We’ve been in our new home for almost 3 months, and while I feel like we’re settling into it more and more, there are some areas that need a bit more of that homey touch.
One area I’ve recently worked on is my home apothecary.
Seeing how I work from home as an herbalist for the Herbal Academy, herbs are an everyday part of my life, whether it’s making and using herbal preparations or researching herbs online or from books. That means I need my home apothecary and herbal library to be organized and accessible so I can make the best use of it.
In our house on the mountain, my home apothecary consisted of my bulk herbs, in-process preparations, and other supplies, all stored in a closet in my office. I also had shelves and a desk in my office where I stored all of my herbal books and notebooks as well. All of my finished preparations and other wellness and first-aid supplies were stored in a natural medicine cabinet in our bathroom.
In our new house, I’ve chosen not to have a dedicated space for an office.
Before we moved, we originally we were going to turn our garage into an office, but after living here for a while, I decided that I didn’t really need that much space all to myself. Instead, I would rather turn the garage into a homeschool room. I mean, I have many more school things to store than I do office supplies. We also use these things on a daily basis so books and other school supplies are always being dragging out and not always put away. Plus, I’ve always thought it would be nice to have a dedicated place for all of it rather than having it stored in random places throughout the house. In our last house, all of our school stuff was on a big shelf in my office, but in this house, with an entire room just for school, we can have maps on the wall, a chalkboard to use, an art table, and so many more things I’d love to have.
So, as I’ve unpacked boxes and tried to figure out the best way to organize all the things that make up my home apothecary, I’ve pretty much settled on using some of the space and furniture in our dining room area.
In this space, we have a large cabinet with open shelves above that house my bulk herbs and herbal books. On the shelves, in addition to my herbal books, you’ll find my essential oils and herbal supplies like my mortar and pestle, kitchen scale, cheesecloth, so on and so forth as well as a few decorative pieces to make it look nice.
Over time, I’m sure I’ll add more books and whatnot to fill the space in a bit more. I’m excited to see this area fill out over the years!
We also found this antique piece that has a secretary desk with drawers below and a cabinet above that I’m using to store for a few different things. The cabinet has become my natural medicine cabinet where I store finished herbal preparations and other natural wellness supplies. The drawers on the bottom hold containers like tins, jars, bottles, tubes, baskets, etc. I’m not certain what I’ll do with the secretary desk part just yet. It’s not big enough for my notebooks, but maybe I’ll store important notes and papers here. We’ll see.
The only thing I have not yet found a place for are my bulk skincare supplies like waxes, oils, powders, etc. We have an antique buffet table in our dining room that we don’t really use as a buffet, so I may store those things in there for now. However, I imagine I will want to use it as a traditional buffet at some point, housing table cloth covers, nice silverware, dishes, and glasses, and whatever else one stores in a buffet. Until then, though, I’ll store these extras there.
So there it is. My new home apothecary—or at least the beginning of it. Only time will tell if everything remains here, but for now, I like that it’s in an open space and that I can access everything easily.
Speaking of a home apothecary. If you too would like to create a home apothecary filled with herbs and natural preparations to care for your family, let me invite you to the Making Herbal Preparations 101 mini-course—a course that I helped to create over at the Herbal Academy!
Making Herbal Preparations 101
It seems that everyone these days is talking about herbs and how to use them to support everyday wellness. And while herbalism has been around since time began, it’s only recently become more popular or mainstream.
With that said, learning about the way that herbs are used and prepared for everyday use is not that hard. All you need is a guiding hand, and that’s where the Making Herbal Preparations 101 mini-course can assist you.
This course is the perfect entry point into the wild and wonderful world of herbs! It not only teaches about basic herbal preparations, but it will help you build your own repertoire of exciting, nourishing formulas and build your home apothecary one preparation at a time! If you’re a beginner to herbalism, this mini herbal course is for you!
Here’s what you can expect from this course!
- You will get detailed information on four basic categories of herbal preparations, such as water-, sweet-, alcohol-, and oil-based preparations, including information on what they are, why they work the way that they do, when to use them, and of course, how to make them.
- You will also learn about 12 herbs that are safe for most people and can be used for your everyday needs. These herbs would make a great starting point for your home apothecary!
- You will get 33 DIY herbal recipes, from teas and tinctures to salves and oils, that you can make and use in your home for common, everyday ailments.
This course will guide you through 7 convenient and compact lessons that are chock-full of hands-on activities, videos, and helpful herbal charts to guide you on your way to making herbal preparations at home.
Learn even more about the Making Herbal Preparations 101 mini-course right here!
Love and light,
Meagan