I know it’s not just me. You care about your body and want that extra boost of immunity, so you grab a few supplements and (try to) take them daily. You keep them in the kitchen (or bathroom, or bedroom) in a cabinet, but the bottles are large and bright and you can’t quite keep your vitamins organized because vitamin storage is kind of a pain. Right?
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We keep both vitamins and some quick-grab meds in a cabinet in our kitchen. It’s a convenient location for us because it’s next to the coffee mugs, which we reach for religiously every morning.
I was having a hard time accessing the vitamins and medicine I needed when I just had the bottles lined up in the cabinet, so I searched for a better solution.
Lazy Susan Vitamin Organization?
Maybe a turntable will help with vitamin and medicine organization? Those are all the rage and can solve any hard-to-reach problem, right? Tried it. Not ideal for my family.
I measured my cabinet and then purchased a turntable. It was a perfect fit in the cabinet, which was a great start, but then I filled it with our vitamins and medicines.
While we don’t have an extensive collection of vitamins and medicines, I couldn’t really get the turntable to work. The vitamin bottles were too large and bulbous, sometimes I could get them to fit into the turntable, but they had to be arranged just so. It was a lot of trouble.
Plus, it got to where I had extra bottles lined up on the outside of the turntable, defeating the purpose of even having a vitamin storage solution.
If you think a turntable might work for your vitamins, I recommend one with lower sides like this, instead of one pictured above.
On to the next idea.
Acrylic Bin Vitamin Storage?
I repurposed the failed vitamin turntable into a “snacks to go” center in our mudroom (it’s very popular amongst the under-10 crew I bunk with) and instead tried a cabinet-deep acrylic bin.
I measured carefully (again) and bought a set of bins. Since it was a set of two bins which would fit side-by-side in my cabinet, I planned on using one for medicines and one for vitamins.
I was hoping it was going to be a better solution for storing vitamins than the turntable, and it kind of was, but not quite. The medicines are smaller, so they all fit nicely into the bins. Those vitamins, though… the bottles are so unnecessarily large, and they’re annoyingly empty.
So, the vitamins were mostly stored in the bins, except there was always one that wouldn’t fit. Tough choices, should I stack it on top of the other vitamins or should I stick it in the cabinet next to my bin.
But what else could I do?
Small Medicine Bottles
A bit of a side note here… I buy the smaller bottles of medicine on purpose. Yes, I know that the larger bottles are less expensive when looking at the unit price, but the bottle itself cost more. Plus, we don’t take a lot of medicine and I found the larger bottles were going unused, and I was having to dispose of the unused medicine, which was inconvenient. The smaller bottles are simpler to contain in bins in both my bathroom and my kitchen, so I’m Team Small Bottle.
Vitamin Storage Inspiration
I could decant.
Every January, I deep clean and organize my kitchen. It’s pretty cathartic and I half-love it, half-hate it. As an organizer, I think over-the-top thoughts about the most efficient ways to store items within the kitchen and what I should and should not decant.
“Decant” is organizer-talk for moving items from the container they came in into another container.
Recently I transferred all my spices to glass jars and I’m kind of in love and then it occurred to me. If I could decant spices and pantry goods, why in the world couldn’t I decant vitamins?
I grabbed a few of my glass spice jars and tested them out in my previously purchased acrylic bins. Two jars fit perfectly side-by-side in the bin.
I had a plan.
Decanting Vitamins
Unfortunately, inspiration had struck smack in the middle of a No Spend Challenge, so as soon as that ended, I raced to amazon and purchased a set of glass jars.
Somehow, the first set was not an exact match to the spice jars I had previously ordered — I’m not sure why or how since I purchased the same set that I purchased for my spices. Two of the spice jars in the bin ground against each other, so I returned them and ordered another set.
The second set of glass jars I purchased were perfect. I recommend purchasing this specific set if you’re interested in doing this project.
I loaded the vitamins up in to the glass jars.
Then, I put the jars in the bins. We only had 6 bottles of vitamins, which easily fit into my mdesign bins with room to spare for 4 additional bottles, if needed.
I emptied 5 out of 6 bottles completely into the glass jars and happily recycled them. The one large jar I have left, I’ve put in the back of the bin (can you spot it in the picture?). I may move it to a top shelf of my cabinet. I should only need to grab it once a month or so when I need to refill the glass jar. It’s a price I’m willing to pay for convenient vitamin storage.
Vitamin Organization Labels
So how do I know which vitamins are in which jars? And how will I know when they expire?
I labeled them, of course. You can’t have vitamin organization without labels, can you?
Using a sharpie paint pen, I wrote the name of each vitamin on the outside of each glass jar. I then checked the expiration date on the original jars and wrote that on the bottom of each jar. I considered writing the strength of each vitamin on each jar, but I didn’t this time. If I find it’s needed, I’ll write it next time.
Am I concerned about losing the label? No. The internet is a big place with lots of info. I purchased most of my vitamins on amazon. If I need details, I’m confident I’ll be able to find them.
Paint Pen Labels
I use an oil based pen on purpose. Water based paint pens MAY rub off or smear if they get wet. I don’t expect my vitamin jars to get wet until I’m ready to wash them, but it is a kitchen and if there’s a spill on the counter, who knows.
I’m considering applying vinyl labels onto my vitamin jars, as I did with my spices, but I’m not ready to do that yet. Even if I do, I will still use the marker to label the bottom of the jar.
Light-Sensitive Vitamin Storage
Before doing this project, keep in mind that some vitamins are light sensitive and may be less effective if exposed to light too often.
I keep my vitamins in a dark cabinet, so I’m pretty confident that my vitamins will be okay.
Another option, if you’re concerned, is to purchase amber jars instead of clear glass jars, although they won’t be quite as space-saving as the square jars I purchased.
Vitamin Organization & Storage
Once I transferred vitamins into the jars, labeled the jars, and arranged them within my bins, I slid my bins into my cabinet and smiled. It just looks so nice and fits so well.
I have medicine stored in one bin and vitamins stored in a second. There are no overflowing bottles or extra rows of vitamins that don’t fit into the bins.
I’m very happy with this solution in my kitchen and in my life. On my Instagram page, I called this “above and beyond organizing” and it is, BUT it saves me space and helps my kitchen function efficiently, so maybe it’s not that over the top.
Considering using this vitamin storage and organization system? Leave a message and let me know!
