We had a disaster this week. In the middle of the night, one of the shelves in our larder collapsed with a massive crash. On it was a dozen or so glass storage jars, full of rice, dried pulses, pasta etc. All but two of them smashed to smithereens with their contents exploding to the far corners.

They were mainly Le Parfait jars of varying sizes – here some of them are in this old photo – there were even more of them on the shelf at the time of the event. We had to embark on a massive, midnight clear-up operation – trying to keep the dog out of the way while we swept up shards of glass and millions of lentils with dustpan & brush. We still don’t know what caused the shelf to give way – it’s been there near on 5 years!

Anyhow, we’re in the market for some new glass storage jars. We looked at replacing like for like but we didn’t know how expensive Le Parfait jars are – we tended to pick them up here and there second hand at markets and charity shops. The smallest size is £5.25. Here are a few mainly cheaper – and equally attractive – options we’ve found.

1. Vogue clip top preserve jars: from £2.39, Nisbets
2. KORKEN food storage jars with lids: from 80p, IKEA
3. Clip top preserving jars: from £1.49, Dunelm
4. Kilner jars: from £1.50, Divertimenti
5. Ella Sabatini square glass storage collection: from £6.99, Wayfair