10 Storage Ideas for Spices - Organising My Home

I like organising but sometimes I just don't have the proper space or storage container to suit my needs.

Spice storage is something I have had to think about each time we have moved house and I have to say that I looke at many different storage ideas for my spices over the years and have used a few different types.

So when we were getting a new kitchen put in to our present home I again had the opportunity to look at storage for my spices.

So when we were getting a new kitchen put in to our present home I again had the opportunity to look at storage for my spices again.

This time I was going to have a larder / pantry for the first time since we bought our first home and we were designing it as a walk-in pantry (although we would not be able to walk in too far as we were determined to get all the shelf space possible fitted in.

Because we were having full say as to what drawers, cupboards shelving etc. we would have in the kitchen I was open to storing my spices in various ways so here are 10 storage ideas I looked at for my spices.

10 Storage Ideas for Spices

1.  Drawer Storage for Spices

I was keen to have sets of long drawers with a mixture of shallow and deep.

However I never have more than about 15 herbs and spices so this would have been too large for me but oh how accessible all my jars would have been.

Omega National Spice Drawer Insert

2.  Lighter Drawer Storage for Spices

Then also I was interested in having pull out shelving which is a bit like drawers so I thought this type might be good.

This is narrower so would fit better in those 50 mm or 60 mm cupboards where I was going to have the pull out shelving but in the end the cupboard I did allocate for one of these ended up having to be less deep (front to back) because of extra piping etc. needed behind it.

mDesign Adjustable, Expandable Plastic Spice Rack, Drawer Organizer for Kitchen Cabinet Drawers

3.  Worktop Storage for Spices

Some of my worktop space was going to be deeper out from the wall so I considered allowing some of my worktop space to be used for the spices.

Again very accessible for quick grabbing but in the end we decided we would have enough on the worktops and did not really want to have this type of metal storage which would take a lot of cleaning.

3 Tier Standing Spice Rack

4.  Rotating Storage for Spices on the Worktop

I am extremely fond of things being easily "got at" so definitely I would have been interested in looking at rotating storage for nearly anything.

However again the thought of having to clean this on regularly stopped us taking up the worktop space with this.

Kamenstein 30020 Revolving 20-Jar Countertop Spice Rack Tower Organizer with Free Spice Refills for 5 Years

5.  Rotating Storage for Spices on a Cupboard Shelf

In a cupboard this type of storage can not normally be as high as we could have it on a worktop so this was an option.

It definitely was an option for us because I do like rotating storage to make it easy to grab things and I had been planning to put three other rotating storage items in my new larder but when we checked the measurements again we would not be able to fit them all in.

X-cosrack 2-tier Lazy Susan Turntable 10inch Bamboo Spinning Spice Rack

6.  Wall Storage for Spices

Do to the layout of the new kitchen there wasn't going to be a section where we could have some wall space clear that could be used for  mounting some form of open shelving or racks.

If I had been able to consider wall storage this quite simple metal rack would have been very interesting.

mDesign Metal Wall Mount Kitchen Spice Rack

7.  Cupboard Door Storage for Spices

We would have our long larder / pantry door and several other smaller cupboard doors that could be used for extra storage space on the inside.

This was then a thought for a while but in the end we decided that we would rather not have jars knocking together as we opened the door every time we wanted anything within the cupboard let alone the spices themselves.

Spice Storage Rack Organizer Pantry Door

8.  Cupboard Shelf  -  Plastic Storage for Spices

Now in the end we knew that we really wanted to keep our herbs and spices inside our new larder basically to have most if not all the food stored together.

The place we knew we would have room was along the wall on the shelf behind the 3 rotating storage containers as otherwise there would just be wasted space there.

It would have to be free standing or something easily attached to the wall of the larder.

First I looked at plastic versions.

Prodyne A-845 Spice Rack, 20 Bottle

9.  Cupboard Shelf  -  Wooden Storage for Spices

Then I looked at wooden versions.

But most of them seemed to sit out a distance from the back of a shelf and I didn't want to lose too much of my shelf depth.

2-Tier Wooden Rack Seasoning Shelf Spice Rack Shelf Space-Saving Multifunctional

10.  Cupboard Shelf  -  Metal Storage for Spices

Then I looked at metal versions.

I am quite partial to black metal and had already ordered two items for another part of the kitchen that were black metal so I felt drawn towards something like those and this is what I found.

So I had my solution and I believe it ended up being the cheapest of all the ones considered so that was an added bonus.
 
Who doesn't like to save a bit of money?

Scroll Wall-Mounted, Traditional Spice Rack 

The one I got was even cheaper than this one but when I went back to get the picture and name of it I found it was no longer available in Amazon.   However to me they look exactly the same.

Although this one states wall mounted, so did mine but it does sit perfectly on my shelf and I have never bothered to attach it to the back of my larder.

This is mine below, all full up and sitting in my pantry / larder.

I do like my decision and in fact I like it so much that I'm now trying to get another one to match it to put beside it to the left where I have some more space and I could store my other small jars and bottles of things for baking etc.  but because it doesn't seem to be available anymore I may just have to get the one shown here as the dimensions are the same.

Although this one states wall mounted and so did mine it does sit on my shelf and I have never bothered to attach it to the back of my larder.

Thinking of redoing your kitchen, or adding some extra storage then why not pin this for later.

