31 Days {Day 5}: Revamping the Spice Jars

Wednesday is my day that I volunteer co-teach ESL to Bhutanese refugees.  So what does that have to do with spice jars?  It means that I was in the neighborhood of Ikea.  Last night I had unfruitful shopping trips to Home Goods and Target looking for nice spice jars. Then I came home and googled all around until I decided that Ikea was my best bet.  Since I have a credit there anyway I was figured it was meant to be.

These are the spice jars I chose and they really are cool looking.  The only problem I have with them is that the lid doesn't fit super tight.  I'm used to a screw on lid. I'm not 100% convinced that these are the best ones ever but I think they are good enough.  Here is an Apartment Therapy Review of them.

When I got home I washed them all up, got my funnel out and got busy.  I even threw out more spices that definitely were I thought might be a little old.  In my organization stupor I decided that replacing spices once a year is totally what I'm going to do, so we'll see how that goes. I replaced four of my spices at the store today for $2.40.  The others I had already.

My list of essentials:

Cumin

Paprika

Thyme

Chili Powder

Oregano

Herbes de Provence

Curry Powder
Cayenne Pepper

I bought 8 small spice jars and three larger ones.  I decided to only use them for the spices that I replace the most often.  Already I'm a skeptic and don't like the idea of buying more jars when they were already in jars.  However, this is an esthetic and not a practical project so I told myself to keep my eye on the prize, a pretty pantry.  I used tape to temporarily write the spice names so I wouldn't lose track of what they are.  They fit beautifully into one of the shelves on the spice rack, perfectly, in fact.

But I just wasn't feeling it.

Then I decided to see what they look like in the drawer after I saw this on the Ikea website.

Hmmmm. I think I like it, which is too bad because it kind of  defeats the purpose of changing the spice jars in the first place.  There went the whole esthetic goal and all the pretty pantry talk.  

I think I'm ok with it though because it gives more room for canned goods in the spice rack.  When it comes winter, I need a lot of stuff for making soups.

These are the baskets that I added to snazz it up a little.  These were being used by G for his stuff in the closet.  His stuff may have been dumped out so I could use them here.  Sorry sweetie!

The basket on the bottom doesn't look totally cohesive but those are my baking supplies and they don't need to be on the higher shelves.

Overall I'm happy with the purging part of my project and the finished result.  I didn't invest much money, only $21.20 for 8 spice jars and 3 bigger jars.  I'm going to call it done, except for the spice jar labels.  

If you happen to have some of these glass apothecary jars in your pantry, I just adore these labels.  If my next house's pantry is bigger, I will definitely be doing this style of container with these labels.

And if you think a normal person can't have a decked out, drool-worthy pantry, look at my friend Elizabeth's.  She has a one year old and is pregnant with twins, so if she can do it...

What about you all?  Do you place a lot of importance on esthetics, or are you all about practicality?  Are those labels above like eye candy to you too?  What are your list of essential spices?