The Kitchen is another monster when it comes to organizing and the even BIGGER challenge –  keeping it organized. Since I spend most of my mornings in the kitchen and CANNOT deal with messy cabinets, I spent some extra effort to tackle this monster. To keep my spices, dry food and sauces organized, easily accessible and not become an eyesore to me is very important!

I’ll be sharing some of my FAVORITE HACKS that help me maximize my kitchen storage space and keep it neatly organized.

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Labeled Spice Jars

I use the Ikea RAJTAN Spice Jars to keep the spices (which probably a lot of you guys also use). What I did extra was that I found the chalkboard Fillable Labels and wrote the name of the spices in Roman Urdu. I printed them on a normal paper, cut them out and then secured them on the jar with a thick clear cello tape. I made the labels in Roman Urdu, so our Filipino nanny and my daughter(eventually…) would learn what Turmeric, Cumin etc.  are called in Urdu 🙂  (You can download the labels here:  RoundLables2 and RoundLables)

For the bigger quantities or more chunkier spices like Big Cardamom (Bari Illiachi), Whole Dried Red Chillies (Sabut Lal Mirch), I used Ikea DROPPAR Jar and labeled the same way. (You can download the labels here:  RectangleLabels)

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Shelf Inserts And Racks

Once the spices were labeled and in jars, the problem was to keep them visible and easily accessible. Stacking on top of another makes it quite a challenge to access the ones at the bottom of the stack. I found a 3 level spice rack at Home Centre that solved that problem for me!

For the bigger jars, I found Ikea VARIERA Shelf Inserts to divide the cabinet into two levels, making more space inside the cabinet and without the need to keep them on top of another!

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Labeled Containers For Lentils, Grains & Cereals

I like Ikea 365+ Dry Food Containers for storing the lentils and grains since they are lightweight and the design makes it easier to hold and pour things out. And of course I labeled them!(You can download the labels here:  Biglabels1 and Biglabels2 )

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Air Tight Boxes

Often when you open a packet of any spice, it does not entirely fit in the container and you are left with an open bag of the leftover. For these extras spices, I use the  Ikea Sealing clips and then store them in the air tight containers (which I bought from a supermarket) literally labeled as Extra Masalay 😀

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Pull-Out Plastic Storage Baskets

The pull out plastic baskets is a such an essential item in storing the small random bottles, containers and other pantry items. 

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Rotating Can Organizer

I found this at Dragon Mart and the OCD in me immediately bought this. Both the levels of the organizer rotate and makes it so easy to access the can I am looking for!

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Lazy Susan For Sauces

Once upon a time, when I was running the HomeMade Cakes business with my BFF (Read here if you missed out on this adventure of mine!), I bought the Ikea SNUDDA Lazy Susan to use as a turntable for cake decorating. However, it was sitting in the cabinet and I thought of putting it to good use!

It now sits in my pantry closet, with all the sauces/syrups that I used to struggle taking out from the back of the cabinet. Now I just turn it around and the bottle comes to me! 😀

This is probably my MOST favorite hack! You can also use it in the refrigerator as well (but this one doesn’t fit in mine! so I am looking for a smaller one!)

Wanna see it in action?

And here is look at the Pantry!

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Links to the FREE Pantry Printables

• RoundLables 
• RoundLables2
• RectangleLabels
• Biglabels1
• Biglabels2

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Some More Ideas?

I find Nadiya Najib’s Organizing Chaos series very informative and detailed ,where she shares her reasons for the need to declutter and organize your life!  You can check out her wonderful ideas to tackle problems like fridge odor, time management, her DIY chemical free Kitchen Cleaner, her favorite stores to buy Kitchen Organizing items and much more (click here or the image below to check it out)

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If you found this post useful, you might want to check out my other post in this series.

1. Makeup  & Watches Organization
2. Caps Organization
3. Sunglasses Organization (with a DIY solution)
4. Closet Organization
5. Jewelry Organization

Happy Spring Cleaning!