Just like those pesky cords, cups can be a thorn in my side. Especially during the summer, when hot weather plus thirsty girls means our cup collection seems to multiply across the whole house.
In an effort to keep cups easy to reach for those little hands (did I mention I have 3 thirsty girls), I moved the cups to a lower drawer.
In the past, I have banned plastic cups from my house, but since they seem to just reappear, I decided I need to keep them in their own little regulated area. This drawer is where we keep the lunch pails, so it is already a designated kids’ drawer. It’s a nice deep drawer, so it has been working pretty well as the new home of our cup collection.
The problem started this summer when the girls decided they needed to grab a new cup each time they wanted to take a drink of water. We wound up with a collection of half-filled cups of water all over the house. Lots of cups = lots of dishes.
In honor of my “house of cups,” here are 3 ways to organize and combat a full blown cup invasion.
1. Keep Cups Out and Accessible
Lindsey, blogger at The Pleated Poppy, uses an old-fashioned cup dryer kept out on the counter to keep cups at the ready. She found hers at World Market for only $15. She painted it pink. So cute
I shamelessly stole the idea to use in our kitchen. I bought glasses from Ikea because I am a big fan of real glass over plastic. I figured at 88¢ it wouldn’t be a huge deal if we broke a few.
I liked the idea of this cup dryer, but in practice it didn’t quite work for our family. It takes up a lot of room on our counter and doesn’t get to the heart of the issue, too many dishes! We still end up with a high ‘cup to person’ ratio in our house.
Maybe you could assign a certain hook for each person? Although I liked the idea in theory, I still needed to keep searching for another option.
2. Create a Permanent Home
My favorite option so far to curtail extreme cup usage is a simple, re-purposed candle holder.
Each person has a designated spot to put their cup back when they are finished with it. My husband likes giant tumblers for water, so no getting rid of plastic cups entirely. But my girls have been loving the ‘fancy glasses’ as they like to call them.
It takes up a small amount of space on the counter so it can share the same area with the fruit basket.
3. Keep Cups Where You Use Them
A few magnets and plastic cups are all you need to copy this idea from Made and keep your cups right where you use them.
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If we had a fridge with a built-in water dispenser, I would definitely have to try this idea. Be sure to click over to Made if you are interested, because Dana gives some ideas for those kiddos who can’t help but to pull the magnets off.
What have you tried to keep your cups corralled? Do you use a bin in a cabinet, throw them all in a drawer, or put your kids in charge of dish duty?
