Project organization: spices

Me: "I'm at Bed Bath and Beyond right now. I love this store. I want EVERYTHING!"
Best Friend: OMG. It's like an OCD person's crack house.

Truer words have never been spoken.

These past few days a weird case of "fall fever" hit me like a ton of bricks. I went on a rampage throughout my apartment, organizing drawers and my closet, getting rid of old clothes I don't wear anymore, and finally organizing all my spices.

You see, I have a TON of spices. In addition to an entire spice carousel, I have at least 30 or so additional spice jars that I keep in a lower cabinet in my kitchen. I used to keep my spices in a drawer in my old apartment but my new place doesn't have deep enough drawers. I prefer organizing spices this way vs. putting them in a cabinet as it is much easier to find what you need without having to dig around multiple rows of spices.

Before

The problem: all these mismatched jars that were strewn about in random places was NOT cooperating with my inner CDO.

Who wants to buy me this shirt?

So I finally decided to spend the long weekend organizing this ridiculous mess. Equipped with two expired $5 off coupons (for every $15 purchase), I went to BBandB and got me 35 spice jars. At $1 a pop I spent ~$25 for the whole lot (after saving $10 of course). Note: As much as silver-topped spice jars may look fancier at first, I do not like them at all. Over time they get blotchy and dingy looking. The plastic ones (either white or black caps) last much better.

I then made spice labels in powerpoint, printed them on sticker paper, cut them out, and affixed them to my new spice jars.

I managed to fit all the labels on a single page of sticker paper. Yea!

After that, all I had to do was place the spices in ALPHABETICAL ORDER (as they should be) in my roasting pan for easy access. Obviously a box or drawer is preferable to a roasting pan- but this is what I've been using temporarily.


After 

Can you believe how awesome this is?!? I could stare at this picture all day long. It just makes my insides happy!

As you see, I did keep a few spices in their original containers. Some were just because the original containers were so much larger (aka, seasoned salt, mint) and others were because I want to remember a particular brand for my spices (like my Hungarian paprika and my favorite steak grilling spice mix). But I still made custom labels for the few mismatched containers in powerpoint so that at least they can all (kinda) match.


Other than looking nice and pretty, the advantage of getting your own spice jars is that you can refill your spices in bulk from Whole Foods or a spice shop for literally pennies (or quarters). Much, much cheaper than paying $5 for a spice jar that is more than likely filled with an old, flavorless spice.


All in all, the project cost me $25 and took ~4-5 hours. (Note: this does not include going to BBandB and ogling all their amazing kitchen and organizational items. That was at least another hour.) But think of all the time I'll save finding exactly which spice I'll need for a recipe. And think of all the happiness that awaits me every time I open up my cabinet to see this beautiful sight!!

Putting the spices on a metal rack allows me to maximize my cabinet storage space

Yours in letting our her OCD CDO,
Jacqueline

Comments

  1. Who wants to buy me this shirt?
    LOL!!!
    What size and where do I send it? Afraid I'm going to get one for myself... LOL

    ReplyDelete

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