Monday, September 28, 2015

Our Storage Solution for Organizing and 

Storing Herbs & Spices


At our last home, like most folks, I stored my herbs and spices in a cupboard by the stove.  The problems I had with doing that was:

1.  Difficult to find the spice or herb I needed.
2.  The cabinet was too small and "overfilled".
3.  Constantly had move jars and re-arrange.
4.  The cabinet was too close to the stove.  
     (Herbs and spices should be stored in a cool, dry and dark area.)
5. The cabinet was difficult to keep organized.

I purchased a lot of items I thought would help improve my dilemma like those stepped spice storage shelfs. While they worked for the small jars, they did not fit the large jars so I made my own "stepped" spice rack for the cupboard that really did nothing more than lift the containers up but still forced me remove the jars and stepped plastic shelves to get to the spice jars behind them!

 That absolutely drove me crazy.  I was so limited on storage and cabinet space, I did not have much choice.  When we decided to build the new homestead, I made a detailed list of things the new house had to accommodate in a more "user friendly" manner.   Spice storage was on that list!


Here is my solution to my Spice & Herb Storage Issue: 
We built and added this spice storage rack inside one of my new pantry doors - 
What an improvement!  

I organized the herbs and spices by color instead of alphabetically.  
I just find it easier to find them this way.

Spices and herbs I rarely use, I keep on the bottom tiers.



Here is a close up of the spice shelf that we attached to a stain grade piece of 
plywood which is glued to the plywood and then screwed from behind & then
screwed securely into the pantry door.  


   For the spice jars, I wanted everything to match, so I purchased these 
wonderful Weck Jars to store my spices and herbs in.  They fit beautifully without
worry they could fall out.

On our pantry door, we measured the space inside the door handle 
and from where I wanted the top and bottom of the spice rack and cut the plywood to those 
dimensions.

We bought the spice shelves from IKEA 
(Here is the link to them: IKEA Spice Shelf )

We put the spice shelves together, wood glued and screwed them to the plywood, 
stained the plywood and spice shelves and after they were dry,
we screwed them to the inside of the pantry door.

Having my herbs and spices finally organized and easily accessible has really
made meal making so much more enjoyable - I actually know what I am low on and I
know which ones need to be replaced.  

Organizing the spices have really increased the time 
spent on getting dinner on the table!

Do you have this same kind of issue with your spice storage?  
If so, this may be a solution that could work for you!

As Always,
Thank you for your support &
for
Stopping By!

Lori
Back to Basics Gal







3 comments:

  1. That is fantastic! I love how you have them organized so you can find them quicker. What a great idea. We are planning to put new cabinets and counters in my kitchen in the next few months. I may try to incorporate this idea into my new pantry. I have a couple spice holders I got from Pampered Chef and they are great but they take up counter space. This idea would sure give me back my counter space! Thanks for sharing your idea.

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    Replies
    1. Hi 2leelou, I will be posting a couple of more pictures of things we made that really helped with organization as well as saving counter space you may like. It is surprising how adding little things like this saves so much space and keeps things neatly organized and saves so much time. I will let you know when I get them posted. Thanks for stopping by!

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  2. What size jars did you purchase? I love this idea!!

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