This is the thread you need:
http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg02124116986.html

Here are some thread discussing spice and related storage:

How do you store a LARGE collection of spices?
spice drawers/inserts recommendations
Where do U store oils/vinegar/Spices - Pics Please
spice storage
Spice pullout in upper cabinet?
Do You Have a Spice Drawer You Love?

plllog, that thread appears to be missing. :o(
Nice to see you btw ... It's been awhile. :o)

I have all my spices in a drawer too - in little canning jars with labels on the lids. It has worked well for me for many years and I haven't come up with a better way yet either. I thought of moving them to a vertical pull-out in a bottom cabinet (as a spacer or something like that) but I wouldn't want to have to bend down so low to get one in the midst of cooking. I think as I get older, I'll want to even less. In an upper, I'd need a stool to reach the higher ones, so that doesn't seem all that practical, either.

Looking forward to seeing other suggestions, too.
~Missy

I store my spices in a drawer in little jars with labels on the lids. Prior to my new kitchen, I stored them in boxes shoved into the lower cabinets, in little jars with labels on the lids. :-) I like the real drawers better, LOL. If you have a LOT of spices (and I do), then I think the label-on-the-top technique is a more efficient use of the space than having them placed in such a way that the labels show.

Cj

I wish I could build a small space in the exterior wall inset into the backsplash like a medicine cabinet size. I could have a piece of marble or granite depending on my backsplash cut down to tile width and make sliding door that covers the spices so they blend when not cooking. But I moved my cooking work station to the island so I face my friends as opposed to being in Siberia for the next 20 years again lol...

If I did have the cooktop over on that wall, then a two pane little glass door that slides left and right the way old apartment medicine cabinets did long ago when I lived in an apartment in DC would be very sleek. The inside of the cabinet would be lovely, and there would be a small rope of LED giving the box a little glow when I needed to see inside to read the labels.

OR

how about a flip down spice rack from under the cabinet like a television set that can be tilted toward you. You could have two, I would have all my Italian and American type spices to the left of the cooktop, and all the Morrocan, Northern Africa and Indian spices in another flip down spice rack on the right. But I have located my cooktop on a peninsula for the social aspect of cooking for others and...

In our new kitchen I have an induction stove and an eat on- counter about 5 inches above the granite which makes a space for spices. The granite people are making me some 18 inch tiles from the granite backsplash so I can consider trying a sliding door for that are made out of the backsplash. They love the idea. Granite is awesome to clean - very easy - and blends well with the countertop and set backsplash which is lovely - and the stone is cool because its stone and induction puts out no heat. On the other hand its heavy and may not slide very well...so I may go with a gorgeous cherry wood long low door that slides back to reveal the spices. I really want them on the counter where I cook. Good luck and I hope you have them handy!

HI MISSY!!! (she said waving her hands over her head...)

Doesn't matter. I don't know what happened to that link -- I tested it! -- but it was supposed to lead to the first thread Buehl linked, so nothing's missing.

Marthasdream, You're definitely in the right place if you're thinking along these lines. That very treatment with the recess behind marble has been showcased here! (Scroll down to see them closed.) There's an aftermarket one that folds up under the cabinet too, but with plugmold and under cabinet lighting not many GW kitchens could use them, and some of us have way too many spices anyway. :)

Thank you everyone for the replies and ideas. Right now I have all the spices in a box (in jars), too, and it is NOT working! I shall try the drawer trick, with plain old jars and labels for now, and see how it goes. Although, I am really liking the idea of a hidden cabinet type thing at the back of the counter...

I love the idea of the hidden medicine cabinet type storage, but I'd like it to the side of the cooking area -- maybe behind or beside my baking area, but other things tend to get in the way there (like a mixer). My kitchen doesn't have enough space, but in another setting it could work. The problem with behind the cooktop is having to reach over steaming and/or splattering pots and pans unless you have everything out when you start cooking. It wouldn't work for the way I cook. And that doesn't even consider the issue of heat deteriorating the spices quicker.

I have the drawer and mine is pictured in at least one of the threads that pops up frequently. It is a drawer next to my cooktop and under my baking counter. It works really well because I can have all my spices in one area for cooking and baking, I can see everything at a glance, always know where to reach for things, no moving of one jar to get to another, etc. I've also developed a system of turning an empty or nearly empty jar over so I know which ones need filling. It really works better than anything I've had before. I think you'll like it.