Just like the rest of the Tik Tok world, I’ve caught the decluttering and organizing bug! To call it a passion makes it sound bad, but on the contrary – its a very, very good thing (for me, my sanity and the happiness and peace it brings me). I can finally sleep in peace knowing I have a clean, organized and visually appealing space is so refreshing! I can focus and actually save a lot of money now that my space is clean, now that I can visually see everything, I’m not over buying or over spending.

I go on these organizing and de-cluttering “journey” every couple of months, to be fair its a great way for me to stay organized and honestly keep my space clean because I’m deadly afraid of ever seeing bugs in my spices or foods. I think that fear is embedded into my head because of my mom, she would always tell me to clean out spaces (especially where I store food) to clean them often but bugs can seriously appear over night.

Anyways back to how I tackle my space, I have a strategy to start small and tackle projects around my home or room by room. For me its keeps me a lot more focused and motivated if I tell myself that I only have focus on the kitchen right now rather then the whole house. I usually start with the area that gets the most traffic AKA kitchen!

DECLUTTER, CLEAN & TOSS

Now you may think this is common sense, but you’ll be shocked at how many people will not clean the space before they start to organize. Once I clear the cabinets I take everything out, vacuum the shelves and wiped everything down. Now this is the best time to toss any expired items and consolidated any extra spices you might have. I keep some duplicates of the everything but the bagel seasonings and always keep some baking powder on hand along with salt, but I store those in the top rack in the baskets.

DECANT INTO GLASS JARS/CONTAINERS

Without breaking the bank, I’m pretty sure anyone can afford a pack of Mason jars, not only are they such a great value and a bang for your buck, but they also keep your spices AIR TIGHT! My mom has been using mason jars for years and they work amazing for Indian and American spices. Mason jars come in all sorts of sizes and shapes, which is wonderful because it can work with your space (small or big)! Because the mason jars come with the metal lid, I swapped mine out for the BPA – FREE white lids, it still gets the job done and honestly to open and clean compared to their metals ones. Decanting all of your spices into a one size jar through out your cabinet or drawer will actually help you achieve and utilize your space. Having different size containers and jars always leaves you feeling lost and a bit cluttered when it comes time to cooking or finding that specific spice. Decanting also helps you see how much you have left of a certain item, incase you need to restock or buy more, and don’t forget decanting into an air tight jar helps from the bugs, dust and anything else from getting in.

ORGANIZE & CATEGORIZE

Another way to utilize your space vertically and horizontally, is to add expandable spice shelves. You can purchase the wood, plastic or acrylic ones, depending on your style and what look you’re going for. I personally love my plastic shelves because they have a grip lining, so all my spice bottles stay perfectly in place. Because the shelves are tiered you can get 2,3 or even 4 tiered shelves, depending on how much space you have or want to use up. I group my spices in the order I use them, usually all the way in the back will my whole spices, bay leaves, star anise, cloves, sesame seeds etc, I don’t use them often but I know if I ever need whole spices all of them are located in the the back. The first row are my usuals, chicken tikka, tandoori, khidchi masala, hing etc. My bigger Mason jars hold the extra spices that don’t fit in my masala dhabba, such as turmeric, garam masala, red chili powder etc. Most of my extra bulk masalas that are not in the mason jars or spice dhabba are all vacuumed sealed and in my freezer.

TRANSFER EVERYDAY SPICES INTO A SPICE DHABBA

When I tell you that I not only save so much time and clean up from not only transferring my Indian masala’s into a spice dhabba, but also my American spices as well. So if you don’t know what a spice dhabba is, its a round container that has 6-8 cups inside that you fill with your every day masalas. This is very common in India and I personally love this, because If I have to open 5-10 jars in 2 mins while my food is about to burn just to add some spices, I know my hand and wrist will give out, but seriously all jokes aside you must transfer a small portion of your everyday American spices like garlic, onion powder, taco seasoning, smoked paprika, oregano, Italian seasoning into a spice dhabba and It be a game changer!