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If you love cooking, you know how important spice organization is. Well, we’re about to spice up your spice organization game! 😉
There are 3 areas of a kitchen that make the most sense for organizing your spices – in order of popularity:
- Cabinets
- Drawers
- Countertop
There’s nothing better than having easy access to all spices when you’re in the middle of a recipe. Gone are the days of moving 10 spices out of the way to get to the one. These ideas will make sure you’re set up for success in the kitchen!
Spice Organization for Cabinets
The spices are stored in the cabinets directly next to the stove in my home. There’s no need to make yourself walk across the entire kitchen for your spices.
I’m a HUGE fan of the Lazy Susan approach. It doesn’t get much easier to find your spices. When your spices are all in a row, you can’t see what’s behind it. With a Lazy Susan, just spin until you find what you need!
I use one for cooking spices, and one for baking spices (cinnamon, cocoa powder, etc). This has been a complete game-changer when I’m cooking!
Spice Organization for Drawer
Have you ever thought about having a spice drawer? Spice storage in a drawer just makes so much dang sense.
The concept is ingenious – lay all spices down with their label facing up. This way you have a view of ALL spices as soon as you open the drawer.
Spice drawer organization will rely heavily on one important thing: you have a drawer that you can dedicate to spices.
Unfortunately in my case, my kitchen does not have a lot of storage, so I can’t afford to give up a drawer specifically for spices. But if I did…I would 100% go with a tiered spice rack drawer organizer!
As you can see from these few products, all spices are facing up with their labels easy-to-read, ready to make your meal *chef kiss*.
Spice Organization for Counter
If you don’t have the cabinet or drawer space, don’t fret!
The countertop also makes for a perfect place to showcase your spices, and show off the true chef you are like “Yes I need to keep my spices out because I’m always using them!” 😏
Of all the accessible ideas, this one puts your spices literally right next to your cooking area. Plus there are a lot of really pretty organizers out there ready to be ooo-ed and ahh-ed at by your guests.
You can include cute spice organizers as part of your countertop decor!
Since this idea requires you to display your spices, you will want them to look nice and uniform. You may see some people buy spice jars with labels that all look similar. This idea is great for those that want this look, but you can also achieve this look by buying the same brand spices.
Remember, the goal with spice organization on the countertop is to make it look as nice as it is functional! You definitely don’t want to accidentally clutter your kitchen with this option.
How do you organize spices by category?
We’re going for ease of use for the person bringing the flavor (YOU), so this may depend a lot on how you’re using the spices while cooking.
There are really three ways to organize your spices.
1. Cooking vs Baking
I personally like to separate my spices by cooking spices and baking spices. I would consider cooking spices to be things like chili powder, cumin, paprika, or any type of seasonings, while baking spices are more like cinnamon, sugar, cocoa powders, etc.
2. Organize By Use
If you have a tiered shelf, it would make the most sense to put the spices you use the most in the front. That way you don’t have to constantly shift things around.
3. Organize Alphabetically
You can also organize alphabetically if that helps you remember exactly where to go when you’re looking for something specific. Since we currently have a couple of different brands of spices, I organize one brand alphabetically to make it easier to find as you can see below!
Do you have different brands of spices? Our family loves Penzeys Spices, so we seem to always be gifted these every once in a while. Group your spices together by brand, with the intention in the future to stick with one brand for a uniform look!
How to Organize Your Spice Cabinet or Drawer
Here’s a quick little how-to so that you can move your spices into their new, organized home!
1. Remove All Spices and Clean
Take everything, and I mean everything, out of your cabinet or drawer. Take your go-to cleaning wipes and wipe down the surfaces. We all know that spices can get messy, especially when you have plenty of them, so a nice, much-needed wipe-down will be great to start with.
2. Insert Spice Organizer
Whether you are going with a Lazy Susan in the cabinet, or a tiered spice rack for your drawer, now is the time to set it up.
Be sure to set it up exactly how you want it because once you get all of your spices in there, chances are it will be a very long time before you change anything around.
3. Spice it Up!
Now it’s time to put all of those spices in their new, organized home! Remember, you can organize by use, alphabetically, or by cooking vs baking spices.
Organize to your liking so that you never have to question where a spice is again. For the most optimal organization:
- Keep them close to your cooking area
- Make sure they’re easy to access
- Make sure they’re easy to read
Happy spice, happy life!
Whether you have lots of kitchen storage or not, spice organization is important! These are the best ideas that will help make your life easier – you’ll never misplace a spice again.
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