Ditch Cabinet Clutter: A Smarter Way To Store Container Lids

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Figuring out how to effectively organize your kitchen can be a headache, especially if you have a bunch of loose container lids floating around. Even if you try your best to only buy food storage options designed to be stacked and nested together, the lids are never easy to contain. But you can employ a hack we recently spotted that uses a tension rod to create a DIY drawer divider. 

Tension rods have proven to be an excellent organizing accessory for all kinds of loose ends in the kitchen and pantry, but this particular hack employs them in your kitchen drawers as a genius way to separate out a space for lid storage. All you need to do is measure the length or width of the drawer in question and buy a tension rod — or rods — sized to fit. Then, decide where you want your lids to slot in vertically in your drawer and position the tension rods accordingly. 

Depending on your cabinet, you'll likely need the smallest size tension rod, but it's still important to measure the exact space you plan to use. Once you have the rod in position, hold the larger side against one side of the cabinet at a slight angle, and twist the smaller side until it comes just past the other side of the cabinet. Then, push on the spring, slide the rod into place, and release. The tension mechanism is employed, and the rod should fit snugly in your drawer.

How you use your tension rods also depends on how much drawer space you want to dedicate to lid storage. As one option, you can use one tension rod positioned slightly off-center within the drawer. This should allow for enough room to stack your container bases, and the other side is where you can store your container lids vertically, resting them between the tension rod and the side of the drawer.

Another option is to use multiple tension rods evenly spaced across your drawer to create a row of slots, and setting your lids within each section — similar to how a filing cabinet works. This is a great option if you have a lot of lids, enough kitchen space to dedicate an entire drawer to lid storage, or deep enough drawers that you still have enough space to nest your containers in the drawer too.

While there's no shortage of budget-friendly tips for sorting out your unwieldy container lids, a tension rod is handy because you can always repurpose it elsewhere if needed. But because you won't be putting any weight on the tension rod for this project, you also don't need to invest in anything too heavy-duty, so this is important to consider if you do plan to repurpose your rod. With this in mind, it's a good idea to take note of the rod's load-bearing capacity and keep this information on hand.