Skip The Bins: Turn Takeout Lids Into Clever Drawer Organizers

The answer to your home organizational quandaries may be sitting in your recycling bin right now. So even though you blew through most of your grocery budget on Friday night's Chinese food takeout order, at least it can help you salvage your cluttered kitchen junk drawer for free. That's right, don't throw away plastic container lids, because we're going to clean up those takeout lids and turn them into unique drawer organizers.

Any type of lid will do the trick, but ones that have divided sections — reminiscent of cafeteria trays or those old TV dinners — are the best. If you flip the lid upside down, those little compartments turn into cubbies that can store a myriad of items. Non-sectioned lids can also work as long as they aren't too shallow and have high enough raised edges to help contain stored items. Use them to declutter your makeup and skincare items in a bathroom drawer, keep track of office supplies in a desk drawer, or organize craft supplies in an art station drawer. Then take a lid or two to the garage for sorting and corralling small bits like nails and screws in a tool shed drawer. 

The EPA estimates that 27 million tons of plastic material ends up in the landfill each year. One easy way to keep the plastic in your home from ending up there is to repurpose it, which makes upcycling plastic takeout lids a smart way to organize your home in an eco-friendly manner. Plus, reusing things you have on hand instead of buying something new is a no-brainer way to save money (we see you eyeing the Container Store site-wide sale).

Turning takeout lids into DIY drawer dividers will make organizing your home a breeze. To get started, pull them all out of your recycling bin (or trash can) and take them to the sink. We're going to give them a good wash because no one wants to find dried out, leftover lunch crumbs in their newly decluttered desk drawer. Once they are thoroughly washed, be sure to dry them completely so you're not introducing moisture into the drawer. When they're ready, flip it over and you have a brand new drawer organizer.

But we're not going to just go dumping things into it and calling it a day. First, we're going to go one drawer at a time and begin by decluttering. Start with the drawer of your choice by emptying its contents so you can see everything you have. Declutter by getting rid of any trash, donating unused or old items you no longer need, and sorting things that belong elsewhere. Now you can organize the items you have left, separating them into like-categories and placing each in a section of the takeout lid. Then set it into the drawer and enjoy your newly organized space. If it doesn't fit into the drawer as-is, you can carefully cut it down to size, cutting between sections so you have two smaller drawer organizers instead of one big one. Then you can arrange the sections into the drawer in a way that fits the space. Repeat this process for as many takeout lids and drawers you have.