I have a problem. It’s similar to the put two matching socks in the washing machine and only one comes out mystery.

Are you familiar with those plastic food boxes we store our leftovers in or take to work full of goodies for lunch?  Of course you are.  Yes, I expect you’ve got several in a kitchen cupboard, just like me. And there the problem lies – or at least it used to. I went for years collecting mismatched bottoms and lids, never seeming able to complete all matching pairs that I’d once started with. I genuinely don’t know how they became separated – it’s not that far from my dishwasher to the drawer I keep them in.

But my problem is now a thing of the past. Hurrah!  A few weeks ago I spent a joyous day decluttering my kitchen. And the plastic boxes got it. I was ruthless. Only matching pairs survived; the errant singletons were despatched to the bin; no prisoners taken.  And I made a decision – whenever a box came out of the dishwasher, it had to go back in the drawer with its lid on.

It must be a fact of nature or science or something so powerful I will never understand it – but my new plastic box storage method is working. There is not one rogue bottom or lid in the drawer … and this makes me very happy.  Gone is the frustration of finding the matching lid when I want to freeze a portion of that leftover casserole.

But when I thought about this miraculous change that has come over my kitchen drawers, it struck me:

• Why didn’t I make this change before now?
• What stopped me in the past?
• Why had I never stumbled upon this simple solution before?

Hmmmm. A case of if you always do what you did, you always get what you got.

Based on the marvellous success of my kitchen reorganisation,  I’m now proactively seeking opportunities to achieve similar household victories.

Who says change isn’t marvellous?