Our kitchen cabinets take up precious real estate. Which is why we typically reserve them for the big things: dishes, pots, and occasionally pantry goods. This often leaves our spices in an awkward position. We need our garlic powder and cinnamon handy, but it doesn’t always make sense to dedicate a whole cupboard to the little bottles. That’s where racks come in.
Rather than just jamming all your seasonings on one shelf or, worse, sprawling them out on the counter, racks let you take full advantage of small hidden nooks. Plus when all your spices are decanted into see-through, labeled jars, you can find what you’re looking for a whole lot faster. There are a few ways to go about integrating your spices into your millwork. Here are four of our favorite solutions, followed by eight products to make it happen in no thyme.
Raise the Bar
The inside of your doors is your secret weapon. Doweled door racks placed at varying heights easily house tall bottles and prevent anything from accidentally toppling over when you open them. “There’s a huge joy in opening the double doors; it’s this grand gesture,” says Pluck cofounder George Glasier of the space, above, he recently designed for a London couple.
Create a Floating Effect
If you don’t want anyone to notice you’ve mounted shelving to the inside of your doors, consider this uncomplicated fix: acrylic shelves. These turned designer Jen Woodhouse’s once-disorganized pantry into a sleek spot where every single seasoning has its place. Jars with bamboo lids add some warmth to the low-key setup.
Lay Them Flat
In her California Closets–designed walk-in pantry, Camille Styles organized her spices in little jars with cork tops and sticky labels on top and put them in a drawer. Oils and sauces, on the other hand, lay flat on a pull-out system that’s exposed.
Resort to a Drawer
Upper cabinets aren’t your only answer. A drawer can house all your go-to seasonings, and when lifted on a slight angle, like these from Life in Jeneral, they let you clearly see what spices are in need of a refill.
Shop Our Favorite Spice Racks
Evermill’s genius product is designed to be completely modular (after all, everyone’s drawers are a little different). It’s the perfect pick for a beginner chef: All the spices are included with the organization tool.
Take a page out of Styles’s book and try this slide-in/slide-out method so you never have to rummage around in the back of the cabinet again.
Rev-a-Shelf makes ready-made door racks so you don’t have to go the custom route.
This budget-friendly pick of the bunch means dinner will be ready in a flash.
Renters: Re-create Woodhouse’s system inside your cabinets with these adhesive containers.
A riser requires zero assembly and makes the most of your cabinets’ shelf height.
Customize your door interior with these adorable cubes that can be arranged any way you want and magnetize to each other.
Given that cooking is a science, this test tube–like solution is fitting.
More ways to organize your kitchen:
This $18 Amazon Best-Seller Organizes Way More Than Just Knives
How to Organize Your Kitchen, According to a Professional Chef
New Year, New Kitchen: How to Reorganize Your Space Like a Chef