Recycling 12 Bottle Spice Rack To Hold 36 (54) Spices

[Kathleen]

First, understand that I am not a crafty person but I am a problem-solver! Between Frank and I, we had a spice problem in that our spices were cluttered and all over the place. My spices were by the stove. His were in a bin. Our kitchen is quite small so space is limited.

I had an old spice rack that held 12 unusable spices. I say they were unusable because the bottles would not hold a newly purchased container of spices nor could one really retrieve spices that were inside of the small bottles easily. In looking at new spice racks, I could not find any that really appealed or would even come close to holding our spices.

Using the old spice rack frame, and purchasing 52 small food grade tins, I now have a spice rack that holds 36 spices and stacks another 16 for a total of 52 spices! (Pinch me!) Plus, we can actually SEE what we have. Maybe we will not end up with three jars of crushed red pepper again.

For before and after pictures, I created an album called Spice Project. Here is the finished product. Keep in mind that it all fits behind the kitchen door too and completely freed up much needed space in one of my cabinets! And it cost us less than $50 bucks. YAY!

We may add a small bin-like shelf beneath to hold extracts and such, if needed. Not sure whether we want that yet.

 

[Zhizara]

Maybe not crafty, but definitely very clever. Nice job, especially hiding it all behind the door.

 

[Kathleen]

Maybe not crafty, but definitely very clever. Nice job, especially hiding it all behind the door.

Thanks! I love that I can see all of the labels at a glance. In putting this together, we found 3 jars of crushed red pepper, two jars of mint, two jars of oregano, and found we did not need to get powdered onion. It was a fun project to do - especially since we got a cleaned out space in a cabinet.

 

[Janet H]

That's really clever - I love the cans! It looks sculptural and practical as well.

 

[Kathleen]

That's really clever - I love the cans! It looks sculptural and practical as well.

Thanks! I wanted them all to fit within the rack, but someone's grilling spices put me over that limit.

I definitely plan to place a small shelf-like bin beneath the rack, so the extras may end up there along with extracts, etc.

~Kathleen

 

[PrincessFiona60]

Excellent! I keep thinking I'm going to revamp my pantry, but we are planning on moving in the spring to larger digs. Would be silly for me to do it now...especially since I have holes to patch from all the redos I've done over the years.

 

[Kathleen]

Excellent! I keep thinking I'm going to revamp my pantry, but we are planning on moving in the spring to larger digs. Would be silly for me to do it now...especially since I have holes to patch from all the redos I've done over the years.

We still need to revamp the pantry. Unfortunately we seem to have irreconcilable differences regarding our philosophy of pantry organization. (The one with the Y c'some wastes valuable space.)

 

[PrincessFiona60]

We still need to revamp the pantry. Unfortunately we seem to have irreconcilable differences regarding our philosophy of pantry organization. (The one with the Y c'some wastes valuable space.)

Can't see around corners...or above/below eye level.

 

[Kathleen]

Can't see around corners...or above/below eye level.

That is one of the reasons I needed that lower cabinet!

 

[sparrowgrass]

I have tried spice racks, but I keep returning to a dedicated spice drawer. The bottles are on their sides, labels up, and I don't have any trouble finding them. I have little baskets in the drawer to keep them from rolling around, and I suppose if I was more organized (like that is going to happen any time soon) they would be sorted by type or alphabetized.

 

[pacanis]

That's pretty cool.
Where did you find all those tins?

 

[PrincessFiona60]

That is one of the reasons I needed that lower cabinet!

There was a time when my 2 cup measure kept making it to the top shelf. I had to drag out the step stool to reach it and I use it daily. There WAS a discussion on appropriate storage.

 

[Rocklobster]

Nice job! I need somethint like that. I see those tins at the dollar store and keep thinking I should invest. My spices are all in baggies in a bin. not good, I'm sure.

 

[Kathleen]

I have tried spice racks, but I keep returning to a dedicated spice drawer. The bottles are on their sides, labels up, and I don't have any trouble finding them. I have little baskets in the drawer to keep them from rolling around, and I suppose if I was more organized (like that is going to happen any time soon) they would be sorted by type or alphabetized.

I used to do that a very long time ago. Now, I had two problems doing it. First, I had more spices than would fit in a single drawer in my tiny kitchen. Second, I didn't have a spare drawer so had to use part of a cabinet. I really needed another solution.

That's pretty cool.
Where did you find all those tins?

I got the tins here! I chose these particular tins because they were food grade, under a buck a piece, and did NOT nest. Also, the clear plastic covering was nice as I could sight-check my spices. Okay, the real reason I got those tins were that they fit the dimensions of the old spice rack PERFECTLY. No over hang and not crammed in.

There was a time when my 2 cup measure kept making it to the top shelf. I had to drag out the step stool to reach it and I use it daily. There WAS a discussion on appropriate storage.

Honestly, I need to do that in every closet: Clear out old and rarely used items so that the things I use daily have a more accessible place to go. We also have that issue in the kitchen. My popcorn bowl is too high for me to reach. So are my daily-used Pyrex glassware. The decorative bowl, that has never been used, that my mother gifted to Frank, holds prime real estate though. Change is good.

Nice job! I need somethint like that. I see those tins at the dollar store and keep thinking I should invest. My spices are all in baggies in a bin. not good, I'm sure.

Thanks! I kept looking for other spice options. I found few spice ideas that were cheaper than what I did. One that I considered was an IKEA solution where the containers attached with a magnet to a wall plate. With my kitties that LOVE to detach items from walls, not a good solution for us. I mean I would have to pray for the kitty that made off with Frank's secret Chili Mix.

~Kathleen

 

[babetoo]

checked out your bottle site. doesn't seem like much money til you start adding up all the herbs, etc, in cupboard. will go and see what can be throw away. then will add up cost. do labels come with them?

 

[Kathleen]

checked out your bottle site. doesn't seem like much money til you start adding up all the herbs, etc, in cupboard. will go and see what can be throw away. then will add up cost. do labels come with them?

It cost us $33.28 for our 52 tins, which was a lot cheaper than most other storage systems I found even after adding on the $7.00 for shipping. We already had a label-maker and used clear tape with black print for the tins. I didn't include the label-maker and tape in the cost since we already had it. If I had to guess how much we spent, I would guess around $5.00 worth of tape.

I looked at a lot of spice cabinets and storage options. Most would not hold half of what was needed and cost a lot more than $50, so I felt it was a cheap, and happy solution. Plus, I was glad to be able to "recycle" the rack, which I already had. We have a pile of glass bottles for the recycling collector.

 

[babetoo]

thanks for the info. need to think about it for a while. i have one attached under a cabinet, a holder i mean. paid to much bucks for it and hardly ever use it. gonna put away my cannister set, too. takes up to much room and i just had to dump a whole one of flour and one of rice. the pantry moths got them, how long ago i don't know. though i had them all taken care of.