Spice Cabinet Organization

Join me for some spice cabinet organization using cute little jars with labels. Perfect for kitchens in a cottage or farmhouse home, especially with open shelving.

I am still in spring cleaning and organizing mode. Although summer is quickly approaching, I am finding myself still finishing up with some of these tasks. I refuse to spend every second of an entire weekend cleaning. Instead, I break it into smaller chunks and tackle a couple of extra cleaning tasks a week.

Here we are at the end of May, and I’m now ready to start some spice cabinet organization.

Spices and herbs are all lined up on a kitchen table.

Although we aren’t remodeling the kitchen until the fall, I decided I could at least organize my spices. In a few short months I’ll happily be moving them to some new open shelving. I am so ready for it, but in the meantime I will just focus on smaller areas of the kitchen like this.

Brightly-colored spices sit on a tiered bamboo spice rack after being organized.

I used a convenient and affordable spice jar kit from Amazon to get organized.

If you already have mini jars on hand or can find some secondhand, I would highly recommend using those first.

I will say, this box included just about everything except for some cute, tiny wooden spoons. But honestly, I can add that to the mix anytime. I rarely measure spices anyway, so they would be more for decoration.

Spice jar lids are in view after being labeled.

Nevertheless, I was thrilled to be adding more function to one of my most used areas in the kitchen. I cook from scratch a lot, so doing some spice cabinet organization just seemed practical.

I am a freak for organization. I just had to get these all matching and looking a bit vintage in their glass jars.

Spices are all lined up across a dining table after some spice rack organization.

Here’s how I did it…

Spice Cabinet Organization Materials

Mini glass jars with lids

Sticker labels

Chalk or white sharpie marker

Mini funnel, optional

Tiered spice rack, optional (I use this bamboo expanding one)

I bought this spice jar kit that includes 30 mini jars with lids, funnel, and stickers if you’re into convenience.

Labels, a funnel, and jar lids sit on a table.

Spice Cabinet Organization How-To

Clear out the old

Start by removing all the spices from your cabinets. Count how many you have, so you’ll know how many little jars you’ll need. You may need less jars than me (or maybe you’ll need more).

Spices in mismatched jars are being removed from a shelf for spice rack organization.

Wash away

Clean the jars and lids before use. They arrived a little dusty, but a quick wash will have them ready to go in no time.

Empty bottle are about to be filled with spices.

Label away

Once you have gathered all the supplies you need, start writing the spice names on the sticker labels. Do this before dumping any old spices in, so you don’t get confused about what is what. This will help avoid unlabeled spices. You don’t want to mix any up. Press them on top of the lids or on to the front of the jars.

Back sticker labels are ready to be written on.

Add the spices

After finishing all the labels, it’s time to start adding spices into their new jars. You can use a mini funnel if needed or pour them onto parchment paper and roll it up to effortlessly add them into the jars.

A spice jar is being poured into another jar through a funnel.

Organize your heart out

Finally, arrange the jars onto a tiered spice rack as a cute display. You could also go a more simplistic route and just line them up in 2-3 rows. If you really want to alphabetize them or coordinate by color for aesthetic purposes, go for it. I just organized mine by how frequently I use them. The most used are in the front for accessibility.

Tips for Spice Cabinet Organization

If you aren’t replacing the cabinets or shelves these sit on in the near future, I have a few ideas. If your shelf or cabinet is old and in need of touch-ups, it will greatly improve the overall look of the spice cabinet organization. You could paint, strip and stain, or even dress them up with faux foliage for a bit more ambiance. Just make sure your spices are still accessible or the purpose will be defeated.

If you prefer, you can add the sticker labels to the front of the glass jars. I prefer a cleaner look and wanted it to look less busy, so instead I added the labels to the tops of the jars. This is because I already know what most of my spices look like, for the most part. But if I can’t tell, for example, the difference between the oregano and basil then I can just glance at the lid. Do what works for you.

Spice jars have myriad herbs and spices filling them as they're organized into rows.

Don’t want to spend the money on a tiered spick rack? It’s not completely necessary, but it does make it so much easier to view and reach all the spices without knocking the rest over. Keep this in mind when deciding.