A lot of us at Clear-Coat like to cook, and if you do too I’m sure you’ve run in to this same problem: after amassing dozens of different spices – some in jars, some in bottles, some in bags, and some in vials – it’s nearly impossible to keep them organized and easily accessible. I’ve run the gamut with counter top solutions (carousel style, shelving systems, magnetic holders), but they all took up precious counter surface. Then I tried to organize them inside my pantry – alphabetical, in bins, by cooking style, and finally smallest to tallest. In the end none of them stayed organized very long, nor did they allow me to find the spice I needed any quicker.
I did some Googling and found a combination of products that works for almost any kitchen and has stood the test of time (I’ve been using it for the past 6 months), and here it is:
First, for this to work for you, you’re going to need a pantry door or wall to work with. The idea is to utilize dead space. As long as you can reach it without getting out a ladder it should work fine. In fact, feel free to pick high ground and use a ladder – just don’t say I didn’t warn you. Using these wall mountable spice clips, you want to arrange them on your door or wall in a grid. To mount them, simply use 3M’s Command Strips (I found the medium size to work best). These bond really well to both the plastic spice clips and the mounting surface (I’ve tested wood and drywall, both held up well). You can also remove them without damaging the surface, so if you decide you want to rearrange things, you won’t need to buy a new pantry.
Because spices come in all sorts of containers, you want to homogenize them so they fit nicely in the spice clips. While some of your spices will work fine as they are, many will need to go in a new bottle (the glass bottles don’t work beause they are heavy, the skinny neck bottles are to small, etc). Believe it or not, it’s not easy to find empty, plain, plastic spice jars, but luckily the guys at SKS-Bottle have empty spice bottles that are perfect, and even come with the sifter top. They also have a ridge that helps the clip stop it from falling through.
Now that you have all your spices in spice bottles that work with the clips, it’s time to label them. You can use a permanent marker to write on the bottle directly, or get some Printable Labels (they have just about every size and color) and type them on your computer. While I chose to write on the bottle, I’ll probably go back and label them in the future to make it easier to read.film Power Rangers 2017 trailer
The last step is to figure out how you’d like to organize them in the grid you laid out earlier. I chose to lay mine out alphabetically, but feel free to experiment. You might find it better to put the ones you use most often at the top, or arrange them by cooking style.
To get an idea of the finished product, here’s a picture of mine after 6 months of use:
While it might sound like a lot of work, all in all it only took me about 45 minutes – but it was well worth it given the time I save digging around for spices.
