Friday 12 January 2018

Spice Wall DIY Project



While I was a cooking a bit more dishes on holidays I came up with a problem you might recognize. Small bags of spices are difficult to use when you have to go through the pile to find the right spice. When cooking you should find right spices as quickly as possible so that following a recipe and preparing food stays relaxing, fun and inspiring. Also when I went grocery shopping I didn't remember what spices I have got at home because managing this pile was challenging. I found myself in a situation where I had 3 bags of cinnamon, four bags of cardamon and I had run out of turmeric that I needed for a dish I was preparing. So frustrating! Sure it would be possible to buy bigger amounts of spices in glass bottles and have those in a shelf. I have found small bags handy as spices keep fresh. Spices that I don't use that often get ruined in big amounts. 

What if you had all these small bags organized on a wall? It would be super easy to find a spice you need in your recipe. It would also be a handy way to follow what spices are running out. You could easily take a picture from the wall and see what spices you got when you are shopping. If you are browsing blogs on your way to work and find a great recipe you want to try that evening you don't have to memorize if you got turmeric or ginger or cayenne. Just check a current picture of the spice wall. Did I get you excited about this DIY? 

As a little extra tip on how to use spice wall differently I have two ideas. How about recipe wall? You could plan menu for two weeks to this wall. Write down the week days with chalkboard pen, write / cut recipes from magazines/ blogs and hang under the days. I know some of you are keen gardeners so how about keeping seeds organized on this wall! You could keep track on what seeds need to be planted first and then keep calendar when you put the seeds to the soil. I am sure you come up with many more ways to use this organizing wall because this framed wall can be hanged in what ever space you need it. Now I show you how to make this easy DIY!




Spice Wall

You will need:

Big frame
Strong cardboard or thin plywood same size as the frame
Chalkboard paint
Wooden clothespins
Woodwork glue
Chalkboard pen
Ruler
Brush


Step 1. Paint the frame and cardboard/ plywood with chalkboard paint. Paint tree layers: horizontally, vertically, horizontally. I bought this framed print from thrift store. The print was glued to the cardboard but the cardboard was perfect to this project so I painted over which worked fine and I had no need to buy extra cardboard or plywood to this project.



Step 2. After the paint has dried properly (24 hours) divide the board to equal parts using chalkboard pen. Measure how much space one spice bag and clothespin needs and decide how much you need around to write spice's name. See how many bags you can fit to the board. I have got 58 cm * 77 cm board and I divided it to 16 parts (approx 14,5 cm *19 cm each). Then measure the place where you attach the clothespin. 


Step 3. Glue the clothespins and let dry.  Remove chalkboard pen's marks. Hang the spice wall and put in the spices. Write the names of the spices and decorate the board with chalkboard pen.




I am proud to start the weekend with organized kitchen. It is inspirational to cook in this space where everything can be found. Especially in a small space like this keeping organized is challenging. You don't need to have much extra lying on desks to have a mess. At least this solution keeps the spices organized and easy to use.

Happy and Relaxing Weekend!

Sannu

2 comments:

  1. Näyttää tosi hyvältä! Harmi kun meillä on niin vähän vapaata seinätilaa keittiössä, että ainoa mahdollisuus olisi tehdä tosi tosi kapea versio. Mutta tykkään kovasti tästä ideasta :)!

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  2. Kiitos! Se on aina kova miettiminen miten saa tilat ja seinät riittämään, kun on niin monia kivoja projekteja :) En tiedä toimisiko tämä kaapin ovessa, vaikka ilman kehystä? Vai onkohan pyykkipojat sitten tiellä.. Kyllä mullakin alkaa seinät loppua :D (katse siirtyy kattoon..:)

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