A few weeks ago Aimee was my first guest in the Organized Kitchen series. Today I’m excited to have Lori from Recipe Girl here sharing some of her kitchen organization! Lori’s fabulous site, Recipe Girl houses over 2,500 recipes, so you know this girl has GOT to have a system that works in her kitchen! I think I screamed out loud when I opened this post and saw her ideas! I’m going to let Lori share now…………..
I‘ve always been a little obsessed with organization and neatness. The clothes in my closet are neatly arranged by color. The toys in my son’s playroom are all arranged in tubs (by type… superheros in one box, knights in another, etc). In my utensils drawer, rubber spatulas, whisks and wooden spoons have a specific place to gather. And when I was an elementary school teacher years ago, it wasn’t unusual for me to spend the weekend driving around San Diego County hunting down sets of matching baskets or tubs to use in my color-themed classroom. I’m loving TidyMom‘s organizational tips. Allow me to show you how I organized my rather hectic spice cabinet…
Organize Spice Cabinet
I cook a lot. Like “I’m in the spice cabinet every day” a lot. So I had a need to get my spices off of the bottom of my cupboard and up where I could easily see them. The obsessive neat-freak in me also wanted to have them in matching containers.
I bought two metal large utensil organizers (Check Bed Bath and Beyond or Amazon), metal containers with magnetic bottoms (expensive, but I used my BB&B coupons and bought them over a few weeks’ time), and sticker labels.
I labeled the spices in a decorative way– my “teacher” writing, knowing that I’d have to look at them for a long time to come. I like these little price tag stickers (purchased at Michael’s) because they are three-dimensional, and the metal edge matched my spice tins.
Once the label was adhered, I flipped the lid over and added a round sticker to the other side. This is the date that the spice was purchased. If you’re unsure, you can just write the current date. And if you think your spice is really, really old, you should dump it and buy a new jar! Ground spices are good 2 to 3 years, herbs like oregano and basil are okay for 1 to 3 years, and whole spices, seeds and extracts are good for 4 years (vanilla extract keeps forever though). Adding a labeled date will help you remember when it’s time to replace that spice.
I nailed my trays horizontally into the upper part of my cupboard. The spice tins fit perfectly on their sides on the trays. The magnetic bottoms cling to the back so they won’t want to fall forward. Since I had more spices than trays, I attached a smaller basket on the left-hand side where I put my lesser-used spices. And I used a matching mesh stair organizer on the bottom. All is organized alphabetically and easy to locate!
This past weekend I took a peek at my baking supplies cupboard. For an ultra-organized person, this system was not working for me at all! In fact, it has been stressing me out for a LONG time. Then TidyMom comes along and says, “Hey, let’s get organized!” Thank goodness.
Since I bake a lot, I wanted to have access to things easily without having to tear apart the cupboard to find what I’m looking for. I used a couple of trays (eek! They’re aren’t matching!!… I’m sure I’ll definitely be picking up another mesh basket soon to correct that). The trays are nice because when I need a certain kind of extract or food color, I can just take the basket out of the cupboard, find what I need and then put it back.
I love TidyMom’s idea for storing cupcake wrappers in a tall spaghetti jar. I put all of my mini cupcake wrappers in a shorter jar. My toothpick and skewer collection was placed into individual containers- mostly candle votives. I used clear plastic cups to store my decorating tips and gels, and a tall cup to store my disposable piping bags.
The metal utensil trays weren’t going to work for what I needed in my baking cupboard, so I purchased these spice rack singles at The Container Store instead. My husband used the staple gun to attach them to the back of the cupboard. I chose to store my decorating colors up there, arranged by rainbow (ROYGBIV) so it’s easy to see exactly what I have. My sprinkles and decorating powders, etc. are arranged on another one of those wire mesh step organizers. I purchase all of my sprinkles at a baking supply store, and they are sold in these little plastic containers. That’s it! My nice and tidy cupboards.
Hope I’ve inspired you to do some organizing too. It sure makes working in the kitchen so much easier. How do you organize your spice cupboard?
Thanks for letting me a “TidyMom” today! 
For recipes and entertaining ideas, be sure to visit Lori on RecipeGirl.com. You’ll also find her on Twitter, Facebookand Pinterest
Lori IS………a TIDY MOM!
Are YOU a Tidy Mom? Do you have a great way to organize spices and baking supplies? If so, I’d love to hear about them! – feel free to post pictures on the TidyMom Facebook page of what works for you!
**Reminder!! I’ll be throwing a party with Clorox Bleach TOMORROW, February 8th! Write a post about YOUR MESSY MOMENTS, link up here at TidyMom and you could win some fun prizes from Clorox! Or enter to win $25,000! All the details here.
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Lori Lange (aka “RecipeGirl”) left the elementary school classroom in 2005 to start RecipeGirl.com, which houses over 2,500 original and adapted recipes. Lori now spends her days developing recipes and photographing food. She creates and delivers recipes that inspire novices and veterans alike and thinks cooking should be easy and fun. Lori cooks from her kitchen in Southern California, where she lives with her husband and child- and she is at work on her first cookbook: The Recipe Girl Cookbook, which will be published by Wiley in Spring 2013. Follow Lori on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest
About TidyMom
I’m going to steal all of these ideas and make my kitchen beautiful….excuse me.
This is great. I’ve got a few cabinets that need this sort of attention. And I love those little magnetic canisters!!
I love looking at your kitchen- makes me want to go organize mine. Great ideas Lori- thanks!
I love that, I wish I had cupboards that would work for that, mine are deep for it though, must mean I have to move to a house with a better kitchen yay!
um, yeah, This ROCKS!!! Not only do I want to eat everything that Recipe Girl makes, but now I want to just hang out in her kitchen. Look at all these amazing tips!!!
