The following is a guest post on a great way to organize spices in a small space from regular contributor, Rachel.
I’m in a state of transition. We recently moved from Florida to Michigan. Our family of four is currently living in a tiny apartment until we find the right home. I’m determined to make this little space comfortable and cozy so that our time spent here is just as lovely as anywhere else we’ve lived.
Sometimes, that’s easier said than done. Down-sizing by over 1,500 square feet has it’s challenges for me but I’m up for the task and aim to finish before the summer leaves change to fall colors.
I focused my first efforts to organize the kitchen because I’m there for what seems like 95% of my day. 🙂 I knew I needed a functioning work space to make meals and keep up with the eating demands of active children.
Today I’ll show my quick-fix for organizing spices in a VERY tiny space. I wanted to use things I already owned because it seemed foolish to buy organizers for a temporary living situation.
Below is my “before” cabinet. It’s a narrow upper cabinet next to the stovetop. I decided to use it for spices and most (not all) of my baking necessities.
I have a bunch of short spice jars. After I grouped them together by how frequently I use them and weeded out expired or duplicated jars, I was left with a good amount of spices that are rarely used.
I also had a few of Ikea’s 365+ dry food jars with lids. I’ve used these canisters in a variety of ways but never for spice jars.
Put them together and I was surprised to have a quick vertical fix to my small space. Nine of the short jars fit inside one container with the lid closed. I’ll be the first to admit, those on the bottom layer are not convenient to retrieve. I purposely put my least-used spices at the bottom, rather than arrange them alphabetically. It works and I can see at a quick glance what I need.
Stacking the jars inside the Ikea container keeps them from falling over on me and keeps them visible. It may not be as convenient as pull-down spice racks, graduated height spice racks, or racks that adhere inside cabinet doors (affiliate links), but it works for my small space!
I also used a small turn-table (affiliate link) for awkward sized ingredients, a clear bin with a handle similar to THESE (affiliate link) for rarely used cooking/baking ingredients, and a wall mounted spice rack similar to THIS (affiliate link) above the stovetop for my most frequently used spices. Again, all of these organizers are things I previously owned and have figured how to repurpose here.
Below is the completed project and a before & after picture showing the improvement a little organization can make.
Interestingly, after arranging and weeding out the unnecessary, it’s not nearly as crowded as I expected for a narrow cabinet. I love what a pinch of time and a dash of creativity can do to whip up an organized space. 🙂
In the professional world, I’m a nurse by trade. But, around our house, I’m known as Mommy to our young daughters. My two worlds collided and began shaping into a blog. Useful Beautiful Home represents the hours I’ve dedicated to managing my household as efficiently as possible. I offer you motivation to keep your home healthy, organized, and welcoming. My goal is to share what I’ve implemented in my home to inspire you with fresh ideas and to encourage you to keep up the good work in yours!
- *Please note that affiliate links are included in this post to make it easier for you to find what is being referenced. A small commission is made should you purchase product using these links, but this is at no extra cost to you. As always, any and all opinions are genuinely my own – or the author, in the case of posts by my guest contributors. Thank you!*
Jane says
Your cabinet certainly looks better in the after photo but in the midst of cooking I would not want to have to empty a container of spices to get one at the bottom. A better solution would be to use a handled container like you have on the top shelf to organize the spices. I like to put the name of the spice on the top of the jar so when you look into the container you can see which is which. Cheers!