For the longest time, we kept our herbs and spices in a top cabinet within easy reach of the range. It functioned moderately well, but rummaging through the bottles and packets while cooking was not ideal. Occasionally, we purchased a box of cinnamon or a bottle of turmeric just to find a full one hiding somewhere in the back. Sometimes, we buy refill packets that just won’t stand upright and make a dusty mess.
This is how the shelves looked after most of the spices were already cleared out, not even close to the mess they used to be.
Our daughter Daniella loves to cook, and this unorganized situation was getting on her nerves too. When she visited over the holidays, she decided enough was enough and ordered spice jars from Amazon.
She knew proper spice jars with pretty labels were on my to-do list, so she labeled them temporarily with the black paper labels that were included. The jars also came with a handy collapsable funnel, making filling the jars a breeze.
To easily read the labels, the jars went in the utensil drawer (another mess that needs to be organized).
Using Free Material to Build a Handy Solution
Recently, I showed how I replaced our over-the-range microwave oven with a custom range hood.
That required removing this free-standing box that covered the insulation and vent inside the cabinet above the range.
Its only purpose was to cover the insulation and electrical outlet. This three-sided cover took up so much space that we couldn’t really use the cabinet for anything else.
Since it matched the insides of all the other cabinets and drawers, it would be a waste just to throw it away! What could I use it for? Extra shelves? No. Cutlery dividers? Maybe. A spice drawer organizer? Yes!
Planning a Basic Design
It took me a while to remove all the nails and clean off all the glue, but I was determined to put this free material to good use.
First, I had to find a drawer for the spices and a new organizer. To the left of our big utensil drawer are two small drawers, both filled with nonsense! The infamous junk drawer times two! This was the perfect opportunity to reduce the junk to just one drawer.
Speaking of junk, do you know how many golf balls we have picked up in our small yard over the last four years? Almost a small drawer full! I have no idea why we hoarded them in the first place since none of us even play golf…
After a bit of purging, I had one drawer cleared out, and it’s the perfect size to fit all the spice jars.
The drawer is 14 inches wide and deep enough for four rows of spice jars lying down.
Building the Spice Drawer Organizer
I began by cutting all three pieces down to 14 inches.
From that, I needed to cut eight strips, four strips as the base of each row and four as risers to lift each row.
I made each base piece five inches wide. Four and a quarter inches to be the same height as the jars, plus 3/4 of an inch (the thickness of the material) to be overlapped by the riser of the next row.
I used wood glue and brad nails to attach all the rows and risers together. This created four tiers, with the first three risers serving as a footing for the jars to rest on.
I filled all the nail holes and chips with wood filler, which wasn’t a perfect color match and made it look a bit ugly and “rough around the edges.” Nothing a little paint can’t fix.
Much better, don’t you think?
Organizing the Spice Drawer
We originally had 24 jars, but the drawer had enough space for 32.
I ordered more jars as well as printed labels. Amazon and Etsy both have a variety of label designs to choose from.
The labels came with a few ideas for herbs and spices we didn’t have, so we just added some fresh flavors to the shopping list. I tried to group them together in “families,” like a row of chilies and peppers, a row of desert spices, a row of herbs, and so on. So far, it seems to make sense to everyone.
Have you noticed my big faux pas yet? Sigh…
Sometimes I am anal about getting the small things perfect, and sometimes I stick labels on jars, all willy-nilly, not giving one thought to lining them up perfectly.
Do I care enough to redo the whole lot? Nope, good enough will do.
I have to mention, in my defense, that the front row looks extra crooked because the far left and far right jars are pushed up slightly by the brackets, keeping the drawer together!
A Useful Tip
Do you ever check the “best-before” date on your spices? They never go bad, but they do lose their flavor over time. Obviously, dispensing them into glass jars makes that impossible, but Stephen, my husband, came up with a very clever plan.
Before throwing out the original packaging, he writes the best-before date on the bottom of each jar with a permanent marker. The only trick is to remember to change the date when you refill something. That’s not my strong suit, but he always remembers to do it!
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