Spice storage woes

Storing your spices is kind of a big deal. So why do so many of us (myself very much included) do it wrong or haphazardly? Spices literally make or break a meal. And yet, I literally keep all of my spices currently stored inside a Starbucks bag.

What it lacks in easy access it gains in simplicity and cohesion. Sure, every time I cook something I have to take the bag out and rummage around to find the thyme or whatever. But on the up side, at least the spices aren't all falling all over the place every time I look at them wrong.

In fact, the Starbucks bag is a marked improvement over many of my previous spice storage schemes. I have a small home with very limited wall and counter space, which makes wall or countertop storage kind of a dealbreaker.

When I first moved into this home, I stored my spices on the back of the stove. This is pretty common, but it also breaks two cardinal rules of kitchen management. Spices should never ever be stored near a heat source, because the heat ruins them. And from a fire safety standpoint you should never put things where you will have to reach across a hot burner to get to them.

Next I bought a little tiered plastic stand and stored them inside a cabinet. But every time I reached for one spice, I knocked down at least five or six others. This method also required me to store my spices by jar height, which is probably the worst way to organize any collection of items if you ever want to find anything.

To make things worse, I buy a lot of spices in bulk, which means that a lot of my containers are random small jars labeled with masking tape.

I spent about half an hour shopping for spice racks online this morning. So many different makes and models and features and drawbacks! Eventually I threw up my hands and decided to just keep using the Starbucks bag for a while longer. People, I am open to suggestions on this one!