Heidi, I so relate to that. The worst thing is that mine are all in a drawer together with oils, soy sauce...I should follow your example.

Your site always features such gorgeous food photography; it's nice to know that you're really human behind the scenes, hee.

and there was me wondering what to do on this beautiful sunday - thanks for the inspiration - i'm off to clean my spice cupboard!

you know i think i am going to have to do the same very soon. i went for spice shopping yesterday and now i am in big trouble! well done :) that looks much better :)

Hi Heidi-
Your new spice setup is exactly what I've been planning for my own spices. The only problem is that I don't have a spare drawer. I'm moving to our new house in less than a month, and I will definitely designate a drawer to spices. I can hardly wait.

Heidi, I do this a couple of times a year. I have so many different types of chiles and homemade spice mixes, along with stuff friends send me, and Penzeys that I have to organize it. I bought 2 of those plastic shelving things (that look like steps and pull out to the size of the area you need) and I organized some alphabetically. I also have a spice shelf thing and I have that organized the same way. The chiles are in a separate area all together and they are piled in these bins that stand on top of each other. I also have a lot by the counter too - the ones I cook with the most or the most recent. I should make 2 shelves at this point. There are too many. I agree it gets too discombobulated. Quickly. I love to cook, cook often (every day 2-3x a day) and entertain little (3-5 times a year). It can get really crazy but at least I know where the garlic powder is. If you ask me where the dried whole chiles are though...that's another story!

Good for you that you got it under control.

RisaG

Congratulations on organizing your spices. I often plan to and then get intimidated.

I wrote a post a while ago about my dream kitchen that included a photo of my current spice cupboard. You can check it out for a laugh. That said, I love the idea of creating drawer space - now I just have to find some.

dream kitchen

this is so timely! I just did my spices with the help of my 4-year-old daughter who smelled, ooohed and aahhed over every one! I bouth some round, tin containters with a window in the lid and a magnet on the back. I printed clear labels in LARGE letters and my husband hung a 2'x2' piece of galvanized steel on the wall. My spices are organized alphabetically and it is now a piece of art!

hey I did the same on Friday. A pile of baggies full of assorted seeds, herb and spices( is this fennel or cumin seed?) has become a well organized arena of future soups, stews, sauces and sweets. And of course I can now effectively shop for what I am actually lacking as opposed to trying to recall .
Your site has inspired me in many ways and is often in sync with my current thoughts and trends. Oh for fall and the glorious kitchen delights it can bring.

In my new kitchen I have somewhat come to grips with this messy problem. I don't have drawer room so I got basket-like wire bins from the Container Store and have made a "table of contents" on small cards clipped to each basket. It helps, but isn't perfect.
Sybil

Hey there - I noticed that you cite Appetite by Nigel Slater as one of your favourite books and woncered if you've read 'Toast' by the same author - not one of his recipe book sbut the story of his childhood and the foundation for his love of food, and is also a story of triumph over adversity - it's a really sweet little paperback and makes a great weekend read.

Thanks for a wonderful site that most of the cooks in the U.S. could better their kitchen life. I love cooking and collect hardback cookbooks. I just can't resist cooking new recipes; some are keepers and some are not but the challenge is worth the effort. Keep all the good information coming

Phew! I though i had a lot of cookbooks...only 40 though! Looked through your impressive collection of titles to notice a glaring omission. I recently taught classical cookery at a local college and recommended my students anything in the 'Culinaria' range. These huge, coffee-table tomes, published by Konemann (European) really are fantastic. With gorgeous photography on every page, infomative and fascinating histories about regional food and drink, and authentic, local recipes throughout, I consider this range of books a Godsend. I urge you folk to check 'em out...They're usually pretty cheap as well!

That's so funny. I started the same task this weekend. I've started buying my spices in bulk from the local co-op, in small batches, instead of giant bottles that sit on my shelf for a year. But what to do with all those little plastic bags? I'm not done scrounging for small jars and plastic containers, but this post encourages me to keep up with this project!

by the way, some of those spices look fabulous!

We have done the same thing on saturday morning. Last week I bought nice and simple glass jars from IKEA. The hardest part of the work was cleaning the shelf; my husband did that. Now we feel ourseves better with our new spice shelf. A spice drawer is a good idea. Hmmm, maybe one day...
;)

I bet this was amazing. Thanks for the encouragement to try a recipe with so many steps and ingredients. Sometimes it can be intimidating. But it's good to know that this one is worth it.

Thanks so much for the idea!
I've rearranged my spices 3 times in the past 3 months, since I moved into my new home (first in a cabinet, then on a shelf, then on the refrigerator), but nothing has worked.
I've only got 4 drawers in my kitchen, but I am convinced my spices are well worth it (given the extent of my collection), so I'm giving it a try next weekend!
The after photo is such an inspiration!

thanks i was trying to find a new way to keep up with not only spices but kitchen gadgets as well. last week i organized my can food cabinet with the help of my cat who loved to lay in the cabinet will i sorted by variety and threw out stuff that had been hidden for a long time. this weeks project will be the spices since i work for a grocery outlet we get a lot of items that i couldn't afford anywhere else and items that i have never seen before. i'm really looking forward to this adventure .

Hey, I'm sure you've sorted it out since the 'before' picture, but thought I should mention that tea and spices should be kept in different areas, as tea is very susceptible to absorbing odors. I learned this the hard way when my sencha tasted like cumin! Looks like your new system is airtight. Love the site!