Organizing My Spice Cupboard

Sometimes blogging leaves me scratching my head. I hadn't posted in awhile due to adjusting to being pregnant - and I gained followers. I posted yesterday and within an hour, lost two followers. And then lost another follower today. Sheesh - was it something I said? :) Oh well, I guess you can't please everyone! Sorry to see those people go though. I do so love each and every one of you so much and want to thank you for hanging in there with me and my blog. The face of this blog may change a bit as I progress deeper into my pregnancy - sharing bumpdates, nursery progress and my thoughts and feelings on becoming a mom. But this won't be a baby blog so I hope you don't leave me just yet! Incorporating my pregnancy and future baby into this blog is only natural as this blog is about my life and how I'm meandering through it. But at the same time I want to share with you other things going on in my home, life and heart. I hope that's okay! Thanks again for taking time out of your busy day to spend a few minutes at Finding Home, for leaving sweet comments and sharing this blogging experience with me. I appreciate you!


So on to the post!

A few days ago I mentioned that I had some organizing projects in the works. The day after writing that, I was hit with three days of major fatigue where I barely got out of bed or my couch. I slept so much it was unbelievable! By the morning of the fourth day, I was wide awake at 5 a.m. rip rarin' and ready to go! Here's what I did to tackle my spice cupboard.


Before:

My spice jars were driving me crazy as it was so difficult to constantly shuffle them around to find the spice I needed. Asthetically this setup was working for me - but the function wasn't the best. Here's how I fixed it.


First Shelf After:

I puchased one of those wire step spice holder things at my local hardware store and put it to some good use. I can fit 12 of my jars on the steps. As you can see to the right, four jars didn't fit. So I merely stacked them. My spice jars came from Ikea. I love them because they remind me of old fashioned candy jars.

I also tried to organize my spices alphabetically. That is saving me a bit of time too.

To the right of the shelf, I keep nutmeg and various odd baking items like paking powder lined up. I also keep a jelly jar filled with salt for easy tossing into pots of boiling water or onto meat. Easy peasy! The little potato guy is my potato scrubber and the egg thing is my egg seperator.

Second Shelf After:

My second shelf is sort of my baking shelf. In the front row I keep my flavorings (vanilla, coconut, etc...) and food coloring. In one jar I keep my measuring spoons. I have three sets because far too many recipes require more than one teaspoon of this and that. In the other jar I keep tiny whisks and my flavor injector. In the back rows I have jars filled with baking soda, graham cracker crumbs, icing sugar and various other baking ingredients. I also have my container of molasses, baking cocoa, jars of sweetened condensed milk and evaporated milk. Basically if I need most baking supplies, I turn to my second shelf in the spice cupboard. Makes my life much more convenient!

Third Shelf After:

The top shelf is reserved for things I don't use too often. Extra jelly jars, extra salt and pepper shakers, my flour sifter and liquid measuring cups.


 My three tips for keeping order with so many little things are:

* Keep like with like.  All spices together, all tools together, baking ingredients together, etc.
* Put it back where you found it.  If everything has a home, it's much easier to find what you need. By putting each item back where you found it, you retain the order in your cupboards.
* Go vertical.  I stack when I can but I never put items I use frequently on the bottom of a stack. I'd also recommend getting those spice stairs. They really helped create a lot of space in my cupboard.

Hope some of these tips and photos will give you a little inspiration to organize your spice cupboard! Now who wants to come over and bake some chocolate chip cookies for me? You know where the ingredients are! :)