When I was living on my own, I didn’t have a great spice storage solution, but at least I had a system that worked well enough. I’d keep the spices I reached for all the time in one cabinet that was easy to access; in another, I kept the other spices I’d use less often.
I know spice drawers aren’t anything new, but they’re new to me and I’m astonished by how much joy mine sparks. And all I needed was this YouCopia Spice Drawer Liner, which I bought for $17 on Amazon. Well, that and a whole wall of IKEA cabinets.
You see, our rental kitchen had a shortage of drawers — just two narrow drawers in which to fit all of our utensils and kitchen tools. Even after donating and tossing few boxes full of gear, we knew we were going to need more drawer space. And even though it’s a rental, we both decided it would be worth it to add an entire wall of SEKTION cabinets from IKEA. The cabinets themselves cost around $700 for three narrow units, each with three drawers, and we did the installation ourselves.
Our new abundance of drawers meant that I could finally dedicate an entire drawer to spices — a dream! I just needed a way to keep them from rolling around in there. Enter: the YouCopia drawer liner. I cut sections of the 10-foot roll to line a drawer, and managed to store 30 bottles of spices and keep them from clanking around every time I pulled the drawer open.
We still have a back-up spice storage area for overflow and large containers that don’t fit in in the grooves, but having the spices right beneath our prep space and clearly visible makes me happy every time I reach for the red pepper flakes.
Plus, since we don’t have to be so discerning about which spices get the prime spot, I’m also more likely to try new spices and blends.
Your turn: How do you store your spices?
This post originally appeared on Apartment Therapy. See it there: I Created the Spice Storage of My Dreams for Just $17