Egg Cartons Are The Overlooked Scrap That Keeps Spices Organized

While there's no shortage of genius clutter-free ways to store spices, very few are as inexpensive as this one. In a YouTube video shared by Graceful DIY, we learned how an empty egg carton can be all that's standing between us and a perfectly organized spice drawer. The one-step hack? Place an empty egg carton inside a drawer and then use each egg cup to hold the individual spice bottles. That's it!

A large egg is typically around 1.7 inches wide, which is the same sort of size as many standard spice jars (roughly 1.75 inches in diameter), so the bottles should sit securely in each carton slot, staying put even when you open and close the drawer. It's also customizable as cartons can be trimmed to fit smaller spaces, while multiple cartons can be placed side by side if you're working with a particularly large drawer.

In addition to being a great solution for stopping spice jars from rolling around inside your drawers, this egg carton-turned-spice tray can also help you to stay organized by keeping the jars in place and the labels visible at first glance. Being able to see everything at once makes cooking faster, and also means you don't end up with loads of duplicate spices when the original jar (inevitably) gets lost in the back of a cupboard.

Of course, this egg carton trick will work best for people who keep a supply of standard-sized spice jars. It'll be much less effective if your spices are stored in oversized grinders, bulky containers, or unusually shaped bottles. So before committing to this idea, consider the depth and height of your drawer and the dimensions of the jars you use the most.

An advantage to this system, however, is that it can grow gradually. Instead of buying an organizer designed for a full spice collection, you can add cartons to your drawer as your collection grows, from a few spices to a complete spice medley. This makes it an approach particularly useful for anyone who is a short-lease tenant or if you are about to move or have recently moved home, as well as people who are traveling, studying, or anyone simply trying to organize their kitchen on a budget.

Truly the biggest advantage of the egg carton method, though, is that it delivers many of the same benefits of a purpose-built spice drawer organizer without needing special equipment installed or any additional money spent. This makes it one of many clever reasons to keep your egg boxes, because transforming a piece of packaging otherwise destined for the recycling bin into something useful is actually priceless.