After the closet my next task was the kitchen. I just love everything about our kitchen, except the lack of storage space for pantry items. We have a pretty small house, and that includes a small kitchen. Not the ideal situation for a family who likes to cook and have a variety of beans/grains/dry goods on hand. We currently use the largest cabinet in the corner for food storage. It is quite annoying to organize though, and most of my jars and whatnot get shoved to the back over time and I lose track of what I have on hand and what I am out of. We buy a almost all of our dry goods from the bulk bins at Whole Foods and store them in recycled glass jars. They don't hold a lot, maybe 1-2 cups, but it is usually enough for a decent size meal, then I make sure to buy enough to refill them next time I shop. I decided to utilize another cabinet that was formerly holding plastic storage containers that we rarely used (I try and store everything in glass.) Unable to find a storage solution for the narrow cabinet I decided to use, I made my own!
Here is my custom-made, tiered, jar-holding, shelf-organizer thingy:
Here is how I did it:
Step #1: Measure cabinet. (Notice the unorganized jars stacked on top of each other!)
Step #2: Go to Lowes and buy the wood and supplies that you need (paint, wood glue, etc.) I bought a 1"x4"x4" (maybe 3 ft long?) and a 1"x3"x4" (same length.) I had them cut the pieces to my desired length (I don't like using power saws!) Sand the ends of the wood for a nice finish.
Step #4: Glue wood pieces together. The bottle said to clamp the wood together but I found that tight rubber bands worked fine.
Step #5: Just before I glued the last two pieces together, I realized if I put it together completely it would be too large to fit inside the cabinet and position appropriately. Erik recommended that I put a couple of pegs between the two big pieces so I could put them both in the cabinet individually, and then push them together once they were both in place. I found two small metal pegs in the toolbox and realized they would work perfectly.
First I marked where I wanted the holes to go. Unable to find our drill bits to drill the holes I did the next best thing. I used the power screwdriver and a screw to make a hole of the appropriate size. Then I hammered in the pegs. Tools I used:
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| (notice how my hammer has a cat face on the end, haha... meow!) |
Step #6: Admire finished work (assuming it all goes together when you put the pegs in!)
Step #7: Paint desired color. Our cabinets are white so I painted it to match.
Step #8: Put in cabinet and add jars/spices/cans. Use label maker for extra-organization. ;)
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| In case you are curious: (Back to front, left to right): Popcorn, Quinoa, Oat Groats, Black Beans, Himalayan Pink Rice, Wild Ride, Chickpeas, Barley, Sushi Rice, Chia Seeds, Split Peas, and Lentils... All organic whenever possible. |
I am super happy with how it turned out. It is very sturdy and fits in the cabinet exactly how I wanted it to. It only holds 12 jars, but as it turns out that is nearly everything I keep on hand from the bulk isle. We keep brown rice and rolled oats in larger containers since we use those so often, and those fit fine in our other cabinet.
Total project cost: $4 for the wood. I used wood glue, white paint, and metal pegs we already had on hand.
After this project I am pretty much Bob Vila. Minus the mustache. Or Martha Stewart. Minus the criminal record... Haha, I think you get my point...
Now, what can I organize next??
;)
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