Space Under Your Kitchen Cabinets....

I'm feeling a lot better now!! Thanks for all your well wishes, I really appreciate all your support. I won't go another year without a flu shot. This is the first year I didn't get it and needless to say..............I got it with the addition of strep throat. Never again!!

I've talked about the space above kitchen cabinets in past posts so now we'll take a look at the space below them. I am not very lucky in my kitchen and have very little counter space, so I really look for ways to maximize my counters. Last year I purchased a very nice stainless steel spice rack that sat on the counter next to the stove top. It looked beautiful there for a while until several things became apparent: It took up way too much space and it constantly had to be cleaned. The thing drove me nuts! I had to get rid of it. When I was just about to store all my spice bottles back into the cabinet something occurred to me: why not somehow use the space below the cabinets? It's there, doing nothing, so why not put it to use. I decided to build a long, narrow spice rack to tuck right under my cabinet where I could store my spices. Conveniently located, easy to clean and out of the way.

Here is how I did it. I started out by measuring how long a piece of wood I would need to fit all of my 20 bottles. It turned out to be about 36 inches long and only needed to be about 4 inches wide. I use Hobby Wood that I bought at Home Depot. They carry hobby wood in the lumber department. They happen to come in just the right size so I didn't even have to cut it. I found three scrap pieces of wood and cut them all the same length=6". I screwed them into the back of my shelf and then into the back of my cabinet.

See photo:

When I screwed it into the cabinet I made the hole just a little bigger so a wood button could be glued into the hole. It gives it a more finished look.

I added this rope trim that I also had at home. Cut to fit, glued with wood glue and two small nails for extra security. It was painted, hung and ready for some action.

I placed all the spice bottles back on the rack, but not before making all new labels for them using some fancy silver Avery labels

Here again are the final results and now you can see how much space this opens up for me. Plenty of room for canisters, tea kettle and the rooster. Ok, I really have to move the rooster! I can't tell you how convenient this is for me. Not pictured is the stove top which is to the left of the canisters. The spices are so convenient for cooking. I'm now looking for some other ways to utilize this empty space below the cabinets. I'll let you know what else I may come up with.

Next Post: A challenge for all my readers. Someone sent me a difficult floor plan. She needs some ideas on what to do with this space. I'm going to post the photos, email and some of my suggestions. I'm hoping that you will post some of your creative and helpful ideas for this room. Come back and check it out!!

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