your kitchen clutter ever again!