Our cool new spicerack

Elizabeth saw this post from a fellow Austinite, and immediately went Ooh! She forwarded it to me, and we started in on this DIY project.

Before:

After:

 

It was a very simple project to do, and now finding the right spice is super easy. This pantry is adjacent to the counter where we do most of our cooking, so the spices are more convenient to get at than before. (and when I say “where we do most of our cooking”, I really mean “where Elizabeth does most of the cooking”)

Alton Brown has a similar setup in his Good Eats kitchen, but his tins are secured to the back of cabinet doors by velcro. I think this setup is much cleaner looking, and easier to use.

Materials

• Two magnetic dry erase boards (ours are made by Quartet, and can be found at any office supply store). Our pantry door is narrow, and the larger board would have been too large, so instead we used 2 medium size boards. One is 23″ x 16″, the other is 16″ x 16″. These boards come in a plethora of sizes, especially if you look online.
• 20 3-packs of Kamenstein Magnetic Storage Tins.
• 3M double-sided tape. I used the mounting brackets that came with the white boards, but also used double-sided tape on the board edges so that there’s no movement of the board.
• We already had a Brother label maker, but we did need to purchase another roll of labeling tape.

 

Mount the boards to the door, label the tins, fill with spices, and place the tins on the board. That’s it. One of the simplest projects you’ll ever do.
OK, the labeling took a little while, but my wife lover her label maker, so I think this part was kinda fun for her.

 

 

 

Storage Tins

The Kamenstein canisters are a great quality, and the lids fit very tight. Be careful if you drop them though, as they do dent easily. The entire bottom of the canister is a magnet, which helps hold them tight to the board. They also have 2 different size openings, so you can shake the spices out if you want.

I was worried about how secure the canisters would be. I envisioned opening our pantry door, and finding a mess of assorted spices at my feet. But - no worries.  Everything holds very well. We open and close the pantry door all the time, and the canisters don’t budge at all.

Credits

Special Thanks to Lance Vaughn - all we really did was copy his project.