I have about 30+ different jars of infused salt, pepper, spice mixes, seeds and dried herbs. I finally started a sizable container herb garden and I cannot recommend this enough. I no longer use dried herbs a lot and my cooking has improved immensely!

I always take the labels off of jars and add my own crafty label. I do have a few without any labels at all, but it doesn't take a genius to tell tumeric from curry.

I have six old bread loaf size Rubbermaid containers that I use to organize spices by category (common, herb, hot, sweet, misc, salt/pepper). My spice cupboard isn't directly over my prep counter so this makes it easy to bring the tub of spices I frequently need over to where I'm working.

This works well for my kitchen space. It would work better if I would label all of the lids, instead of just a few.

My spices are incredibly well organized and labeled in tins and I have probably upwards of 75 tins (I need more) and oddly, this says the exact opposite about me!
I'm cluttery and messy and unorganized but for whatever reason, I organized my spices like that a few years ago. When people come over and we're cooking, if they see my spices I usually get a good laugh followed by them assuming my husband overtook my spices and organized them for me!

Mismatched all the way! I also keep an alphabetized list on the inside cupboard door - a key to the type of jar each spice is kept in (e.g. tall with yellow lid), and the date of its purchase. I also have a small shelf with five boxes that organize my most-used spices.

Its not perfect, in my busy kitchen (family of four cooks) the spices get misplaced, so each 6 months or so, a new list and new organization - toss the old and in with the new.

And like @maraudingcat, this system has improved my cooking and its also kept my husband from buying that fifth bottle of celery salt...

Half my spice collection is part of a pristine display on a magnetic board, each labeled in chalk and in alphabetical order. The other half is in a rather jumbled drawer of my Elfa cart that serves as my pantry. There are, at least, two sections: cooking spices and baking spices. How this organization mirrors other parts of my life I am choosing to ignore.

What a beautiful topic and I love reading everyone's spice philosophies. I definetly edge toward spices of the East or North America - cardamom, paprika, mustard, etc. Jars are highly organized and labelled but with a unique cloth or decor for each jar.

I have a bunch of different types of containers for them, but system-wise, there are four categories, each with their place. Category 1 is "Everyday". These are the ones I need when I'm just cooking something standard. Most people probably wouldn't consider baharat mix standard, but in our kitchen, we use it a lot. Other than that, we've got curry, oregano/basil/thyme/rosemary, chili powder, etc. in there. Normal stuff. These are in a spinner on the counter and get refilled regularly.

Category 2 is "Baking and Other Occaisionally-Used Stuff". This includes what I consider the baking spices (cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg -yes, I know they are useful for other things, but this is what they are in my head), as well as things that I don't use every day but do pull out sometimes, like paprika, cayenne, cumin seed, etc. These don't get refilled as regularly and are in the pantry.

Category 3 is the "Weird Stuff I Got for a Recipe and May Never Use Again". This includes Summer Savory and Poppy Seed and Dried Orange Peel. Believe it or not, I've opened this plastic container twice this month. Weird. These almost never get replaced, but are in a plastic rubbermaid container in a cabinet, and mostly stay fresh-ish.

Category 4 is the "Exotic Stuff I Love and Bought in Bulk in Some Market in Some Country". This includes four different kinds of curry powder from Sri Lanka and Nepal, a bunch of spice mixes from Peru, an extremely hot pepper mix from a friend in Guyana, and something that I can't remember what is was from a Pakistani grocer in Baltimore. I love this shelf in the pantry, even though I should probably throw some of this out (some is really old - I went to Nepal in 2001), but it reminds me of the trips I took and the experience I had, so it stays. Like old books and passport stamps.

Our spices are in the transformed ironing board cabinet in our kitchen and two shelves of our pantry just outside the kitchen. The containers are either Penzey's labeled bottles or the unlabeled empty bottles you can get there (everything from a quarter cup to a quart) so they all match, I guess. (Why Penzey's you ask? We live in Wauwatosa, WI, which is the headquarters; it is about 4 miles from our house). We probably have around 45-50 jars in the cabinet and another 25 or so larger jars (with things like powdered chiles by the pound) in the pantry. They are organized by type of cuisine/use for the most part--baking spices, Indian, Mediterranean, etc, and I know what goes where so can find things that are used across categories. I'm generally pretty organized and get stressed by stuff that looks messy or out of place in my space so I guess they say that about me. We've had the jars for at least 10 years or so and refill as needed.

Mine are all in matching 4 oz canning jars, clearly labeled and organized alphabetically. I'm an archivist, what can I say.

