24 Hot Ideas for Stashing Spices

by Rebekah Zaveloff

“A place for everything and everything in its place" is my mantra for kitchen design. When it comes to storage, many people think it's about needing more, but it's not — it's about having a home for every little thing. A dedicated food pantry, a cabinet for cutting boards, and a cabinet for Tupperware will give you peace of mind in the kitchen and keep everything from being shoved willy-nilly wherever it will fit. That said, let's start with spices:

Carve out a spice niche. A nook behind your stove is a good place to stash spices you use everyday. A stainless shelf installed across a stone tile backsplash is all you need to store the items you need at arm's reach.

Tip: Note how these spices are in tins. Ideally spices shouldn't be exposed to light or heat, because they lose their intensity, but this looks great and it's easy access for everyday. We use certain spices so frequently that the chance of them losing their flavor due to exposure is pretty slim.

When you have the space for a built-in hood like this, it's nice to have spices exposed for easy access but also tucked away from direct heat from the stove.

Creating a niche in the drywall, whether or not you tile it, is another great little spot for stashing spices at arm's reach.

This is super-clever and something I've never seen before! The rail of the library ladder doubles as a shelf rail to hold spice jars. I love how this design creates a space between lower and upper cabinets for this to work.

 Stash spices on the wall. There are many wonderful wall-mount storage systems on the market. If you're not embarking on a kitchen remodel but want to reorganize, a magnetic wall mount system like this is a fabulous option. It looks super-sleek and stores knives too. Check out this 6-spice version from Kamenstein.

Wall-mount systems can store dozens of spices and can fit on a blank wall inside a walk-in pantry, closet, or on the back of a door.

Wall rail systems can do double and triple duty. This one has a place for spices, utensils and bowls — and gets items up off the countertop.

Wall-mounted racks are sleek and simple and can fit in a small section of unused wall space.

A simple shelf installed under the wall cabinets is a great stealth location for spices.

Make a handy spice drawer. A drawer insert is a great way to get all the smaller and medium spices into one place.

Spice drawer inserts are available from most cabinet manufacturers, and there are also some after-market options available. Wood inserts that can be trimmed to fit any drawer. Or for instant gratification, opt for an adjustable plastic one.

Keep smaller spice containers inside the drawers and taller items in a wall cabinet above.

These spice organizers have useful handles so that they can be removed from the drawer for easier access.

Add a pull-out mini pantry. If you have a little extra cabinet space, don't use a filler or spacer, give yourself a 4" or 6" pull-out spice pantry.

In a traditional style kitchen, decorative columns flanking a range can double as pull-out spice storage.

In a modern kitchen, narrow pull-out cabinets flanking the cooktop are the perfect spot for spices — and they clear out space in the wall cabinets for other items.

A wall cabinet pull-out spice pantry can be the ideal thing for a narrow space at eye level next to the cooktop.

A larger pull-out pantry is wide enough for spices and oils and vinegars on both sides.

Reclaim space in an island. At the end of an island with decorative columns or legs, there's a shallow space created between them that is often a fixed panel. This doesn't have to be wasted space. Put doors on hinges and give yourself some extra space for spices.

Use a cabinet door. Wall mounted spice shelves are terrific and are available from most cabinet manufacturers. They also can be done in an existing kitchen cabinet. When storing spices I prefer not to have a cabinet too deep; things get lost. This solves that problem: Shelves are shallower to allow for the door mount spice holder. Rev-a-Shelf makes something similar to the one we see here.

Tip: If you want to install something like this in an existing kitchen, measure the depth of your spice holder and hardware and cut down your shelves by that amount to make everything fit.

Give spices a home in the pantry. In this mothership of all pantries, spice shelves on the doors are easy to see and easy to store. Everything is one jar deep, which is ideal. If the spice shelves are too deep, you start to lose track of what you have.

If you want to have deeper storage such as roll outs for pantry staples and extra storage for spices, do a combo unit like this one.

This pantry was carved out of the space between wall studs. A sliding barn door makes for easy access. You can leave the door open when you're cooking and grab as you go.

An organized pantry with shelves set at specific heights for specific items makes all the difference. Most people don't realize how much storage is lost simply because of the shelf heights. Fit the organization to the stuff that you're organizing! 

Cabinet-S-Top

1977 Medina Road

Medina, OH  44256

330.239.3630

www.cabinet-s-top.com