As an avid home cook I have A LOT of spices. And as a Manhattanite, I don’t have a lot of counter or cabinet space to spare or fill with innumerable spice containers. When I moved into my most recent apartment, I immediately began looking into spice rack solution and was disappointed with my options because:

• Many racks didn’t have enough containers to accommodate my collection, so I’d have to buy multiple racks (and where would I put those?)
• I didn’t care about having identical jars as much as saving space
• They required mounting, and I am 1. not handy and 2. have concrete walls so see #1 again
• Some spice sets came with pre-defined labels that do not fit my global spice collection
• The cost of having to buy one or more racks that didn’t fit my needs
• They seemed inconvenient to access while cooking because I’d need to store it far from the stove or in a place that required a step stool

Nope, I was looking for something affordable, customizable, and countertop friendly. Cue the solution: test-tube spice “rack”. I’m not going to claim I designed this myself, I definitely found it on the internet but I can’t remember the site. A big shoutout to the inventor for being a lifesaver! This solution checks all the boxes:

• Affordable – you can get a set of 10 for $7.25 on Amazon here, but there are a variety of options depending on the size of your collection
• Customizable – I got a set with cork stoppers and I wrote the spice names in Sharpie, so I could label according to my collection. I can also buy more tubes at any time.
• Countertop Friendly: They are 1/2″ wide each so you can fit many right on your countertop even in a small apartment

As an added bonus, I found it easier to measure teaspoons/tablespoons with the test tubes. They are also pretty durable, but I have learned the hard way if you drop them at the exact wrong angle they can shatter so they are not unbreakable.

I store the spices themselves in an out-of-the-way, hard-to-reach shelf and refill as needed using a small funnel. You’ll also need to store the test tubes in a box with enough width and height to stand them up. I used an empty Tupperware. You can be as creative or simple as you want!

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DIY Test Tube Spice Rack

Supplies

• 1 or more sets of glass test tubes with cork stoppers (such as these)
• Sharpie or fine-point marker
• Small funnel (less than 1/2″ mouth)
• Box or container to store them
• Spices

Directions

1. Use the funnel to pour the spices into each tube. Go slowly to avoid overfilling.
2. Label each tube with the spice name by writing it in Sharpie on the cork stopper.
3. Store in a box or container where the tubes can stand up and you can easily read the names.
4. Refill tubes as needed.