The Spice Rack

Hello all! Happy 2012.

Ryan and I spent the one remaining week of Christmas Break (after several weeks in Colorado and St. Louis) designing and building a spice rack cabinet for the kitchen. 

Because the cabinets that were in this part of the previous homeowner's kitchen were not standard and housed the out-of-date stove and oven, we have to put the whole area together like a puzzle of old and new cabinets. 

After figuring out which cabinets from the other side (where the fridge will be) we can move, we ended up with several inches of space the height of a cabinet that wouldn't be taken up by anything else. Ryan had a brilliant idea: build a tall, skinny, sliding spice rack that hid inside a cabinet. 

Using some old materials and some new, we created it! I helped a little, by drilling some holes and holding things and keeping Ryan company in the cold garage. 

He built the door of the cabinet from an old one, but had to match the curves to the rest of the cabinet doors. Good thing he bought a router when we got back to Hillsdale. :)

Here are some photos from the installation:

This is the inside part that rolls out. You can see some nice, old glue from behind the old stove on the wall there...we haven't gotten to doing the walls yet. 

Ryan showing off his work and sporting some new glasses! 

The empty cabinet! Nice, huh?

And the cabinet once I filled it with everything. It actually fit everything I have, spice-wise. There are some repeats in there, so I guess I have room to grow. 

While in Colorado, we took a trip to the new IKEA in Denver to spend some gift cards my awesome sister-in-law gave us. We bought some sleek, brown-black (that's the official color name...) pieces: a coffee table and a sideboard. 

Here's a photo of the new sideboard and what Ryan has dubbed "Maria's reading corner." 

The gold clock is from my grandma's house - I thought it was the coolest thing when I was a kid...turns it out's all just plastic. Oh well. The inside part turns back and forth, which is sweet. The crucifix is a Christmas gift from my parents. It was made in the Holy Land! 

And here is a photo of Ryan playing video games after a long day of cabinet finishing and installing and IKEA sideboard building. He is resting his feet on the new coffee table. 

This photo gives you a good idea of the natural light in the room in the evening...kinda dark, as the windows face east. In the morning, it's very bright and lovely. 

Yes, the carpet is still there...we're going to keep it until winter is over. Ryan wants to add some insulation under the floor in the basement before tearing it out. 

Today, Ryan is continuing working on building a cabinet to go above the microwave. Those two things will go right next to the spice rack. The stove will be moved over to go underneath them. He has to build a cabinet for above the microwave because there wasn't one before we moved in. The lady's Montgomery Ward microwave sat on the counter top. So, that's next! 

Interesting fact: We haven't used a microwave in our house since we got here. (So, since July 19th or so). I have used one at work and we did when we were in Colorado, but not at all here! Who needs such modern conveniences, anyway! 

- The Servolds