A New Spice Cabinet Set Up
For several years I’ve wanted one of those beautiful drawers full of spices in my kitchen. You know the ones we see in those beautiful kitchens on social media where the large, rectangular drawer opens with layers of beautifully shelved and organized spice jars, labelled alphabetically to showcase an array of colorful dried herbs and spices. Oils and vinegars are decanted into hand-wash-only jars with brass lids and delicately placed on a couple marble Lazy Susan’s in the adjacent drawer or countertop above. It’s a glamourous concept and I love that! I wanted so badly to have a very similar set up in our home but once we moved in and unpacked, I knew we needed more than just a drawer to hold my beloved spices, herbs, extracts, and flavorings. I’m a lover of all things organization so this was such a fun project to do! I’m sure there’s someone out there who is going to find an entire cabinet devoted to spices unnecessary and I’m equally sure there is someone out there who is going to think this same space isn’t nearly enough. We all have different approaches to our lifestyle, and we know what works for us. With that said, there are a couple reasons I chose to make a dedicated space just for my spices, herbs, and extracts:
1. I have been living on my own since the age of 18 and have moved around quite a bit. I’ve lived in places with tiny kitchens to places with much larger kitchens which means I’ve tried every organizational method possible when it comes to storing spices. I’ve had a spice rack, a shelf above the oven, shelves mounted on the inside of cabinet doors, magnetic wall jars from Ikea, and even the organized Lazy Susan with glass jars full of herbs and spices. None of these options were ever easy to store, keep clean or organized.
2. My husband and I prefer to eat nearly all our meals at home. We find it healthier and we also truly enjoy cooking. Our favorite meals are full of flavor, seasoning and use a generous amount of spice. This has caused our pantry and ingredients to grow (definitely not a complaint) but that does require more space. After we recently upgraded our pantry, we realized it would be most efficient in our kitchen to dedicate one cabinet to our spices, herbs and main cooking ingredients like oils, vinegars, honey along with my extracts and flavorings for baking.
I spend a lot of time in the kitchen between cooking every day to testing out recipes and baking cookie sandwiches for orders. Keeping the kitchen neat, clean, and well organized is extremely important to me and keeping these ingredients near the stovetop and centrally located in the kitchen has been helpful and is proving to be a solid solution. Below I am sharing the items I purchased for this project.
Here's a look at the 'before' and 'after'
Here's what I've included in this spice cabinet upgrade:
1. These 6oz Glass Bottles with Lid
I purchased two sets of these which provided enough jars for the spices I had as well as for the labels that I purchased to go with them. Each set has 36 jars so these were a great price for that amount! I like that they are glass and hold 6 ounces which is quite a bit for spice jars. They are great quality, easy to clean and stack well. I liked that these jars didn’t have a sprinkle top and the open mouth easily fits a measuring spoon inside. If you’re like me and just shake the spice on until it “feels right”-these are perfect!
These spice labels are such a great deal! You get 146 labels in each pack, including blank ones for any specific or oddball items/spices you may have. They are easy to apply and you can easily clean them. A win-win. I appreciate that they are offered in a variety of shapes and there are labels available for other organizational needs as well.
3. This 3-Tiered Cabinet Shelf Organizer by Joseph Joseph
I shopped around quite a bit for tiered shelving because I knew if I was going to maintain an organized display, I would need these but others were not as wide or they weren’t going to be able to hold enough jars. This shelf is amazing because it is expandable! It is easy to disinfect and clean which is a major plus for me!
4. These non-skid 12-Inch Lazy Susans
These were an easy choice to fit my flavorings, extracts, oils, and vinegars into the cabinet in an efficient way that kept them clean and neat. They are durable and easy to clean as well.
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Overall, I am pleased with how this little kitchen project turned out. We’ve had our ‘spice cabinet’ setup for about two months now and it has been the simplest way of storing spices I’ve ever attempted. It has made cooking meals so much easier as everything is accessible in one place. It’s very easy to see someone else’s kitchen or even reflect on the kitchen we grew up with and go in with the idea that it must be arranged a certain way and that is not the case. I’ve learned while managing a home bakery as well as my own home that the kitchen can be beautifully functional to meet my needs. I will always choose practical over perfect any day and it has served me well.