Hodgepodge of grocery jars/bulk containers/zip baggies/odd jars. But everything's dated with the month/year of purchase. Lots of standard stuff with a few forays into exotic stuff.

I have 3 jars of cinnamon too!!! As well as multiple jars of cayenne pepper. hahaha. So true...too busy...just grabbing ingredients on the way home from work, so buying a jar of spice I'm not sure I have is better than getting home and realizing there's no more and having to go back to the market. My spices are in their original containers. The ones that didn't come in jars are in baggies, but what a great idea to put those into old jam jars ~ I'm going to do that when I get home! I'm super-organized, but I love the vintage look.

Mine used to be in all sorts of containers (jars, baggies, etc.) and it drove me crazy. I finally found great containers with a wide mouth that are perfect for dipping in a measuring spoon, so I bought 48 of those and transferred all my spices to them (still organized alphabetically so I can find everything easily). I've got pictures and a source for the containers here: http://amelieschoice.blogspot.com/2011/03/spice-storage.html

i have some great stackable containers from the container store i put bulk spices in, home made mixes, and other odds and ends in. Otherwise they are in the jars they came in or spare jars that fit better. Its not pretty but its logical. The stackable ones are also 4 different sizes, for some spices we use a lot of it makes sense to keep a larger container handy. I then have a large overflow box in the top of a cupboard for all the bulk, extras, and infrequently used stuff.

I am The Queen of Hodgepodge. Not only do I have a lot of spices, I really like the look of them in jars of assorted sizes and shapes. Many of my spices are from the Mexican section of the grocery store, and others are from the Indo-China Market. Very few are from the local supermarket as I figured out long ago that the cellophane sacks in the Mexican section are a lot cheaper than the tiny jars aimed at the gringo trade. If I can, I like to cut the label off the original package and glue it onto my jars. The ethnic packaging has some really interesting graphics. I do tend to forget what I have on hand. I did some consolidation a couple of weeks ago and found that I had three jars of whole coriander seed -- about two cups total. Anyone have any ideas for recipes that use industrial quantities of coriander?

I think my spices are somewhat organized; I keep them in a drawer using those separators from Ikea; the ones I use most are in the front of the drawer and grouped according to type (e.g., cayenne, piment d'esplette, and ancho chile are together). I use old spice jars from when I used to pay through the nose for Spice Islands or whatever. The old labels have been taken off and I have simple white ones on them now. I think what's most noticeable about my spice drawer is the lack of powdered spices. I have more whole spices than powdered, and I find I use less because they are freshly ground. Just taste the difference between powdered cardamom and freshly ground and you'll know what I mean!

I used to so disorganized and then I got tired of not knowing what I had or having everything in bags instead of jars. So I started collecting the small marinated artichoke jars and then printing labels on my computer. I was so proud of myself! I actually showed my cupboard to people when they came over. I think some people may have rolled their eyes at me!! The jars stack so nicely and most of the spice bags are the perfect amount to fit in those jars. Anything that doesn't fit into those jars goes into the two Rubbermaid containers next to the jars. I keep a list on the inside door of the cupboard with dates of purchase. I'm always picking up things when I run into them at little stores that I wander through, with the goal to find something to do with them.
On another topic, I totally reorganized my rice, nuts, legumes, grains and pasta collections last year and can now find everything! Sometimes I just open my cupboard doors to congratulate myself. :-) Just don't ask me about my canned goods cupboard!! (eyes rolling)

I'm still building up a spice/herb collection, so only have what I've needed for recipes. Since my kitchen is small, I've had to get creative for storage. I have my spices on a Ribba ledge on the one open wall in the kitchen (easily accessible from the stove), with a Lack shelf holding my salt cellar + pepper mill. The spices are alphabetized, but the jars are the standard ones from the grocery store. The salt that I got in bags, I've added to little flip-top jars from Container Store (the smoked salt made my whole cabinet smell deliciously smoky).

I have about 100 spices/blends/salts/extracts that occupy a whole (large) upper corner cabinet. I have lazy susans on both shelves and an alphabetized spreadsheet printed out and taped on the inside of the door to remind me what I have. They are loosely organized (savory rubs, baking spices, etc) but not alphabetized, so it helps to know that I actually own a spice before looking for it in vain or prematurely giving up.

I have clear glass bottles for spices,all uniformed sized for the cumin,fennel,cardamom,for powdered spices there's a steel spice box which I got from India and for dried curry leaves dried red chili ,I keep them clean jam bottles,..: )

I keep my spices in uniform spice jars from Ikea. I try to keep no more than 8 spices in my kitchen at a time so I know I will use them up and because I have such limited space in my kitchen. It does make for interesting cooking as I challenge myself to come up with new dishes with what I already have. That being said, I have a jar of ground cloves which is so hard to use up!

