You know that point you get to in adulthood where you have finished flatting with others about five years ago but you still have a mismatched set of pots and lids in your kitchen. Too many of a similar size pot, but not the one that’s ideal for what you’re cooking tonight and only one lid that fits all three – kind of well enough to work as a lid plus another lid that’s just too small for any of them so it just falls into the pot? And the big pan doesn’t have a flat base anymore so it kind of wobbles a bit. 

That’s the situation I found myself in about a year ago when I needed to revitalise our grannyflat from a short term rental to airbnb accommodation. With no budget left after buying three sets of sheets and towels, I looked at the kitchen supplies and pulled everything out of the cupboards from the flat and my own kitchen to sort it all out. Once I had matched up as many pots with lids as I could and decided on one small, one medium and one large pot for each kitchen, I took two of my lid-less pots and a frying pan down to The Crows Nest, not to donate but to match up a new lid from their pot lid collection. The shop keeper guy remarked about how organised I was… meh, It worked a treat. It didn’t take me that long to find new lids for each pot I had with me and I was set. The best part was it only cost me a few bucks instead of splashing out on brand new pots. I was stoked. Have you seen what matching pot sets retail for new!

Then I donated a handful of left over pots and lids that I didn’t need to Salvation Army Family Store in Timaru.

1.5 years later and it’s still the best bargain I got for the granny flat. And the pot collection in my kitchen makes me happy every time I open that drawer because it’s not at all frustrating trying to find a lid that fits like it used to.

Now if only it was that easy to test if a replacement glass microwave plate fitted before you bought it from a second hand shop? Or a vacuum cleaner hose? I see the carefully organised stacks of these things at the likes of Council resource recover shops and wonder how they ever find new homes that they fit.