Hey! Thanks so much for allowing me to share my kitchen organizing tips on TidyMom today!
I love the spice rack! I have been considering switching over to the metal tins for my spices and seeing this may seal the deal! Love how organized and how everything is in reach! Great tips. Thanks for the helpful ideas!
Great ideas! I love the magnetic jars. My spices are fairly organized in step racks, but not as neatly as yours. I may have to start over now that I’m inspired. Thanks for sharing!
i have a couple of cabinets that need a make-over and the magnets sound like a space saver plus looks great! everything is in eye sight!
I love all these ideas! I’ve always had a soft spot for those magnet-backed containers, but I couldn’t figure out what to stick them to. I never would have thought to use the utensil organizers. Genius! And Tidymom’s idea for the cupcake liners is still one of my favs
Yes, and YES! These are fun ‘do-able’ tips. Thanks Lori!! I love the storage solution for cupcake wrappers. Off to dig a tall jar out.
What great ideas, thanks so much for sharing them with us.
I’m in the process of moving all of my spices into matching containers because it drives me crazy that they are all different. I loved having this glimpse into Lori’s cabinets!
I love all things organization and that spices idea is too cute! I like the idea of using cups and jars too to organize things. I think I need to take a page from your book and organize my kitchen stuff!
awesome post and I love Lori! I love all of these tips! I could you some help for sure
Cheryl and Lori, GREAT guest post! Thank you both so much. I have a spice cupboard that is in need of a major overhaul. I spend way too much time hunting for what I need.
Wow! I’ve never seen so many spices in a kitchen cupboard and so neatly arranged! Love it.
Yeah! One of my favorite food bloggers! I love your spice organization system. I totally need to do this! Such a great idea to be able to find them quickly. I always have to dig through several before I can find the right one.
Great tips and tricks from both of you ladies. My tiny urban condo kitchen is a far cry from some that I’ve had when I’ve had houses in the burbs so anything I can do to be more organized is a bonus!
Oh my word! This is pure genius! I love it!
Very inspiring!! I am going to get to work on my cabinets for sure. I love the idea of a cabinet of baking goods. I have them in a drawer and it’s hard to find stuff now. Thanks for sharing Recipe Girl!
Oh my goodness – this puts my spice cabinet to shame! Great tips! Now, will you come and do it for me?
oh how I LOVE organized cabinets, great tips!!!! No wonder Lori’s recipes all look so great, she knows where to find everything in her kitchen
After organizing my baking and cooking supplies yesterday, I found this very encouraging!
Wow – what a great post. I love the way you organized everything!!
xoxo
Jen
Love all of these ideas and wanted to let your readers know that I have steel mesh drawer organizers in my outlet this week for just $5.96 if they are interested
http://lovethedecor.store.willowhouse.com/category.aspx?zcid=289
Message me if you have questions
LOVE the spices idea!! We have plenty of shelve space right now for all ours, but I’ll have to keep this post in mind just in case!
For all my baking/decorating items, I bought some of the latch lid containers at WM when they were on clearance (like $1.70 each). I have one labeled for my fondant supplies, one labeled with sprinkles, glitters, and colorings, and one labeled for my spatulas, decorator bags, tips, edging tools, etc. They’re clear so I can see what’s in each, too. But I love the labels. I’ve also done this with our medicines. We have a container for “Adult” meds, and one for “Kids” meds.
I love the spice rack idea. My husband and I have been looking for a way to organize our spices and have them right next to us when cooking. Once my shelves are up I may just have to do this!
LOVE these ideas — thanks for sharing!! I use clear plastic shoeboxes for cookie cutters and such too.
I super-love the idea of the cupcake wrappers in the tall jar! I’ve got mine squished into a rectangular bin which isn’t really working for me.
Perfect post for this time of year. Love all the helpful hints and ideas – thanks!
Wow, I am totally inspired to get into my cabinets and use some of these tips. They are in desperate need of some help.
Okay, I am totally inspired to organize my kitchen. That spice container idea totally rocks and I love date tag tucked underneath to make it easy to keep track of freshness. Great post, Lori!
That’s awesome. My spice rack is horrendous…I need a spice makeover! Great post Lori
Oh my goodness, Lori is so a Tidy Mom!! I am bowing to her brilliance. I know what I’m doing this weekend, spice cabinet look out. Great Post
Oh my, do I ever love this spice cabinet organization idea! So cool, Lori!
I need to organize my spices – love the idea of those magnetic bottomed containers and the stickers with the dates.
Thank you for the fantastic idea. I am an organizing freak and I love that you’ve figured out how the organizers can be raised off of the shelf. It’s such a pain to dig through the spices on my stair style rack because there are so many they don’t all fit well. Now I can have some hanging and some stacked and I think this will make it so much easier to find what I need. Thanks again for a great post.
I love these ideas! My cabinets are always a mess. My spices or alphabetized, but still finding them isn’t always easy! We just moved, so we are renting while we look for a house. I am definitely going to use these ideas in my new house!
i recently did my own baking cabinet re-do & it has made such a huge difference when i am cooking. great post.
I really need to get more organized. I’ve come to the conclusion that I just need a bigger KITCHEN!!! Problem solved.
I absolutely LOVE the spice storage idea!! I will hopefully be doing this when we get our house… genius!
Wow, what a beautiful kitchen. I should probably do something with mine now!
I love these posts, Cheryl! And Lori – this your spice organization in absolutely genius!
I have wanted to do the metal spice tins for some time. Your website got me moving on it! I did find a set of watchmaker tins for a reasonable price I will have to glue magnets on the bottom, but I am ok with that. I liked that these had clear tops so I could see right in. Grateful for your blog!