Many stores sell simple decorative bottles out of clear glass that have stoppers/pourers at the top that are intended for just this purpose. You can often find them relatively cheaply by going to a Walmart, or to the kitchen section of discount clothing stores like Ross or Marshalls. Inspect them to see if the stopper is of a nice, soft rubber; a few of the cheaper ones have stoppers of a cheap plastic that is hard to push into the neck of the bottle.

Alternatively, I have also bought some cute wine bottle stoppers (at Target, I think) and used them with nicely shaped bottles I got from other products, like interestingly-shaped foreign beer bottles that I removed the labels from.

My noticed my friend's really nice olive oil carafe and asked her about it. Turns out its a Rachel Ray item. I might get it, it'll fit in nicely in my kitchen and it comes in the red color i want. Here is a link...

Here is a link that might be useful: Oil carafe

I do prefer the original containers for storage, but have table servers if I want to use them. The cooking oil stays in a upper by the stove, which is also handy to the prep area. The small bottles of specialty oils and vinegars are in my spice rack, which ended up with extra space, and the jugs of white vinegar are under the laundry sink.

The best container for olive oil, and probably other oils as well, if you intend them to sit out, is a tin or ceramic jug. Light can make the oil break down.

I've had no problems with my olive oil turning bad in clear bottles in the kitchen, but that may be because I use it regularly and don't have it in a giant container sitting in direct sun.

Oxo Good Grips makes a bottle pourer/stopper that works great. I use 'em with a bunch of my oils and vinegars, which are stored on a pullout shelf in a cabinet near my cooktop. However, the olive oil stays on the counter near the cooktop. Like kudzu9, I use my olive oil so frequently it doesn't turn bad in the original bottle. Here's a link to one on Amazon. I got mine at The Container Store, but, you can find 'em at Linens n Things, BBB and other places, too.

Here is a link that might be useful: OXO Good Grips Pourer-Stopper

Also all in their original bottles on a pullout under my prep area. I have some pour tops but seldom use them since I usually make up a little vinaigrette or whatever in the kitchen and serve that.

I have a clear, decorative glass bottle for my EVOO. DH works for a restaurant supply store so he brought me some of those cool metal pour spouts used in liquor bottles at bars like Rhome mentioned. LOVE IT! Love it, love it. Sits next to the range at all times. Sauteing some veggies? Easy to grab and run around the pan. Measuring for a vinaigrette? Easy pour into the measuring cup.

I store the huge jug of olive for refills in a dark cabinet. My other specialty oils also stay in the dark cab or some in the fridge, like my nut oils. I only use vinegar for prepping, not pouring into a pan at the stove like oil so I keep those with the pantry goods.

I've never had EVOO in the glass bottle go bad either. I go through it fast enough. We eat lots of sauted veggies!

In original bottles in the cabinet next to the stove. Sesame oil is kept in the fridge.

I do the same as breezygirl. Several years ago, I received a gift of special EVOO from Williams-Sonoma. The bottle was very curvy & unique, greenish glass. I loved it & was sorry to see it go empty -- so I refilled it from a larger bottle! I put one of those pour tops in place of the cork, too. The large bottle stays in the pantry. The beautiful bottle next to the stove is handy & used so often it never goes bad.

We keep the large tin in a dark cabinet, but pour it into a pretty clear bottle I got of EVOO in Italy. It has a slight green tint, but not much - but we go through that bottle within a week, so it never goes bad. It still has the original wood stopper in perfect condition even though it's from 1995.

If you want to leave oil and vinegars out they must be in dark tinted glass bottles if you don't use them up quickly. Some of the nice ones already come in nice square dark green bottles that can be refilled.

We use so much olive oil that I've been thinking of a roof-mounted tank with dispensing hoses and nozzles above the range and prep area. It actually gets irritating to keep refilling the pretty little bottle with pour tip, from the great big bottle, every week.

I keep mine in an old blue wine bottle. The wine was brought over one night for dinner and I thought the bottle was so pretty (it also matched my kitchen decor at the time). I cleaned it out, bought one of those pouring spouts and have been using it for olive oil ever since. I keep it on the counter in my prep space right next to the stove. I usually buy the large size containers which I keep in the pantry then fill the bottle on the counter as needed. I use olive oil much more often than vinegar, plus I have several different types of vinegar, so I keep all of those in my lazy susan where my spices/etc are stored.

I like having it handy. I also keep kosher salt right next to olive oil on the counter in a covered decorative dish b/c I'm a salt pincher when I cook. :)

I do not like anything left out on the counter.
I like them to be stored above the counter level. I tried to store them in the drawers below the counter level and I did not like it. I could not tell quickly what they were looking down at their tops.
I have about 10 bottles of various cooking oils and vinegars in the upper on a lazy susan that sit in the upper cab (not a lazy susan cabinet). I use them all regularly: olive oil, sesame oil, vegetable oil, many different vinegars (wine,distlled, rice wine, mirin, soy sauce etc.) I only keep sauces in the ref only if they HAVE to be refrigerated.
I keep them in their original bottles and have replaced the tops with easy pour spouts. Then when I get a new bottle, I just swap out the pouring spout. Since they are inside the upper cabinets, I do not have the issues of sunlight breaking down the product.
I also need to see what they are quickly, I do not want them in decorave bottles that will have to have lables.

I've had sesame seed oil go rancid that's why I keep it refrigerated. The bottle of Tamari soy sauce says to keep in the fridge. I find that once opened most of those sauces start to lose their freshness and the flavor begins to change. If you use them within a week or two, probably not an issue.

I keep mine in an upper cabinet near the stove with the soy sauce, fish sauce, other vinegars, etc. I'm another person who does not like to keep things on the counter.

I have a small lazy susan next to the stove with oil, vinegar, salt and pepper grinders. We actually have two bottles of olive oil (because, invariably one of us will want one for dressing a salad, while the other needs it for the stove) and use clear wine bottles with the labels removed and pourers in the top. Canola in another clear wine bottle. We get through the olive oil fast enough that I can't ever imagine it spoiling - I decant from a large tin kept in the basement, regularly.

We use balsamic vinegar mostly, which comes in nice bottles anyway. I just add a pourer to the top.

Neither of us can cook without having those things within grabbing distance. The lazy susan keeps it all tidy.

john, heavy users of olive oil should consider something like this:

{{!gwi}}

Preferably filled out of the old-fashioned, four-liter square cans, of course.

Using the concept of a "working kitchen," we evaluated our habits and decided that oils and soy sauce and salt and pepper need to be close to range at all times. We built a niche behind range. When I find some good looking, affordable containers, I'll start using them, but for now it's the familiar old hodgepodge including slim bottles with original labels, some garlic cloves, and a reused jar filled with veg oil. Interestingly, now that we have a smooth top range, we also have a glass jar with range cleaner and razor blade in the niche.

Marcolo, I could use one of those metal faucet dispensers for my vegetable oil. Not happy with std large plastic container from grocery store--too tall to fit in any cab next to range, so I repackage oil into Mason jars usually.

Hmmm. Better yet, how about a NeverMT for oil? I could have countersunk a pump apparatus next to stove, right by my countersunk knives and utensils. Duh! [Dope slap to head!]

I have several that sit out. They come in pretty cork holders that hold 3 oils/vinegars at a time, and I get them at our local wineries. Check out Penman Springs winery. They have quite a selection of flavored grapeseed oils and vinegars.