The Absolute BEST Way to Organize Your Kitchen Spices (and Other Spice Organization Ideas)

Make Your Kitchen More Efficient with One of My Favorite Spice Organization Ideas!

Organizing your kitchen spices in a drawer might be one of the best spice organization ideas out there! Here’s how to do it efficiently!

What room do you spend the most time in inside your home?

For me, it’s hands-down the kitchen.

I have a love/hate relationship with our kitchen.

I love cooking, so I really do enjoy making meals for my family.

But can someone explain to me why the majority of my day is just spent cleaning the kitchen? I mean, no matter what time of day or how many times I tidy the kitchen, there always seems to be dishes in the sink.

Who else is with me??

Since I spend so much time in the kitchen, it’s important that things stay organized. After I organized our pantry last year, everything just flowed so much better!

But, one thing that I’ve battled with for years is the dreaded spice cabinet.

Yowzers.

I finally pulled the plug and decided that something needed to be done. I looked into a few different spice organization ideas, and ultimately decided to organize my kitchen spices in a drawer.

Y’all. Game changer!

Not only has it made my kitchen so much more efficient, it looks pretty too!

Organizing Your Spices in Your Kitchen Drawer (One of the Best Spice Organization Ideas Ever!)

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Why Use a Drawer to Organize Your Kitchen Spices?

Ok, so there’s plenty of ways to organize your kitchen spices. For example:

Wall mounted spice racks. This is probably my second favorite idea. You can hang these on the inside of a cabinet drawer or even your pantry.
Spice carousel. These are nifty because they can sit right on your counter. However, if counter space is important to you, this might not be the best option.
Tiered risers. Essentially, these fit into your cabinet and allow you to view your spices at different levels.
Spice gripper clips. Like the wall mounted spice racks, these can be added to the inside of a cabinet or pantry door. However, you’re limited to the size and shape of spice jars they will hold.
Sliding spice racks. These fit right into your cabinet and allow you to set your spices inside and pull out like a drawer.

I think the above mentioned spice organization ideas are all useful depending on the size of your kitchen and the space that you have available.

But I found that organizing your spices in a kitchen drawer was my favorite method!

Here’s why:

You can see ALL your spices! This was the number one factor for me! I can’t tell you how many kitchen spices I found in the back of my cabinet that I had no idea were there! Having them laying flat in a drawer means you can see all of them without reaching, grabbing, and knocking things down (like I did previously when they were in my cabinet).
You can use a variety of jars or containers. Whether you want to keep your spices in their original store-bought containers, or buy all matching containers (I’ll share my favorites below), laying your kitchen spice flat in a drawer allows you to use a variety of jars or containers. Other spice organization methods (like a carousel, for example) don’t allow you that flexibility.
Your kitchen spices are literally at your fingertips! By organizing your spices in a kitchen drawer, they are right at your disposal at all times! Although I like the wall mounted spice racks, I don’t like the idea of having to go back and forth to my pantry each time I’m using a spice or seasoning.

Have I convinced you yet??

Keep reading to see my favorite products to organize your spices in a drawer.

My Favorite Products for Spice Organization

The reason I love this spice organization idea is because it could literally cost you $0. Just empty out a drawer, lay your spices flat, and call it a day.

But if you’re extra, like me, and you want things to be “pretty”, here are a few of my favorite products I used to organize my spice drawer.

Glass Spice Jars. If you want everything to be matchy-matchy, these glass spice jars are the way to go! There are several different options, but most of them come out to a little over $1/per jar. Some even come with the labels you need.

Spice Labels. If you’re looking for a specific type of spice label, there are a ton out there that will fit your kitchen aesthetic that are super affordable! Below are a few of my favorites.

How to Fill Your Spice Jars

If you’re going the glass spice jar route (which I highly recommend!), here are a few helpful tips to get your jars ready for your spice drawer.

Buy your spices in bulk. You know that aisle in your grocery store where you can fill your own bags of spices? Not only are the spices usually cheaper this way, but it allows you to buy the amount you actually need. Once I took inventory of the spices I already had at home, I made a list of the additional spices I wanted to purchase and I filled up my baggies at the grocery store.

2. Ditch the funnel. Many of the glass spice jars you purchase come with a small funnel to transfer your spices from your existing spice containers (or baggies if you bought in bulk). I found the funnel to be difficult to use (and it honestly slowed me down) since so many of the spices didn’t want to “flow” easily through the funnel.

3. Use a piece of paper instead! Instead of using a funnel, simply get a piece of paper, and loosely roll it so that one end fits into your glass spice jars. This is still a funnel of sorts, but one that has a much bigger opening, allowing your spices and seasonings to be transferred easily.

When I posted my spice jars on Instagram, one of the main questions I got asked was “What do you do with your leftover spices?”

Meaning, even when you transfer your spices into the glass spice jars, you’ll likely have some left in the original container that just won’t fit.

PS: This is also why I like buying spice in bulk….you just buy what you need.

For any leftover spices that wouldn’t fit in the glass spice jars, I just put them in a basket and placed it out of the way in the pantry to pull from and refill my jars as-needed.

How to Organize Your Spice Drawer

If you’re using the glass spice jars, there’s two main ways to organize your spices!

Organize alphabetically. This is how I chose to organize mine! I’m just enough OCD to where this would bother me if they weren’t in ABC order. LOL! Plus, I can go right to the spice or seasoning I need and don’t have to search for it.
Organize by use. You could also organize your spice drawer by use. The ones you use the most would be at the front, while the spices that you don’t use as often would be toward the back.

I’m dying to know: which way would you do it??

PS: peep that baby bump? 😊

My Final Thoughts on Organizing Your Kitchen Spices in Your Drawer

Ultimately, I think any spice organization system is a good one! Organizing my spices in a drawer is my favorite method, but I hope you also took some inspiration away from some of the other spice organization ideas I mentioned!

I’d love to hear how you organize your kitchen spices! And if you use the “drawer” method, I’d love to know (or even see a picture).

Happy organizing!