Last month I wrote about my desire to spruce up the kitchen countertop with some Montana Jars. I’m pleased to say that since then, I’ve completely cleaned out my pantry, which resulted in a garbage bag full of expired food that was stuffed in the deep dark abyss of my really quite small pantry cabinet. This was such a worthwhile project, because I gained a ton of extra storage space for very little effort. I was also excited to discover some IKEA jars I bought years ago on a top shelf behind the swiffer pads. They’re really a super, more petite alternative to the Montana Jars. Very handy to dip into the sugar, flour and spaghetti when it’s right there in front of me, instead of foraging in the cabinet like I used to.

I’ve also been using these IKEA baskets on the dining table to hold our napkins, and salt and pepper grinders, sugar shaker and cinnamon. They’re made of a thick tough yarn, and I nest a little basket inside a larger one to keep things from falling over. They keep everything neatly contained and it’s easy to slide the basket over when the something’s needed across the table.

I couldn’t find the exact baskets on the IKEA website, but mine are from the Komplement line, and came in a set of four various sizes. (The other two are currently organizing papers by the front door, and giving the kids’ straws a pretty little home.) The Burken jars are shown in 3 different sizes online, but I believe they have more sizes in the store.