My spice cabinet was a mess! It had been ravaged during the holidays when we needed ingredients that aren't always used year round. Some baking supplies had been mixed in and some bulk spices were still in bags instead of bottles. I wish I had taken a before picture but the disorder started spilling out to the counter below because no one wanted to deal with it. I have a small galley style kitchen and I need all the counter space I can get.
My husband and I removed everything from the cabinet, cleaned them thoroughly and covered the shelves in contact paper. We also cleaned all the bottles, some of which were very sticky with disuse. We checked dates and smelled older spices and discarded many items. I found a couple of duplicate spices that I was able to either combine or move the extra to our garage pantry. I had recently purchased little spice sized Mason jars so I put any loose spices in those or a pint sized jar, with a label.
Then we put it all back together in a more organized way. The savory herbs and spices were on the left hand side, largest to the back. Extracts and spices for baking (like cinnamon or nutmeg) are on the right hand side. More regularly used spices are in the metal spice rack that is right under the cabinet. The top shelf contains oils, vinegars and other cooking condiments like Worcestershire or fish sauce. Everything fits and the countertop is clear, except for salt and pepper and a crock of wooden spoons.
This cabinet and counter is to the left of my stove. To the right, we keep a hot water kettle, a toaster and our Soda Stream (which is too tall to go many places) on the counter. Above that, we cleaned and reorganized the cabinet in a similar way, keeping tea, coffee and carbonated flavorings handy. It's so much easier to find things in these cabinets now. I plan to work on my dish and cookware cupboards next.
This looks much more organized! I have the same type of narrow cabinet as Jess does. I like the metal rack you installed below.
I also had purchased two lazy Susan's.
Thanks! A lazy Susan would be a great idea for the countertop. Being a short woman, I have a lot of trouble accessing the bottles on the top shelf. It would be nice to move a few of these down so I can get them easily.
I used to keep my spices in magnetic containers. I would store them on the fridge or on metal that I attached to the wall near the spice cabinet. I had the worst luck with knocking them off and having the lid open when it hit the ground or the countertop.
I'm now trying to use up a few random items that I unearthed in my organizing. I had two little bottles of turmeric that were still unopened. I guess I better make some Indian food soon. :)
