Thursday, August 11, 2011

The List: Spice Storage


We like to cook.  And have a lot of spices, herbs, sauces and various ingredients to show for it.  For years we've used a sideboard (which I recently learned is actually a baby changing table.)  It was overflowing, but we've made it work.


Unfortunately, it didn't quite fit in then kitchen.  We turned it on its side, and have made due for months because of budget.  I finally couldn't take it anymore and sold the sideboard on ebay.  And then started frantically looking for a replacement.  Not only constrained by budget, we also had a very limited space to work with  (66 cm at the most.)  I'll spare you the details, but I went to a lot of effort trying to find new spice storage.

Finally!  We found a wall unit, not very lovely, but priced at 40 pounds and space requirement I was just glad to get it.


It's laminate and had some dings.  Niall agreed to go with this piece if I promised to paint it.   The process took a while (allowing the various coats to cure.)  I used Wickes Cupboard Paint in white mist and ended up putting on three-four coats.


I was going to put on a protective finishing coat, but Niall was pretty anxious to get things back in order.  He brought the painted unit back in the house and filled it to surprise me.   I cut some scrap pieces of wood to size, glued them and painted them and used it as steps for some of the spices.


The four drawers weren't deep enough for the storage we watned, so I detached two of the drawers and just used the fronts.  I glued the drawer fronts to the two complete drawers so we had two drawers with deeper storage.  I may have gone overboard on reinforcing the drawers but I didn't want them to come apart.


And we got some small jars from Ikea to fill with spices that never saw the light of day (which isn't always a bad thing) because there wasn't space on the sideboard.


Now, newly painted, reinforced and loaded up...our new spice storage.  I'm pretty happy about it.


The handles are "reclaimed".  There was a wardrobe on the side of the road with lovely hardware.  The owner said I was welcome to take them.



I used the wood steps to give height.


And we finally have a place to put bread and produce.


Oh, bless ebay for helping us get rid of a sideboard that wasn't working.  I love having all these cooking ingredients at my fingertips!


1 comment:

LaModMom said...

This looks wonderful. I recently sanded and painted an old writing desk for Aarica's room that I bought on craigslist and I never want to do it again. You did a spice cabinet and a bathroom cabinet. I admire your skills and patience!