Trick Out a Food-Storage Drawer

Purge ruthlessly, keeping only containers you use all the time; toss anything missing a top or a bottom.

1. Split the space with a drawer divider and impose order: glass on one side, plastic on the other. Custom drawer organizer, from $17, containerstore.com.
2. Tuck the biggest glass square or rectangular piece in a corner. Find snug spaces for all other angular glassware, then slip in round pieces last.
3. Leave tops on glass containers and stack pieces (don’t nest—glass might stick together and break).
4. Nest plastics, storing sideways if upright is too high for the drawer.
5. Corral small items (like the soy-sauce holders here) in a cup.
6. Store plastic tops separately from their bases, since a seal can create a stale smell. “File” large tops in a desktop paper sorter.
7. Stash smaller tops in a little bin and they won’t rattle around or disappear.