Day 4: SPICES

A lot like organizing your pantry, but we are getting spicy! Day 4 is clearing out your spice cabinet or drawer.

Pantry and spice products can be bought in advance.  If you know your Christmas menu, then buy these 2 weeks ahead of time to expedite your trip later.

The procedures are the same as clearing out your pantry. Fresh spices and herbs really make a dish pop, but dried spices can be a great substitute as well if they are still fresh to date.

Spice Organization Step – By – Step:

  1. Create a Staging Area
  2. Remove All Product
  3. Discard Expired Product and donate usable products you will not use. (Sure, back in our grandparents’ day they didn’t have labels on everything, but I personally go by them, especially when the cinnamon is now a DARK brownish black!)
  4. Group Like Items Together

*Typically most people only have one of each type of spice, so categorizing can be tricky. Some hopefully helpful ideas to help categorize in a way that makes sense to you are as follows:

A.    Organize by Color- The Rainbow Method, made popular by The Home Edit, is aesthetically pleasing where you organize spices in order of the colors of the rainbow. If you are visual and know your spices by bottle, then this may be perfect for you!

B.    Organize Alphabetically- Probably the most straightforward and user- friendly if there are multiple people in the household.

C.    Organize by Food Type- Latin, Indian, Japanese, Baking, and Grilling to name a few. This may work best for the at- home chef that has a favorite repertoire of food.

  1. Refigure your space so all labels are visible. I know I have bought duplicate spices before because I did not know I already had one hiding behind another one that was hastily put back. There are many different organizing tools that exist to help with this problem. Here are a few examples:

A.    Forget the spice cabinet and opt for a spice drawer! With a spice drawer, all spices are within grasp physically and visually.

* Tip- Buy or repurpose small clear jars and label with stickers, chalk, or vinyl, for a uniformed and beautiful aesthetic. This will also make it easier to do a quick inventory.

B.    Lazy Susan- a personal favorite. Round items (like spices) are contained best with round organizers in terms of maximizing efficiency and space.

C.    Expanding Spice shelves- Can be adjusted to fit most spaces.

D.    Door Spice Hangers- Easily see everything.

  1. Clean the Space and put spices in an organized order that works best for you and your family
  2. Label, Label, Label- Ensure all your hard work is maintained longer by making it obvious where everything ‘lives.’
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