Happy Saturday!
I know we are all busy as this week end starts, so I will only take a few minutes of your time.
I want to share with you something that has made my cooking and baking so much easier.
And you know as well as I do that organization is the key to almost all of our household woes… so if we want to keep something organized, it has to also be functionable for us to maintain on a daily basis.
Organization and functionality is the key.
Which leads me to my new organizational system with my spice cabinet.
We have all been there with our spices stacked on top of …or in front of …each other in a cabinet.
I have moved, removed, re-stacked and re-organized my spice cabinet more times than I can count.
So several years ago, I got smart and I bought these spice racks you see below.
Each spice rack held 18 spices and I had three of them so I had 54 different spices at my fingertips.
There is a place for labels on the outside identifying what spices are in each drawer.
The spice rack came with typed labels and I used them along with a few of my own handwritten labels as I had the need.
Yes, I know I could have used my Avery labels and made typed replacements but at the time it was easier and quicker to just hand label one or two.
Each drawer is a pull down drawer as you see above.
You might ask “so what is the problem with these spice racks?”
#1 Visibility!
I know that sounds strange as you could open the door and see the labels and know what is there.
But did I really know what was behind rack number two?
I had to pull down the drawer to see if what I needed was indeed there behind the label.
Trusting my memory is not a good thing because I have been known to buy an extra bottle of poultry seasoning at Thanksgiving…. only to find I had 3 more bottles at home.
Or, I would find a bargain by buying a large bottle of cinnamon and it would not fit in the rack.
Oh I know you might be saying…”save a smaller bottle of cinnamon and reuse that bottle in the rack”
Believe me, I have had these racks for so many years that I have dealt with all the different scenarios.
Perhaps I am just lazy.
#2 Feasibility!
If it is not easily done or convenient to use, I most likely won’t do it.
Which leads me to my NEW system!
I started by removing all my various sizes of spices from their original containers and put them in uniform bottles.
Instead of an upper cabinet to store spices, I decided to use a drawer.
When we remodeled our kitchen about 5 years ago, I moved my dinnerware from an upper cabinet to a drawer beneath my counter top.
I also moved my microwave to below the counter top and have never regretted either move.
My theory is if I have the spices in a drawer, I will be able to see at a glance what I have.
And because there is a special bottle and place of residence…if it is empty, I will buy a new one and refill the empty one.
I will know that at a glance by opening the one drawer.
And I won’t have 3 poultry seasonings because there is only one bottle of poultry seasoning in the drawer.
AND if I find a large cinnamon at a good price, I will use it to refill my cinnamon bottle in the drawer and keep the larger one more visible in the cabinet above.
NOT stashed behind the flour or whatever.
I also found these clear plastic tiers to place under the bottles and they are adjustable to fit your drawer.
Yes, I have 64 spices in this drawer if you are counting….and they are alphabetized.
As you know I try to keep it real, so I will tell you that after I washed the 64 bottles and wiped one side clean, I carefully started attaching the labels.
I was so careful because I wanted the labels to be uniform when looking in the drawer, though I would most likely be the only one looking.
This lasted through about 10 bottles!
After that, I just started slapping on the labels and they landed where they landed.
Organization is one thing; perfection quite another.
Do you have a special way you keep your spices?
Have a great and Blessed Day!
1 Corinthians 14:40 NIV
Wow I love this! We just reorganized our spices today, but I love what you did! If we had a drawer like this I would definitely replicate!! What a great look!!
I was surprised at how many spices I could get in this drawer Melissa…and to have them all visable at one glance makes cooking so much quicker. And we love to save time don’t we? What did you do with your spices? thanks for stopping by.
We ended up just organizing all of them in alphabetical order, except the blends – which we just put on a separate shelf, so far it seems to be working for me, but I really love the drawer! It’s impressive!!
What an amazing makeover. I need to do this too. Thank you for the inspiration. I loved your nautical tablescape too!
Thank you Laura….Perhaps it is my imagination but I think this organization really helps me with cooking. Everything at my fingertips…Have a great and wonderful week-end.
I love this idea! Especially if you have the drawer space! Which, even with a bigger place, my cabinets and drawers are about the same as the OG My Wee Abode. Womp, womp! I DO have a large pantry wall, and I keep spices in there, but my commonly used spices are in magnetized containers that are on the side of my refrigerator, next to the stove. 😉
Julie you have such clever ideas for small spaces…I have problems with larger spaces and I think it is because I don’t like to get rid of anything. And I need to let go. Thanks for stopping by.
Kari, I am impressed. Great job. I long to be organized, but I am not doing anything to get there.
Believe me Pam, I have so much more unorganized than I have organized. My office door stays closed when company is over for that very reason. For me it was easier to work on my spices than dig into the mounds of paperwork, stacks of dinnerware, baskets of faux flowers and greenery, etc that is stashed in my office. LOL And I haven’t even mentioned our messy garage. I have a friend whose garage floor is neat and clean enough to eat on…mine is just full of clutter, etc. Oh well, baby steps. Blessings my friend.
I’m very impressed. I need to do this.
Bonnie It was really a simple arrangement but now I have to re-organize the cabinet the spices used to be in. LOL
Wow! Organization! Well done!
thanks Nancy….have a great and glorious day my friend
LOL Kari, you have too much time on your hands. Tell The Captain happy Father’s Day.
Love you, kiddo!
Happy Sunday Sandy…I wish I was this organized in my office and our garage. Here in Florida we have no basements and so people rarely park their cars in their garages…we store stuff there and ours really needs some organization. However, I don’t think it will be me. Probably my kids when we are gone will just toss it. LOL. but my spices will be organized. Hugs
Happy Father’s Day to Ron too…The Captain is flying but I will pass along your wishes to him. Have a Blessed day my dear friend.
I will tell Ron. You also have a blessed day dear one.
Wow Kari, you are organized now! Great job!
Jenna, I wish I was that organized in other areas. LOL Believe it or not, my Bible study ladies helped me organize all my tablecloths a few weeks ago. That was so wonderful as they refolded every single one of them! I am so Blessed. AND now I can find my spices too. LOL