Top 10 things I Do Each Day to NOT Keep a Tidy Home

Notice I DID write NOT keep a TIDY Home

AND

This was not a mistake

So here are my very simple honest


 Top 10 Things I Do Each Day to NOT Keep a Tidy House 


1.     Set my alarm and then repeatedly hit snooze

2.     Open the Post and throw it on the table

3.     Go right from breakfast to the computer before filling the dishwasher

4.     Do not read my Todo list until the afternoon

5.     Go through Social Media before lunch


6.     Set my timer, ignore and then set it again

7.     Last thing at night - say I'm going to turn off the lamp and clear the living room - then an hour later......

8.     Say to myself - I can fit some more paper in that waste paper bin in my study but no it overflows on to the floor instead.

9.     Go to check the washings in the Utility room but get waylaid by the draw of a cup of coffee and then forget what I was going to do and end up back at the computer with my coffee mug.

10.    Any other form of procrastination I can think of at any time of the day.

Why don't I keep my home tidy?

I know I sort of filed this in my mind as part of  Coffee & Conversation  because it is one of my short chatty posts but perhaps it actually falls under the category of  Home Organising as illustrated above because let's face it there wasn't actually any housework was there!

Or perhaps it truly belongs under the category of 10 Things because I like numbers

You can choose for yourself where you think it belongs.

The Best thing for Bare Walls - Organising My Home

Disclaimer:
I did / will not benefit in any way from this post

No matter where we have lived "Bare Walls" have always been a bit of a problem for me.

Fred & I have lived in several houses during our 40 year marriage and we have never been the type of people to immediately decorate any of them and get those family pictures or any pictures up on the walls simply because I (yes I do take the blame for this) can never make up my mind exactly what I want and where I want it.

Sometimes like in this house I have had little ideas each year but haven't even put all of those into effect until months or years later, if at all.  Of course it doesn't help that when you have been married for so long and lived in different countries or even just different houses, you have ended up with loads of items that you can use to decorate your home.

Through the 7 years in our present home I have taken different times to declutter my boxes of ornaments and other decor and have not missed having them around the home but have also gained a few things which I really wanted to have up on display (one of which you will see below).

This is a beautiful wall hanging given to us as a gift from the Korean parents of our son-in-law Pildu (Stephen). 

As soon as I saw it I thought about where would be just the right place to put it and could not make up my mind.  One spot in my hall was a bit too narrow to house it and another was far too wide for it.

Then just before Christmas when we were making up the bed in the guest room for Linda and Stephen to come home for their first Christmas with us I realised the perfect place to hang the gift was in the guest room.

The only other thing up on any of the walls was a large painting over the head of the bed.

So with a large painting on one wall,  two windows which take up most of another wall and a third wall completely covered with built in wardrobes that just left the wall opposite the window which has the door to the hall at one end and the door into the ensuite at the other end leaving just a nice size of wall in between to be perfect for the new wall hanging.


It was a brick wall.

My husband has drills and bits and plugs and always used them to put things up but this was so lightweight that he didn't feel like getting out the drill and having a large hook or nail up so he grabbed his new gadget called the Takker and we set to work which took so little time and effort.

I of course said "hold on I need to get my phone" at one stage, not because I heard it ringing or wanted to make a call but he knew immediately I wanted to take pictures for the blog.

Not only did I take pictures but I took some very short videos as well.

There are two types of Takker.       

UPDATE Or Instanhang as it has now been renamed.


One drills a small hole and the other doesn't - I'll write another blog post sometime about how we have used it as well.


The one we needed for this job was the one that drills a hole but it's not a large drill and it doesn't plug in or work by battery.

You do it by hand and it is so easy.

The instructions are clearly printed and illustrated on one sheet of paper for ease of use.

On the centre of the flat edge you can see the drill bit neatly inside, 

not protruding to catch on anything.

After marking the place for your hook or "Tack" to go to hold your object you simply line up this centre drill section with the mark and drill by hand - see the video below

When the hole is drilled, the "Tack" needs to be inserted and the red part along the curved handle is the hiding place for the Takker Tacks

Just pull the red part open and you can easily lift out the tack.

The Tack is placed into the round hole on the side of the Takker.

Then you can see in the video just how easy it is to insert into the wall

Now when I first saw the Takker and asked my husband what he thought of it he was quite interested but then said "Probably a hassle to get more tacks for it."

To which we quickly saw that quite a few tacks came with it and also some other larger hooks to fit over the tacks to hang other things.

Then also more Tacks can be bought in separate packs.

So far we have only used tacks for each thing we have hung up but I'm sure we will use the other hooks later.

So I put all of the tacks and hooks from both Takkers into a plastic storage box which is about the same size as the Takker Drill and now everything can be easily stored together in a small crate.


Also in the box you can see part of the other Takker  which is used instead of hammering a nail into your wall for small and light pictures etc.

This should mean as well as being easy to use it is easy to bring out and put away so that we do not put off the jobs we can now do more quickly & easily.

Now back to the Korean Wall Hanging.

It is very light and easily hangs on the one tack which you can hardly see in the picture below under the ribbon.

This means that it is hardly noticeable on the wall of the Guest Room and just leaves the beautiful hanging to be admired.

Having bought the Takker a few months before Christmas we realised we had now had the idea for a great, useful and appropriate gift for our second son who moved into a new house a few months previously.  So although we may have had a strange look from him when he opened his gift on Christmas Day because he had no idea what we had bought him; now has made good use of it in his home too.


You can also see how I have recommended the Takkers in my post
  10 Gift Ideas for the Men in your Life

Disclaimer:
I did / will not benefit in any way from this post