Organizing Your Kitchen Spices
Kitchen spices organization; Options of jars and containers; Finding the perfect location; Labeling options for your jars; How you much you can save money
Don’t you just love to search for a specific spice when you are cooking? Said no one ever! It’s so much more motivating to cook when all your tools and ingredients are in order. In my case, everything absolutely has to be organized and in its place in order for me to cook comfortably. I hate looking for ingredients, especially spices…
Spices can be overwhelming to organize though… There are so many different types of spices… Some are in bottle while others are in bags… On top of that, we all store and use them differently… Let’s have a look at some options to achieve organized spices and help you determine what would work best for you.
Determine what you categories as spices
This may seem silly and unnecessary for some but I feel it’s something you may want to consider doing before diving into this organization project. It’s not so much what you consider spices but what you like to store with your spices.
Some people like having their oils (olive oil, coconut oil, etc) with their spices all in one designated area in their kitchen. Others like to have baking supplies with their spices or powdered broths. Anyway, I think you get the idea. Determine what works best for you first and foremost.
I personally like to have some smaller baking supplies (vanilla, cinnamon, etc.) with my spices and keep cooking oils in our pantry. Since they are different from my spices, I have stored them in a small basket to contain this category of baking supplies.
One specific location for spices
Once you’ve determined what items you would like to have with your spices, I suggest you gather them all together on your counter top. This will give you a visual idea as to what you have and how much of it you have. You will then be able to assess where would be the best place to store it all.
- Do you want your spices in your pantry?
- Do you want your spices in a cupboard close to your stove?
- Would you prefer to have them in a lower or higher cabinet or drawer?
Quick Tip: Since everything is out, it’s your chance to go through it all and look and see if you spices are all still good or if they have expired.
Spice bottle types
Now to choose the bottles to keep your spices in. Most people usually have different sized bottles and bags for their spices from buying them at different stores throughout the years. Because spices are in different formats it’s usually why we buy doubles of some and eventually waste them because they expire by the time we actually use them. It’s hard for the eye to look for something specific when there is no consistency. Choosing a consistent bottle type for all of your spices is key.
Choosing a bottle type is one thing, but finding a kind that is budget friendly can be hard. The challenge is that you will need more than just one bottle to accomodate all of your spices. Because you will need many bottles or containers, finding a good deal is almost a must. Here are some spice bottle options.
Plastic spice jars
Dollorama
When I organized my spices, I used jars I found at Dollorama. They were actually craft jars. They came in a pack of 5 for $3.00 I believe. Depending on what you are looking for, a dollar store may have some great options for you.
Glass spice jars
These are only a few I pulled together. As you can see there are different types and shapes. The size of bottle or jar will be determined by where you want them all to be positioned within your kitchen.
While you are at it, you may want to make sure you have the proper tools to fill your spice bottles. I used a small silicone colander to do mine. It makes the process easier and not as messy.
You probably noticed that some options on Amazon have labels included which I think is pretty awesome (as long as they are your style). If the bottles you like don’t have the types of labels you like, here are some options.
Labeling your spice jars
Or you can print them yourself, like I did, with a label maker. This is the label maker that I use. It’s a reasonable price as is but if you are interested, wait because it’s on special often at around $20.
Arranging your spice bottles
Depending on the space you chose to store all of your spices, you will now have to determine how you want to display them.
- Do you want to display them in alphabetical order?
- Would you rather have the most used spices in front and the others ones in the back?
- Would you like to have the ones in the back in bigger bottles so you can see them at a glance without having to take out everything in front?
- Or even better yet, would you rather have all your jars the same on a thiered display?
Determine the look and feel you would like the most. Looking up ideas on Pinterest may guide you a little. What ever you do, try to have a plan before you purchase all your containers. If you need to measure, than do so. I would certainly not want you to have invested money in products that you won’t be able to use.
I chose to organize mine in alphabetical order to make them easier to find.
Since I use salt and pepper on a daily basis when cooking, I chose to store them in their own section in our spice cupboard. It makes it easier to keep track of what I have on hand.
Overstock of organized spices
It can be a little complicated to find bottles that will accommodate any amount of spices you have so don’t fret over that. Choose the bottle you like and fill it up as much as you can. You still have some left over in your bag or old bottle? Keep an “overstock” basket or container for your spices.
If you happen to empty your new bottle, you can check in your overstock basket to see if you have more. If you do, great! If you don’t, then you can add it to your grocery list.
I even created a “BBQ” basket that we can pull out when we are cooking on the barbecue in the summer time. It’s very convenient and practical.
Using tools to maximize space
I don’t know if you’ve noticed but in our spice cabinet, I used a shelf organizer to stack my spice bottles. That way, I can see the ones that are in the back easier and I love it!
Bonus: Keep in mind that if you shop for these organizing tools at BedBath & Beyond that you can use a 20% off coupon if you’ve subscribed to their emails.
Here’s a beautiful option I’ve seen at WalMart not too long ago. It’s extendable which I think is amazing!
Try to think outside the box when it comes to organizing. You don’t have to just used your spice bottles to organize. You may want to use other items to make it practical and pretty.
Buying in bulk
Now, you’ve organized your spices! It looks great!
One of the many perks of having organized spices is that now, you will save money. Here is how:
- You clearly see all the spices that you have so you will most likely not be buying doubles.
- Bottled spices are more expensive than bagged ones so now that all your spices are in jars, no need to buy the expensive option.
- Better than that, when you need to refill your spice jars, you can buy your spices at a bulk store. Bring your empty (cleaned) jar and fill it up at a place like Bulk Barn for instance.
I hope you now see this organization project as less overwhelming and possibly motivating. It can be done, I assure you. Once you project is complete, you will be able to open you spice cabinet without fear of anything falling out and subtly being able to “show off” your hard work.
If you choose to undertake this project, let me know in the comments below and share pictures. I’d love to see what you’ve done 🙂
