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kimbychu

Spices and Where To Put Them

Kimbychu
9 years ago

I've got a very old, very tiny kitchen. It is going to be years of saving before I can afford to completely redo it, so I am doing cheap little changes to keep it working and functional until then.

My current issue is what to do with spices. I was thinking of making some hermetic magnetic bottles and putting them on my fridge. It could be sealed well, easy to access, away from oven heat and sink moisture. My big issue is I have a window right next to the fridge, and direct sunlight harms the spices. Drawer and cabinet space is premium, so there is no room there. (Currently, the spices are scattered all over the kitchen in different corners, making it hard to find what you need when cooking.) I was also thinking of putting magnetic strips inside the cabinet doors so they could be on the inside doors of the cabinets, but when one came off the hinges the other day, I decided that might not be the best idea. (Like I said, a very, very old kitchen.)

Would painting the outside of the bottles be enough to save the spices on the fridge?

Have any of you had trouble dealing with where to put and organize your spices? Do you keep yours out in the open or on your fridge with magnets? Is light really as bad as they say?

Thanks for any help you have for me.

Comments (21)

  • spanky_md
    9 years ago

    IKEA has some magnetic spice jars that are metal on the side and see-through on the top but you could put something opaque on the top if needed. I think some spices and herbs really need to be stored in dark containers but it depends on what it is, I guess. I use some stuff up way quicker than other stuff.

    The Container Store might also have some solutions for you. They have a lot of small jars and stuff. I love their stuff.

    Here is a link that might be useful: IKEA spice jars with magnetic bases

  • christina222_gw
    9 years ago

    I'd hang a couple of spice racks on the insides of some cabinet doors. I've got the jumbo version of this in my pantry but it works just as well at small scale. You can see the spice racks in this picture of my pantry.

  • kitykat
    9 years ago

    My last kitchen was tiny, but I love to cook, so keeping spices handy was important. I bought 2 Copco 12" turntables at BBB, and placed spices (original containers) on them, also vinegar/soy/vanilla, etc. Small spice jars could be stacked two high. These went on the first two shelves of an upper cabinet. In a small kitchen, the stuff you use daily needs premium, up front space. Infrequently used items can go elsewhere. I kept platters, large serving dishes, pretty dessert dishes in a hall closet. Unless you use a mixer, cake/pie plates, gravy boat, roasting pan, even margarita glasses DAILY, keep them out of the kitchen, even on a shelf in the garage!

    After remodeling that kitchen, to make it function better, the best advice I received was here at GW. That advice: Don't replace ANYTHING in your new kitchen until you actually need to use it. Can you believe, one year later, there were still things in a couple of boxes in the basement? Goes to show, we impute too much value and give space to unnecessary stuff!

  • Karenseb
    9 years ago

    Using small turntables in my cabinet was my favorite solution also, when I had a small kitchen. I even used it in last kitchen which was much larger. The kitchen I have now has two nice large drawers near the stove. Now I use the expandable spice holders for drawers (from the Container Store)

  • a2gemini
    9 years ago

    Check out the spice stack.
    I have one and it compactly stores many spices/herbs in original containers.

    As long as you close the stack before the door, it works great!
    Yup, I closed the door first - and knocked out a the middle tray. It went back into place easily. Only damage was one cracked lid -amazing!

  • nightowlrn
    9 years ago

    If you have a closet door nearby, this is where I stored mine at my last house. It is by Elfa - a door and wall rack. I had them on the inside of every closet. Great, not only for spices, but cleaning supplies, paper products, etc. You get the baskets in different widths and heights. I put spice themes in each basket, so I could just take a basket off the rack and have what I needed. Baking spices together, etc. Good luck.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Elfa rack system

  • Kimbychu
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    That looks really lovely, nightowlrn. I wish I could do something like that, but the nearest closet is past the living room, well away from the kitchen. I'm wondering if there is a way I can reinforce the cabinet doors so I can put shelves like that on them? As I said, one came clean off as the wood is well worn down. Either that or move things so I can get a corner for spices, but there are so few cabinets and drawers. (This kitchen was totally not designed very well.)

