Cheap way to Organize Spices

I had this problem and that problem was my spice cabinet was a disaster. I had spices everywhere and finding the one I needed was always an adventure. Months ago, when I painted our kitchen cabinets, I planned on adding some sort of spice organization but 4 months later we still had nothing… Then one day after searching for that one spice I needed, I grabbed my tape measure and created a plan to solve this problem. And this is how it turned out.

Simple way to organize spices

What do you think? Let me tell you, I wish I would have done this so much sooner because it is amazing, easy to create and looks nice.

This project took about 45 minutes of my time all together, even though it took a couple of days from start to finish because I was doing other things. The cost for me was right around $15, your cost could be different depending on how many shelves you want and supplies you already have.

So what supplies will you need to create your own spice shelf, well before I can give you a list you will need to grab a piece of paper, pencil, and tape measure. Because you need to decide where you want the shelves and how long/tall they are going to be. Things to keep in mind is that you will be using 1/2″ boards by the width you would like (mine were 3″) plus you can have them hanging off the cabinet or more like a table shelf. Here is an example of my drawing.

Simple way to organize spices

Now before I planned out my shelving, I organized my spices to where I wanted them in my cabinet (I placed some on top of others to know where I wanted the shelves). After organizing them, I then planned my shelves to be about a 1/2″ taller than the spices under the shelf I was planning on plus making sure I planned on the 1/2″ for the wood itself.

Simple way to organize spices

OK now that the shelves are planned out, you can now gather your supplies.

Supplies:

  • 1/2″ popular board (I got 1/2″x3″x3ft and used a little more than two)
  • 1″ finishing nails (used for table like a shelf)
  • brackets w/1/2″ wood screws (you will need two per floating shelf)
  • stain (optional)
  • sandpaper

First you will need to cut the boards to the lengths on your drawing. After cutting, sand all the wood smooth, I used #220 grit sandpaper.

Simple way to organize spices

After sanding, I then took my finishing nails and nailed the table shelves together. Will look something like this…

Simple way to organize spices

Next I applied some stain to the wood but you can do whatever your little heart desires. I decided to match the wood to my pendant light so I use Provincial stain.

After letting the stain dry, I added the brackets to the wood for the shelves that will be floating in the cabinet.

Simple way to organize spices

I then moved to the cabinet and held up the wood shelf to where I wanted it in the cabinet. I marked the circle on the bracket for where the screw will be placed. And as always, I drilled a slight hole on the marked circle into the cabinet to make it easier for the screw to be screwed into place. Then I screwed one bracket to the cabinet.

Simple way to organize spices

For the other bracket, I used a level to level the shelf then I marked the circle on the bracket, drilled a slight hole on the mark and screwed the bracket to the cabinet.

Simple way to organize spices

I did this for all the floating shelves and placed the other shelves where I wanted them. Added my spices and my easy spice storage was complete.

I marked the circle on the bracket for where the screw will be placed. And as always, I drilled a slight hole on the marked circle into the cabinet to make it easier for the screw to be screwed into place. Then I screwed one bracket to the cabinet.

What do you think of our simple spice storage? I really hope this will help you if you are having problems organizing your kitchen cabinets. PS… I plan on using this same method in our hall/bathroom cabinet because it needs some help also.