Okay, I mentioned this a couple of weeks ago and I did get it finished just not photographed…

I’ve got an online, Facebook, T-Tapping friend who is just a whiz at homemaking. She comes up with the best ideas. Sometimes we refer to her as the Gingerbread house lady. She makes incredible gingerbread houses. Beyond incredible, really. I want to be her when I grow up. The only problem is I’ll probably need to be reincarnated to make it happen. She is young enough, she could probably be my daughter….

So…. she recently posted the most beautifully lit photos of her completely, organized spices. They were just gorgeous pictures. All the yellows, oranges and smokey reds lined up on pretty little spice steps. All simply labelled and organized. Gorgeous. Made you want to get in the kitchen and create something that tasted as good as her photos looked.

Those photos inspired me big time. I basically copied everything she did…. Exactly. Except for the photos.  Mine, not so much. It may seem odd to spend so much time and energy on something behind closed doors, but boy is it refreshing to open that cabinet and be presented with such calm and order. Every time I open it I exhale softly, ahhh. And I’m not the only one. I can’t thank Melynda enough for her inspiring photos.

It took me a few weeks before I got Peter fired up to help out. He’s the woodworker I needed to make the risers that were a critical part to the plan. Otherwise I was going to dig out the ole Kindergarten blocks and see if I could make a go of it. Redneck, I know…. Thank goodness I didn’t have to go there. He stepped up and built exactly what I drew, but much neater. He did a beautiful job with scrap cherry. Bonus ~ they match the cabinets!

This is the before.
Not a true before picture because my kitchen does not usually look like my cabinets puked all over the counter tops as our daughter so lovingly put it.

And with the risers in place. They fit beautifully. He did a magnificent job. Horrid photos, right? I know…

And the after. Yeah there are a lot, up top, that didn’t get transferred into new bottles because 1) I didn’t have riser space 2) I didn’t imagine I would need more bottles than I originally ordered  3) many are in unique bottles that make them easier, for everyone, to find.

These are the bottles I used. They come with shaker fitments. I put them in some and not in others. You know the spices you shake on vs the ones you tend to use a measuring spoon with. It made me feel powerful not putting shakers on every single one.

I even cleaned up the most often used spices, in the drawer beside the stove. I’ll eventually figure out where everything is and goes but I didn’t want others to become frustrated, so we kept these in the same location as before.

Aren’t they pretty? It makes me so happy when I open this drawer or the cabinet. I just want to walk by and take a peek in to see if it is still all neat and tidy.

I’m pitiful.

I know.