An Organized Spice Drawer - A Sanity Saver

If you're like me, you consider yourself a domestic goddess.  I often like to prepare "company" food for my family and that often requires spices. I probably have more spices than most but, and I say this truthfully, I use most of them on a weekly basis.  Now, I am also a bit on the cheap side, when it comes to groceries. I absolutely can NOT see the point in paying for name brand when no-name items are produced in the same factory, probably at the same time as their more expensive counterparts.

Periodically, I find myself in the spice aisle and I stock up on the necessary items, the ones in the yellow, no-name bags. If you buy all of the spices you need at one time, you could spend upwards of $100 or more. Now, and this is where it gets fun, I bring the packets home and try and pour them into the little jars that come with most spice racks.  I wish (really wish) that the spice-maker-people would connect with the spice-jar-maker people, because what I inevitably end up with is a spice rack full of jars that are packed to the brim with turmeric, black pepper, basil etc.  What I also end up with, though, is a Ziploc bag of half-full, yellow, no-name spice packets, which I know in that moment are never going to see the light of day.  HOW FRUSTRATING!!

So, when I was designing my current kitchen, I selfishly and purposefully designated one whole drawer to spices.  I purchased glass jars at one of the local dollar stores, pressed my trusty label maker into service and this is what I've ended up with:

and

For those of you who are particularly detail-oriented, yes, they are in alphabetical order and there are a total of 35 jars.  This, and I'm not exaggerating at all, has changed my life.  That should tell you a little something about me!

The Epidemic of the Black Garage Door

I don't spend a great deal of time contemplating this issue but I do feel as though black garage doors are done. Or should I say over-done.  I asked myself why I was so perturbed by this and this is the answer I got, "because when you open your front door, you see no less than 7 black garage doors." I live on a court where there are 10 houses, including mine.  That's a high percentage of black doors.  I also hasten to add that I am a big believer in hiding life's utilitarian objects such as TV clickers, toothbrushes and keys.  Along those lines, garage doors, while a big part of a home's facade, are utilitarian.  I'm not saying you can hide the doors, but you can disguise them.

 I give you Exhibit A:

A lovely, well-designed home.  The brick and stucco colour are excellent choices. With a big, black focal point.  What about the landscaping, the lovely rooflines?  To me, they aren't nearly as noticeable as the gaping mouth that is the garage door.

Now, I give you an improvement:

It's a small change but I think it puts more of the focus on the  real focal point of the home, which should always be the front door.  The black front door picks up on the black roof, so I think it works.

I think I'll just pop this photo (produced with Benjamin Moore's Personal Colour Viewer) in the neighbour's mailbox and call it a Public Service Announcement. I'm doing my bit to put a stop to the black garage door epidemic.