Make your own Spice Rack- Part 1

I'm not that handy, friends, when it comes to building things. If it involves a drill and a wall and a picture frame, I'm AWESOME at it. If it involves a drill and wood and a saw and measuring acurately and patience, I'm not as awesome. Usually, my impatience wins, and I end up with a crappy looking poorly-made project.

This spice rack was about to meet that same fate- two boards, hung hapazardly on a wall. Then I brought it home to my dad (Nope, 26 years old is not too old to bring a project home for your parents help). What resulted from that assistance was this great idea that I will share with you:

                                         How to Make a Spice Rack (pt 1)

To begin, envision the space where you'd like your spice rack to hang. I decided that the area under my cabinets was just calling out for some better storage so this is my intended destination.

Now, you need to measure the space. Figure out the height and width of the open space, and jot it down. Also, sounds silly, but measure your spice jars, and write down that height as well.

Next, figure out how many spice jars you'd like to store on the spice rack, and do some calculations. The things you need to know are:

• How many spices do I need to store?
• How many shelves will fit in the space?
• How will I suspend the shelf on the wall so it is sturdy?

The spice rack I've designed is an under-cabinet one. It will be screwed into the wall, and it will hang- not sit on the counter. The space I had to work with was 40" x 19" total, and I also had to factor in the outlets and decide if I wanted to incorperate those into the design or not.

Now you've gotta get the supplies! Maybe you have some spare boards lying around, or maybe you have to go to a big box store, as I did, to get some boards. Make sure you have your measurements written down- you'll need 1 large board that's 1/2 inch thick that is the total size of your open space (40x11 in my case), as well as some smaller 1 inch board for the actual shelves themselves. Many box stores have standard sizes of lumber- here's what I ended up getting:

• One 1"x4"x8' board for the shevlves
• One 1/2"x2'x4' for the backing
• One quart of Valspar latex enamel paint in "Satin Java Brown"
• a paint brush
• One box of 8x1-1/4 wood screws (100 count)
• 1 package of Plastic Toggle 3/8-1/2" Drywall anchors (holds up to 143 lbs)

Tomorrow, I'll post the next part- the actual building, assembling, and installation of your very own spice rack! Stay tuned!