What a fun topic! I have one whole dedicated cupboard full of spices in my kitchen. It's a total mishmash of containers, but alphabetically organized. I've tried to standardize the containers in the past, but it doesn't work for me.

I have fresh herbs (rosemary, thyme, bay) in pots in a sunny window during the winter, and even more of them in the garden during the summer.

In the winter I always keep fresh parsley and fresh cilantro in my refrigerator.

I bought uniform bottles from http://www.sunburstbottle.com/.

Am currently using up a ton of spices that I bought in bulk. After they're gone I will lean towards getting them from Whole Foods.

If you walked into my house blindfolded and opened the double cabinet next to my stove, you'd probably think I'm from the Indian subcontinent. The two top shelves are stuffed with pint jars of every individual spice you could possibly need for any Indian recipe. We do so much of that sort of cooking that we buy the spices in big ol' bags (they're much cheaper at the Indian market) and decant them into a family of hexagonal glass jars accumulated from opening things to sample during the years I was a Whole Foods cheesemonger. The other two shelves hold lazy susans with an accretion of the more pedestrian Penzey's, Savory Spice Shop, and grocery jars. Oh, and the freezer holds bags of herb pastes from my 64 square feet of raised beds devoted to herbs.

It's kinda odd; my spice cupboard is totally disorganized, mismatched containers of different size & make, baggies, tubs, little bottles for oils, etc. BUT, I know exactly where everything is. My delightful sister is always introducing me to new spices

I have 44 clear glass jars with black lids, all labeled with an old-school label maker in red and white. They are arranged alphabetically on a three-tiered stainless rack in the cupboard above the prep area in my kitchen for easy access. There are only a couple of things that don't go in these jars, one of them is pimentón de la vera, the tin is too pretty, it sits in front next to the vanilla beans. I have some other things in baggies in a tin in another cupboard that I use very rarely - hibiscus, lavender, tiny dried shrimp, black mustard seed among other things. I love having cupboards and closets set just so. My books are arranged alphabetically by author and my underwear is all neatly folded and arranged by color. I am so happy that my boyfriend enables my obsession with organizing, he ordered the spice jars and helped me fill and label them.

My spice cupboard is the least organized thing in my house, and I like it that way. For the most part, everything is in jars, albeit mismatched sizes, shapes, and colors. Although I am a neat freak, the chaos of my spices leads to more interesting cooking. I'll be looking for cumin for a recipe but stumble upon paprika and decide to add that to the dish as well - adding my own spin to a recipe. Also, directly above my spices is the hot sauce shelf, filled with 20+ bottles of hot sauce from all over the world. Same philosophy applies to those bottles as well.

All the spices I use a lot of (black peppercorn, paprika, cumin) are in small reused Douwe Egbert coffee jars at the back of the pantry, unlabeled. All the regular spices, of which there are probably 25, are in square Tesco spice jars that I turn label in so all I see are unlabeled glass jars full of spices, in alphabetical order so I can find what I need without having to sniff them (I still do just to ensure cinnamon and corriander didn't accidentally get swapped). Uniform, pretty, and if I need to add a new spice I can get it with my usual grocery shop. I have open shelving so it has to be uniform.

I have about 15-20 jars which are mix of Bonne Maman or Inglehoffer Mustard jars- all cleaned with original labels removed. The frequency of use for the spice determines if it gets the larger Bonne Maman or the smaller Inglehoffer mustard jar. Say, curry, garam masala and powdered ginger get the larger jars while nutmeg and mustard seed get the smaller jars. I don't have anything labeled; I'm inclined to memorize the spice by sight and smell. I've been teaching my husband to do this: it's fun, like a memory game. =)

My spices say I do an inordinate amount of my spice shopping at the local Chinese gorcery.

if i could find cute little jars like those, then mine would probably be more of a mishmash. in our area, there is a tone's spices factory just north of des moines, so 90% of the grocery stores in town sell little tone's spice jars that stack perfectly on top of each other.
the other remaining spices i have are from health food stores that sell locally grown/dried herbs...and of course a sprinkling of authentic cajun spice jars and a tin of old bay.

http://pinterest.com/pin/46232333644475730/
Most of my spices are in my soda crate spice rack. Surplus are kept in a bin in the cupboard so I can refill as needed. Love having the spices right where I can see them all so I use them!

That would be cool if this post led us to a survey or something that answered the question of "what your spices reveal about you". My spices say I love penzeys. But they don't actually reveal anything...