How to Organize Spices

Looking for the best way to organize your spice cabinet? Find out how to organize spices efficiently and beautifully!

I’m a little embarrassed to admit the absurd amount of pleasure I get from opening my spice cabinet and seeing this spice organization… But organized spices make me giddy! (Which, I realize, might make me slightly neurotic… Please tell me I’m not alone!)

And if you’re like me and have lots of littles at home this summer (or if you’re finding this post in January and you’re ready to get your kitchen organized for the new year!), this is such a great little organization project because it’s quick, easy, and makes your kitchen or pantry so much more functional. Give yourself an empty kitchen counter and about an hour, and you can get your spice cabinet organized, too!

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Supplies to organize your spice cabinet:

• small spice bottles (or other uniform glass jars)
• large spice bottles
• kitchen funnels (if your spice jar set doesn’t come with one)
• label maker

Note: you will want to make sure your spice jars make the most use of your cabinet space. If your shelf is 5″ deep, then try to find a combo of bottles that adds up to as close to 5″ as possible so you aren’t wasting space. My spice racks are just ~4.5″ deep, so the combo of these small bottles (which are ~1.8″ square) and these large bottles (~2.5″ square) were just perfect.

How to organize spices:

1. Take everything out of your spice cabinet (or drawer or cupboard or shelf… wherever you store spices!) and spread out on a countertop or table
2. Clean your spice cabinet
3. Combine if you have multiple bottles/jars of the same spices or herbs
4. Sort into things you buy in large quantities (i.e. salt) vs. things you buy in small quantities (i.e. ground ginger)
5. Label your uniform jars on the front (and possibly the top of the lids, as well, if you can see the top from your cabinet or drawer)
6. Use a funnel (or – my favorite little trick – a piece of paper rolled up as a funnel) to transfer your spices into the large jars or the small jars (based on the organizing you did in step 3)
7. Sort spices by how often you use them or by category (such as baking spices, savory spices, etc.)
8. Replace spices into your cabinet, drawer, or shelf with the most frequently used ones most accessible

More ideas for organized spice jars:

The best storage solution is the one that works for the space you have… So consider these other ideas to help you find your perfect spice storage!

Measuring spoons for spice jars

The larger bottles I bought do not have shaker tops. I don’t mind at all as I don’t really need them and this allows me not to have to remove the shaker top when I need to measure out a certain amount. I have these beautiful measuring spoons, and all but the largest fits into the jar opening. I also love these copper measuring spoons because I think the elongated shape might allow all of them to fit into the larger spice jar openings.

Spice cabinet organizers

While I have a spice pull out by my stove and an extra caddy for portability (you can see more about that here), if you need to store your spices in a cabinet, you might consider a spice cabinet organizer like this to help you store multiple tiers of spices or a caddy that lifts out for portability and access.

Spice drawer tension rod trick

And if you need to store them in a kitchen drawer, then I love the diy tension rod trick. Instead of custom drawer inserts, use tension rods like these to divide your drawers and even to lean the spice jars against to make the labels easier to read.

Lazy Susan

If you store your spices in a pantry or upper cupboard, try a lazy susan like this to allow for easy access.

Airtight Containers

UPDATE: I liked our spice collections so much that I put a very similar system in at our ranch kitchen. I’ve had some readers with concerns about the spices being stored near the oven (because heat and humidity can cause clumping, etc.). But I have found that with solid, airtight containers, my spices remain fresh and flavorful and moisture hasn’t been a problem.

More kitchen organizing ideas:

For more kitchen organizing ideas, see my tips for a functional kitchen here. And for more details on our kitchen, see this post about our remodel or shop the look below!

GET THE LOOK:

Don’t forget to pin it!