12 DIY Spice Organizer Solutions

Herbs and spices make food delicious and flavorful. They are essential for almost every recipe, but they create storage and organization problems in the kitchen.

An extensive spice collection means keeping track of and organizing many small bottles, packets, and containers. And spices need to be appropriately stored and kept fresh to preserve their flavors. These DIY organizer ideas will help to keep your kitchen tidy, your herbs fresh, and your foods delicious.

Like any other ingredient, herbs and spices lose flavor and potency over time. They can degrade in UV light and should not be exposed to oxygen or moisture.

For the best flavor and longest storage, consider storing spices in an opaque container and use spice labels to identify the contents, rather than storing spices in clear jars. Keep your spices in a cool, dark area, protected from moisture.

For frequently used spices, transfer small amounts to a smaller spice jar and keep the small containers near your cooking area for faster access. This system keeps your spices as fresh as possible for as long as possible. 

DIY Spice Organizer Solutions

DIY Tiered Spice Organizer

Building small shelves specifically for your spice jars allows you to use cupboard space more efficiently and quickly see and organize your spices without having to sort through all the jars and containers.

Building a DIY tiered spice organizer is incredibly easy. The fastest way to make one is to cut 3 pieces of 2×4 to the same length and then attach them together in a stack with a 2” offset between each board, making small “stairs” to rest your spice jars on.

You can also create an identical organizer from cardboard for an even more affordable spice organizing DIY. 

If you have limited space inside your cabinets, you may want to choose an expandable spice shelf instead because it can stretch or shrink based on how many spices you have at the moment.

DIY Magnetic Spice Organizer

Magnetic spice jars are a great way to store spices and keep them organized nearly anywhere in your kitchen. You can hang magnetic spice jars from your refrigerator or use a magnet board to hang your spice collection anywhere.

If you use standoff bolts, you can also use a wall-mounted magnet board to hold kitchen knives and utensils, as well as spices. Or consider hanging a magnet board on the under-side of your cabinets or shelves and suspending your spice collection in your unused space.

DIY Spice Organizer from Wood Pallets

Wood pallets are an incredibly popular DIY resource, and many people have built DIY spice racks from wood pallets. To make your own wood pallet spice rack, you can disassemble the pallet and reuse the wood to create a custom spice rack.

Or simply remove the boards from the front of a pallet, hang the pallet’s back from the wall, and use the removed boards to build smaller shelves inside the pallet. For a large, heavy pallet, you may want to hang it using French cleats for extra strength. Consider sanding the pallet and finishing it with protective wax.

DIY Pull-Out Spice Organizer

A pull-out spice rack helps to keep spices organized and accessible while saving space in your kitchen. This is also an incredibly easy DIY project. All you need is to build or buy a freestanding spice rack and then add a center mount drawer slide underneath it.

Then add a knob to the front of the rack so you can easily pull it out. To organize a large number of spices with this system, use multiple racks and label the front of them, so you know what each rack contains.

DIY Under-Cabinet Spice Organizer

Installing a hidden, fold-down spice organizer beneath your cabinet or shelving is a great way to save space and keep your spices right where you need them. To build an under-cabinet fold-down spice organizer, make a shallow box with interior dividers that will hold your spices stable in either position.

Miter the back of the box to 40°, to hold the box at the desired angle when it is lowered. Use hinges to attach the box beneath your cabinets and a heavy-duty magnetic catch to keep the shelf closed when it is raised.

DIY Spice Organizer from Test Tubes

Test tubes are a great way to store small quantities of spices. If you buy herbs and spices in bulk, you can use test tubes with stoppers to keep your favorite spices conveniently near your cooking area while larger spice containers remain in the pantry.

Plastic test tubes are also a great way to transport spices for camping or cookouts or pre-measure amounts needed for specific recipes. There is a huge range of test tube racks, or use small clips to hang test tubes inside a cabinet or from other surfaces.

DIY Drawer Spice Organizer

Keeping spices inside a kitchen drawer is an excellent way to keep them convenient, visible, and organized. To make your own DIY in-drawer spice organizer, line the drawer with shelf liner. Use small wood dowels or even bamboo skewers to create small channels that keep your spices from moving back and forth inside the drawer.

To fit more spices inside a drawer, you can instead make a tiered in-drawer spice rack or choose an expandable one to fit more or fewer spice jars over time.

DIY Spice Organizer Rack

Building a wooden spice rack is a classic DIY project and not difficult to do. You can also make individual spice shelves and use brackets to mount the shelves onto a reclaimed wood panel, inside a cabinet door, on the back of a pantry door, or above the cooktop for easy access. 

DIY Spice Organizer with Clips

If you use round spice jars, self-adhesive clip strips can be a perfect way to hang and organize your spices anywhere you want them. Ensure that your clips are the right size for your spice jars, and consider using plastic spice jars to reduce weight and the risk of slipping.

If you have room, gluing a small strip of shelf liner to the inside of the clip will also help ensure stability and prevent unwanted slipping.

DIY Lazy Susan Spice Organizer

If you have crowded cupboards or countertops, a lazy Susan can store herbs and spices and still make them easy to reach and find when needed. A lazy Susan spice organizer is a simple DIY woodworking project where you create two circles of wood.

One circle will be the base of your lazy Susan, and the other will be the rotating platform. To keep spices in place, you may want to create a lip on the platform or add recesses to secure individual spice jars. You may also want to add a second-tier platform to hold more spices.

Attach your spice platform to the circular base with a lazy Susan bearing and ensure that it is level and rotates freely before tightening it in place. To keep your DIY lazy Susan spice rack even more organized, you can add pie-shaped storage bins to keep loose items organized and in place.

DIY Spice Organizer from a Wine Rack

If you have a countertop wine rack, why not use it to store and organize spices? You can store spice jars inside the wine compartments and use the top V-shaped angles to store spice and seasoning packets and envelopes, which are often challenging to keep organized.

For this system to work best, you need to add spice labels to the lids of your spice jars rather than their faces. 

DIY Spice Organizer with Cup Hooks

One of the fastest and easiest ways to hang spice jars anywhere you want is from hooks. You can simply use wire or twine tied around the neck of a spice jar to create a loop.

Then hang the jars from individual cup hooks or a cup rack. Cup hooks can be mounted nearly anywhere with no tools and no prep and make a simple and attractive way to organize your spice containers.

Conclusion

The truth is, there are hundreds of ways to keep spices organized and accessible while saving space in your kitchen or pantry. Keeping spices organized also helps you use them at the peak of freshness and prevents wasting money on buying duplicates of spices you may already have at home.

Because there are so many types, and they come in so many different containers, feel free to mix-and-match your DIY spice organizing solution to find the one that fits you best.