We have a tiny kitchen.  The stove crammed next to the sink, about a wing’s worth of space to the fridge and then you’re out the door into our dining nook.  It’s a 1.5 butt kitchen and space is a premium.  We’ve previously embraced the open shelf look with a quick Ikea look, and though it doesn’t match the cabinets it’s otherwise a great fix for us.

The trouble really lies with those upper cabinets – they’re that short style meant for just over the fridge, but the landlord extended them across to avoid covering the fuse panel (that ugly black hole in front of the sink… not sure if we can legally paint it.  But rest assured, I WILL as soon as we get the all clear).  They’re actually pretty cute looking, but their height makes it hard to see what’s in the back.  Currently they house mostly spices that are in shakers that are too big for most standard spice racks.

Well while surfing Pinterest (aka self-imposed insomnia) I spotted a pin from Domestic Imperfection where Ashley used drawer organizers secured to the wall to hold her spices and keep their clutter off the shelf.  Sounded simple enough.  So here goes.

Ashley used a fabulous set of pencil organizers from The Container Store which are really not bad price-wise.  But rather than tempt myself with the other wonderful (and costly) things that TCS has, we instead picked up 2 sets of ‘Slim Baskets’ for $1.36 each at Dollar General.  We figured at under $2, getting a back-up set would be wise, and certainly something we’d use elsewhere.  We already had a stash of command strips, so we were set to go.

To decrease the ’tilt’ that the basket would have away from the cabinet, I trimmed off the basket’s top lip from the side that would be adhered to the cabinet door.

Then I installed three command strips to the flattened side – two at the top and a third, smaller one in the middle at the bottom.

Then it was a matter of lining it up to be sure the cabinet would close and wouldn’t catch the baskets in the hinge.  We even had enough space for a second row for the standard size spices to fit above the over-sized Aldi containers.

Now the spices are easily reached from such a high cabinet, AND I have a safer place to keep my favorite glass punch pitcher instead of leaving it in the precarious place on top of the refrigerator.

So, for less than two bucks we have a brand new set of storage racks that are rental approved.

Have you captured any new space lately?

~ Beth

Linking to:  My Repurposed Life