Little Kitchen Renovation

Okay, so I know most people use the word renovation when they are knocking down walls and redoing cabinets but for one, I'm not most people and for two, this first little renovation has helped me so much that I feel like it is significant enough to be called one.

So here is my new spice rack.  Oh, I'm just thrilled about it for quite a few reasons.  I was first inspired to do this after I bought my 3rd bottle of paprika only to discover that I already had some, but just couldn't find it in the chaos of my cabinet.  With my limited cabinet space, this has also given me another shelf in the pantry, which is prime real estate in this tiny tot space.  And, I just think it's so darn cute.  I have included the details of the project below and I have to give Mr. Hungry all the credit for the actual execution of this one.  It was written all over the woman's face at Home Depot, who was helping me gather materials, that she thought there was no way I could pull this off.  Little did she know I had Mr. Hungry at home who has a high interest in me liking our kitchen (the more I like, the more I cook) and knew just what to do with the brackets and assorted screws that I brought home.  There are a few other projects I am tackling to make this renter's kitchen more bearable so I'll be back with more.

Still can't do anything about this eye sore of a microwave. There are days when I think about just chunking it because it is so ugly, but Mr. Hungry would have a cow if he didn't have a way to make easy mac cups or heat up leftovers.

The shelves: The shelves were simply one piece of wood I had cut into 3 even pieces by the fine people at Home Depot.  I bought plain white paint and gave them a couple of coats.

How they are hanging:  They are hanging with tiny L brackets.  If you are really interested in more specifics, you can email me and I can ask Mr. Hungry (I was not allowed in the kitchen during this process... apparently, I am not as helpful as I think I am when it comes to such projects... but don't get me wrong, I'm also thankful that I'm not needed... no problems here)

Spice jars:  Bought these at Ikea for 4 for $3.99... pretty darn good deal if you ask me.

Labels:  They are Martha Stewart labels sold at Michael's.

And the good news... this was all done for under $30, which is cheaper than most spice racks you can buy (which I don't like anyway because they take up valuable counter space).

This doesn't look like the terrible "before shot" that it really was before I forgot to take a pic of this disheveled shelf before I took out all of the spices, but trust me, it was bad.  When I was first trying to organize, I bought these little mini risers, but they quickly bent and really just weren't providing the organization I was looking for.