Spice organization

Do your spices need some serious organization like mine did? Do you lack space? We currently live in a condo that has absolutely no storage space; we don’t have a pantry and have to use cabinet space for food and spices. The cabinet pictured here is the one above our fridge. You know, the one that is nearly impossible to access unless you are 6’4" like my husband? That’s where our overflow of spices live.

This past weekend, I decided enough was enough so I did what I do best- shop for organization supplies! I scored a few inexpensive solutions at TJ Maxx and Home Goods:

• Non-skid shelf organizers: $4.99/each
  
• Two tier lazy susan: $5.99 ​

After moving the entire fridge out of the way so I could access the cabinet myself, I got to work. First I pulled everything out to assess what we had. There were duplicates of many spices, so I combined what I could. (Just goes to show that you will buy items unnecessarily if you can’t see what you already have). I also filled the spice jars that live on my counter so I wouldn’t have to access this cabinet anytime in the near future.

​Pro-tip: Keep a few spices that you use often in an organizer that is easily accessible. These sit right next to our stove and are the ones we use on a regular basis.

Next, I worked on putting everything back in a neat and functional way, placing the tallest spices on the top “step”, and the shorter ones in front. 

The good: I can actually see all of my spices! No more sifting through all of the bottles, only to realize I don't even have the spice I was looking for. Now with just a quick glance, I can see the name on every bottle. This is a must have item for organizing small objects, especially ones in high cupboards!
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The not so good: These organizers take up a decent amount of space, so I had some spice bottles that wouldn’t fit back into the cupboard. These may not be the best solution for someone trying to maximize storage space.

Since I still had some spices that needed a home, and a two tier lazy susan that didn’t fit on the shelf with the non-skid steps, I decided to clear out the shelf above this one that was being used as shot glass storage, (we collect these from our travels, so there’s a LOT of shot glasses). There wasn’t a clear reason to me why these were taking up shelf space in our condo that lacks storage space, so I wrapped them up and packed them away. Hopefully in our next home, we will have a dedicated space to store these! In the meantime, this shelf will house items we actually use.

I didn’t have enough spices to fill an entire second shelf, so I decided to move all of our baking items from our makeshift pantry to this cabinet above the fridge. We bake maybe once a month, so housing these items here makes sense. It also cleared space in our “pantry” for snacks for our twin toddlers, (REALLY important for my sanity!)

I ran back to Home Goods and scored a few glass jars for $2.49/each. I then placed the tall spices behind the glass jars, and used the lazy susan for smaller items like extracts, sprinkles, and bouillon cubes. Check out the final product!

Overall thoughts:

• I love the non-skid shelf organizers even though they take up a bit of space. They really allow you to see everything, and the price just cannot be beat.
  
• Glass jars are a must if you want to be able to see when you are running low on something. They are sleek, come in ALL sizes, and can be inexpensive if you look in the right places.
  
• The one item I didn’t love was the two tier lazy susan. I don’t think “cheap” is the way to go on this item. The one I bought was pretty flimsy and doesn’t turn very well. It’s a good concept, but you may want to invest a bit more money into one that is higher quality. For the minimal amount I will be using it, this one works for me, for now.

Total amount spent: $31.00 including the smaller glass canisters I already had that were $1.50 at Michaels.

​Organization does NOT have to be expensive to be functional and beautiful!