Folks, it's happened. My collection of flavors has EXPLODED over the last few months and only continues to grow more and more.
Currently, I have these clear plastic shoe-boxed sized tubs that I store all my flavors in. I have one tub for each major manufacturer (TFA, CAP, FA, etc) that I store on some shelves. Recently, my TFA and FA tubs have reached maximum capacity. This poses two issues, one I can't buy any more flavors and store them in the same box neatly. Two, trying to sift through the tub to find a specific flavor out of 50+ is an absolute pain and a waste of time.
The wife and I are heading to Lowe's and Home Depot later to take a look at the option of building a shelf unit in which each row(s) will be specific to the manufacturer and I can alphabetize my flavors for easy accessibility. Some things I'll need to be aware of is difference in size of bottles, I have several variations in size of bottles (13ml, 30ml, 120ml) so the unit needs to be able to accommodate this.
I'm curious if any of you other DIY'ers have ran into this "problem" and have done the same and if so, would you mind sharing a picture of your setup for inspiration sake?
http://shop.hobbylobby.com/products/antique-brown-wooden-wall-shelf-with-12-slots-998450/
This is what I use. I have everything alphabetized. This may be too small for you though, based on your post.
My wife made me this quick access shelf for my most commonly used flavorings. Picture of my quick access shelf
It hangs on the side of a cabinet using hangers that straddle the top lip. Works fantastic for quick mixing and finding stuff.
Oh and I'm already out of room on it.... sigh
How'd she make that?
I hate living in a small apartment and not having any power tools. ><
Just bought some precut wood, a quarter inch back board, we already had a rouch idea of how long/wide we wanted each individual shelf, stained it and screwed it all together and added L brackets for support (plus hangers for the backer board). She used L shaped plexi glass for the see through sidings. It might look a bit janky in spots, because were not carpenters, but it works just perfectly fine!
Tools used: Power drill, Scissors (to cut the Plexi), Brushes. Thats all.
Oh wow, that is perfect! I'd probably need to make mine larger but this is great! Thanks for posting this!!
No problem, happy to help! And yes, mine also needs to be about twice the size of this hehe, but it was a great quick access shelf! The best part of this shelf, is that it sits on top of a wall/cabinet, so it is taking up a very minimal amount of space, yet I have full access to everything immediately as I feel a mix coming up!
I know the pain. I photograph cosmetics and I got a bunch of nail polish racks from work. 30ml bottles fit in perfectly, it has five shelves with 8 columns on each shelf. I can keep 5 bottles in each column (edit) so when I make multiple batches of the same flavor I keep the oldest in the front and newest in the back. I have two racks filled with flavors steeping, keep them organized by flavor groups. I have a third I lined with paper towels that I use to dry bottles after washing. The racks also stack so I keep them in a closet. I'll try to find similar ones to link when I get off work, they work great for me, but I have to keep 60ml bottles in a drawer until I find something to fit them.
Check out this post, alternatively what about spice racks, nail polish display stands or something along the Kings of a rotating display stand like a zippo stand?
Spice racks are a very good option, one of the things I was planning on checking out when we go out in town later this evening.
I really like nail polish stands because it adds that staggered effect which allows me to maximize space while still being able to read the labels but most I've seen are set for nail polish bottles size so that doesn't give me the flexibility I'm looking for with all my different types of bottle sizes. I may be able to fabricate something like this out of wood though.
I was debating on taking one of my display cases and dedicating it to flavors but I'm not sure how my wife would handle me finding a new home for everything in it already and displaying my obsession to all of our visitors, haha.
I'm not trying to hijack this thread, but are there any good toolboxes / tackle boxes for being mobile? I'm about to move across the country with everything I have.
I have about 90 flavors, so here is my solution. I bought 2 Ziplok weathertight boxes at walmart, roughly 24x12x6. I picked them because of the lid having foam on the top so that when you snap the clasps closed it is then airtight.( all those smells drove both of us nuts). Then went back to the crafts section and bought 2 thick foam blocks that needed only a little trimming to fit inside. Lastly took 1 inch paddle bit and made 48 holes. Now, all alphabetical, and quickly taken out and put away, very mobile. And no smells!! Another small tote for misc and now everything stays put away in a corner of the closet till needed.
http://imgur.com/mZENv2P This is my setup.
Are those pieces of green/white foam stacked on top of each other, or am I crazy? It's actually a neat idea - you could make the spots for the bottles really easily.
Also I am extremely jealous of your set up and all your flavors.