  • greenhaven
    9 years ago

    Something like this linked product could be very useful in situations like yours, although I saw something similiar at Home Depot for a fraction of the cost.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Under cabinet spice rack

  • scrappy25
    9 years ago

    a2gemini, what are those brown trays that you have in your cabinets? Seems like they could be used to corral families of spices also.

  • a2gemini
    9 years ago

    They are by Made Smart and are available at B3
    I swapped some out for Interdesign recently aka - no pictures yet.
    I think the interdesign would be better for spices as the bottom is flatter and higher sides.
    The pantry pull outs could be awesome. I think the model is called pulz and they come in 4,6,8,10 widths so can customize the cabinet.
    Surf for interdesign to see the line. I will try to snag pictures at some point.

  • smalloldhouse
    9 years ago

    My kitchen is newly redone but I also need a spice storage solution. Unfortunately I have too few drawers to hand one over to spices - there have been some amazing photos on GW of well-organized spice drawers.

    I'm definitely going to try to the Pullz ones and scope out the rack that @a2gemini has. But just to throw out another option, I picked up some of these small bins from Ikea and they work really well for storing small items as well. They come in a couple of different sizes and colors.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Ikea bins for small kitchen storage

  • susanlynn2012
    9 years ago

    I keep my spices in my refrigerator to have them last longer but it looks like no one else does this so maybe I should be thinking of putting them in a cabinet also? Thank you everyone for the ideas.

  • Kimbychu
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    That's a great idea, greenhaven! I didn't even think of something like that. I'm going to make some measurements and see if I can't pull that off.

  • beaniebakes
    9 years ago

    Check out my post on the "put it on the wall" thread to see my spice rack solution. Scroll down; it's 3rd from the bottom.

    Here is a link that might be useful: My magnetic spice rack

  • oldbat2be
    9 years ago

    DH made these for us:

  • MizLizzie
    9 years ago

    ob2b, you have the cleverest husband in the universe. That is cool.

  • Errant_gw
    9 years ago

    Like smalloldhouse, I like those Ikea bins. I use them on top shelf uppers, where small items would be difficult to reach, but the bins are easier to grab and pull down. I keep baking spices in one, extracts in another, and even meds in one. I do wish they were sized a bit different to make better use of the space, but still very handy,

  • pooks1976
    9 years ago

    ob2b, that is so cool and a great use of space. Spices used to drive me batty. I like to see what I have. Finally I bought some narrow wire shelves and hung them on the side of my walk in pantry, similiar to the elfa system.

    This post was edited by cori25 on Fri, Jun 27, 14 at 12:57

  • ssdarb
    9 years ago

    If you decide to do the magnetic spice tins you can get some round sticky labels (removable) at the office supply store and print or hand write the names of the spices on them. That would work to block out the light from the window.

    Then later, if you want to put the spices in a drawer instead you can just stick them in the drawer using the same containers. In a drawer, round containers work better than square so that you can get your fingers around them while still putting them very close together.

    I got mine from Pfaltzgraff. They are the same brand and size as BBB had but much less expensive. BBB was $3 for 1 tin, whereas the Pfaltgraff was $3.99 for 3 tins, and I had a 20% off coupon.

    I don't know how to post a link, but if you want to see them, go to pfaltzgraff.com and search for Kamenstein magnetic storage tins. I labeled mine with little rectangular removable labels, but there's no reason you couldn't use round labels or cut them to exact size.

  • oldbat2be
    9 years ago

    Mizlizzie and cori25, thank you! I passed on the compliments and he was very pleased.

    In the old kitchen, we had a large (24"?) 3 level lazy susan in an upper corner cabinet. I stored a TON on that thing! To make the space, I took a saw and cut out two sides of the upper board (these weren't individual cabinets).

  • rococogurl
    9 years ago

    I have a lot of those and don't like them in a cabinet. I put in a narrow wall of adjustable shelving which holds a ton and does the job.

    Scroll down on the link to see.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Spice Shelves

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