extreme makeover: spice cabinet edition

Day 12 of Toni's 21 Day Organization Challenge at A Bowl Full of Lemons found me opening up the spice cabinet. When we first moved into our new home (last April!), I thought I had done a great job at starting out on a good note with everything nice and clean, especially because I thought I threw out things while I was packing up the kitchen in the old house. I wonder how long that "nice and clean" lasted before it became a "just shove it in wherever there's room" kind of cabinet. However, I don't think I'm alone when it comes to a messy spice cabinet...am I?

BEFORE
Wow. This is so not pleasing to the eye.

AFTER
{notice the same bins from the freezer makeover?}

I wanted to do something a little different with the spices I use often and "pretty it up" a little. I remembered I had these multipurpose jars I had purchased from Ikea that I was going to use for a craft project (but, that was 4 months ago!) I figured I have them now, so I might as well use them!

I took out all of the spices and categorized them into spices I use often and spices I probably only touch a half a dozen times a year. (I'm a baker, but not much of a cook!)

Pretty!
Let's get up close...

BEFORE
~ bottom shelf ~

AFTER
~ bottom shelf ~

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BEFORE
~the middle shelf~

AFTER
~the middle shelf~
The glass containers of flour and sugar (brown sugar and powdered sugar behind those) were on the kitchen counter, but I decided to clear up some counter space and put these things in the cupboard instead.

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BEFORE
~ the top shelf ~
See that spice rounder? I probably used it ONCE in the 7 years we've been married! Needless to say, I said goodbye to it.

AFTER
~ the top shelf ~
This shelf is pretty high up there and I have to really be on my tiptoes to get anything down from it, so adding the baskets helps me pull the basket down all at once instead of pulling down one item at a time. The left basket holds misc. items I use very rarely (tall bottles). The basket on the right holds Ibuprofen, vitamins, and chewing gum.
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Last thing I wanted to show you was my giant-sized tub of cupcake and cookie decorating supplies. I had things in two different places (spice cabinet and pantry), so I combined them all into one. Inside, I have cupcake liners, sprinkles, frosting, cookie cutters, etc.

I'll keep it stored in the pantry...easy to reach.

Thank you everyone for sticking with me during my organization obsession these days. There's just something about January and being motivated to get things done! Did you know January is National Organization Month? Start tackling those small spaces...just take it a little at a time and it's not so overwhelming.