No More Chaos - Spice Drawer Organizer

In general my home looks quite tidy and decluttered...

- BUT DON'T OPEN ANY DRAWERS OR CABINETS - theres only chaos waiting!

here's how I (finally ) organized my spice drawer (at least one drawer is chaos free now whohoo! ) !

Now I will have so many minutes more to write instructables instead of searching for cayenne pepper, thyme or even cinnamon! - GREAT! - a new way of living :)

I dedicate this instructable to everyone who is terrified about somones else open your (kitchen ) drawer -this one is for you!

Yes, I know you can buy these drawer inserts - but they are made from plastic which i kind of dislike and honestly: where's the fun?

- make it - don't buy it!

*I had this looooong ~1,5 m / 59" tube of cardboard lying around - it came with a carped :)

It should be around 5 cm/ 1,97" in diameter, if you use cardboard, you can widen it easily later.

in general you could use any kind of tubing - maybe an old pvc pipe, or even paper towel rolls taped together - so many possibilities and I'd love to see what you come up with!

*a glue gun, or tape, both works fine ( YES, I know that's basically plastic and I feel kinda bad about it )

*a sharp knife

*a measuring tape

* a pen and scissors (if you use tape )

I. Optional (but will add a certain amount of prettiness) :

*wrapping paper, or old book pages, pages from a cooking magazine - whatever you like

*white glue

*paintbrush - to spread the white glue

II. Optional (but makes it a little easier to clean - if you're into that part) :

*self adhesive clear vinyl ( YES! I know that's plastic too, but I had it already, so the damage was done already...)

Now roll up your sleeves and get started!

get all these spice jars, odd refills, and dead bodies (empty jars ) out of the drawer - you will be surprised, how many stuff this drawer was able to hold - and you'll find a lot of crazy spice samples you collected to try someday ...

clean out all the loose powders that were the result of half (hearted ) closed jars and refill bags (and the samples )

*aaaaaaawwwww so fresh and so clean (clean ) *

and measure your drawer in length and width.

I measured, that my tube was enough for (almost) 4 shorter tubes that would fit in my drawer,

the 4. tube would be a little shorter - but that's nothing to care about - it won't matter!

Cut the tubes, so that they fit exactly- maybe even with a little pressure.

A sharp carpet cutter was perfect for the job on this heavy cardboard tubing.

mark the tubes exact or approximate half - it's up to your eyeballing skills

then cut along the marked line - for my heavy tubing the wavy egde knife of my leatherman was great, I guess a jigsaw would work too, but the day I made it, it was -20°C / -4°F below and I dind't feel like working outside, brrrrrrrrrr

Now you have beautiful, inaccurate half tubes :)

If it doesn't fit your spice jars, give up instantly OR make it fit - you're a maker, aren't you!

in my case the cardboard tubing was unnecassarily strong, so I could simply tear alot of the inside layers and discard them, then, with a little ellbow grease, i pressed it wider with my hands against a hard surface.

Tadaaaaah! It fits perfectly :)

place your - superb fitting - half tubes upside down on a non stick surface (I used a sheet of parchment paper )

align them and glue with hot glue or tape - both works fine!

It doesn't have to be pretty - but of course add some glitter if it makes you feel better :)

... if you want to keep it simple and like the industrial look and functionality.

proceed the instructable if you want to make it "a little more appealing"

- just in case -one beautiful day- someone else opens that drawer...

now all the optional stuff and a big portion of customizing kicks in,

I used old book pages that I had left from another project - oddly shaped, that was time consuming - but I'm happy with the end result, and thats what counts :)

I glued everyting with white glue and trimmed the edges.

You may use:

wrapping paper,

newspaper

pages from a cooking magazine

or maybe simply paint it

Of course you want your hard work to last - even a cleaning attack of your mother in law - so it's time to make it more sturdy:

cut the self adhesive clear vinyl to the approximate size of the (now so pretty ) organizer

carefully cover the organizer and follow the round form with your hands - it's a little tricky, but quite forgiving.

trim the edges and you are almost done...

Note: you could also paint it with some coats of clear varnish instead.

time to get rid of all the odd samples, refills and other stuff.

use empty spice jars and label them correct

ohh that feeling - you finally get your act together!

it's ok to shed some tears of glory,

be proud, be thrilled, you made it! - one drawer closer to heaven ... ( erm, you know what I mean)

The craziest thing about this, every single jar and refill from the chaotic mess before, fitted into the new organizer - I didn't hide anything for the photos.

Now imagine you - confidently- ask someone else standing in your kitchen:
"could you please open that spice drawer and hand me that (super fancy) wasabi - sesame blend" ohhh such a great feeling! ( but pray for the person to open the right drawer and not the still chaotic one :D)

I hope you enjoyed your stay!

Mimikry