apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I keep my spices in drawers, too. I don't have a spice rack, which is just as well, because I have spice bottles and jars of all different sizes. My kitchen cabinets are too shallow, and the shelves too close together, to accommodate a decent-sized lazy susan. The downside of using drawers is that I have to be very careful to stay organized so it doesn't take forever to find the spice I'm looking for.

I've usually used a drawer for my spices - I've had an endless string of small kitchens. The drawer is WAY more space-efficient than any other storage method, no doubt.

Key is to label the tops of all of the jars, so you can find things easily. A sharpie and some opaque white tape (for the black tops) is all you need.

I don't have a spare drawer for spices in my little kitchen, but when I did, I kept them there. Now, I have a shelf, and the shelf fits two baskets perfectly. I just take down a basket when I need a certain spice from it. The jar tops are labeled. Light isn't an issue because my kitchen is in the middle of my condo (woe, but I make do). To clean, I just lift the baskets off and wipe the shelf down. It looks like this: http://www.flickr.com/photos/razz1/2357167600/in/set-72157603937107410

My spices are in a pull-out cabinet shelf. My tiny kitchen has no space for a spice rack.

I use a LOT of different spices (I probably have over 40 jars, all different!), so I not only stuck homemade labels on the jar lids, I arranged them in alphabetical order to make them easy to find. It really works.

Conveniently, there's a shallow cabinet (about 6" deep) right near the stove, which is perfect for spice jars and some non-refrigerated sauces.

I have double wall ovens and I keep them above that. I am over 5'9 so I am pretty tall which does make storage easier :) I am the person at the market who always asks the short people who are straining if I can help.

I'm 5'1" so I can totally relate! Currently I keep my spices in a basket in my cupboard but they're starting to overflow. I might need to try this when I finally get my silverware moved to the card catalog (alphabetized, of course!)

We have NO drawers in our new kitchen, so I'm searching for ideas for where they might end up living.

Emily

Thank you for not changing the pronouns to, "We are short..." I appreciate your shift from our to the the personal.

What worked for our apartment was Amac boxes ($.79). Because they're square the fit in a drawer without wasted space. (see link)

http://www.containerstore.com/browse/Product.jhtml?searchId=15966816&itemIndex=8&CATID=262&PRODID=71488

We get our spices in little baggies from The Spice House (ounce for ounce usually a better deal than the supermarket) and then put labels on the top lid so they could be arranged in order. For the other cook in the house they are also color coded by flavor type. Best thing we've ever done.

Michelle of Montreal - I hope it's not too close to the stove! When herbs and spices are stored very close to a heat source, their flavor vanishes pretty fast. At least that's been my experience.

There is actually a built-in pull-out spice rack *right next to* my stove, but because of the heat issue I use it for storing empty glass jars for re-use.

Nthing the label the tops of the jars.

I'm a scientist and find it completely bewildering when people decide not to label the tops of samples which will be kept with a hundred others in a rack.

Can't fit the entire label on the tiny lid? Just write the first three letters. Cin. Clo. Thy. Tar. Tur.

I have the larger version of these jars for things like pasta and rice, and unfortunately, I *thought* they would be a good solution to pantry moths. They aren't. I had a pretty bad infestation of these insipid pests and they were in these style of jars! Somehow or another, they were able to push past the rubber grommets that hold the lids on. Imagine my anger! Argh! I would not recommend these for spices therefore.