I love having a ton of tea around, but it does take up a lot of space. The worst is when you run out but don't notice because the box is still on the shelf (the joys of living with roommates!). So I tried using a big jar, but they all got jumbled and I didn't love it. I collect tapes and records and we got a ton of wonderful wooden tape holders from a thrift store this summer. We used 2 of them in the bathroom to line the walls (a good soundtrack for the pre or post work shower is so nice!) but we couldn't fit the last one so we decided to save it for random use. I was thinking about what I could use to hold the tea and keep it organized but not take up a ton of space, and it hit me! So I grabbed the tape holder and cleaned it up. We tried using it horizontally but the tea bags were a little to small and slid around. Vertically it is perfect!
We had a little space in the corner of the kitchen that was lonely and the perfect space to put the shelf. We just used a few screws and a drill, but a nail and hammer would work as well. Make sure you nail it in in the 4 corners (they will be pre drilled usually), because if you don't it can wobble a little and make the tea spill!
I had a ton of loose bag tea so we decided to put it in some mason jars to keep it nice and organized. Separate containers work best, when I mixed them I noticed some of the flavors seemed off.
I always stash my honey near my tea, so we used the top of the shelf for storage. So far it has been great, it can fit about 3 honeys and 3 jars of tea. I decided to not store my ceramic sugar caddy because it didn't fit super well and it was pretty heavy after it was all the way full.
They have small slats cut in every one of the dividers, so I don't like to over crowd the tea or it tends to fall out. I just stick between 3 and 4 bags in each space. You could fill each of the slats but I just decided I liked the way it looks now and might try to do that a little later on, if I do I will post a how to!
I love the way this looks! It cleared up and shelf of much needed space in the pantry, its out of the way and the bright colors look so fun in the kitchen! I hope you enjoy!