Kitchen Geeks: Build This Periodic Table of Spices Rack

My old spice drawer had many issues:

– out of space

– tins not airtight

– arbitrary alphabetical organization

– no labelling for spice-impaired

– selection had grown from base pantry ingredients to a “collection”

Research led to a better organizational principle: botanical taxonomy as in Order-Family-Genus-Species, per the International Code of Nomenclature of algae, fungi and plants, 2012 (the Melbourne code); and International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants, 2010.

Arrangement into a periodic table shape was possible but too “cute” and wasted a lot of space. (A guy did a magnetic spice rack similar to this on Instructables, but used the crappy tins I was getting rid of, and took up 24”x36” of wall space that I don’t have, for half as many spices as I have.)

I did have a doorless kitchen cabinet available, 11”d x 17”w x 30”h, after removing little-used wine shelves.

My compact “periodic” table formed the organizational backdrop for the spice rack. This graphic is actually a spreadsheet in Apple’s Numbers app. Here, have it (PDF download).

I printed it on 30-mil styrene and punched holes for shelf supports.

I designed U-shaped shelves to support ten 4oz jars each, with three shelf support contact points. Researched acrylic, glass, stainless steel, and aluminum. Prototyped steel and aluminum.

Produced the final shelves in 1/8″ aluminum at a local metal shop with a water jet cutter. Sanded the edges and faces for a scuffed stainless “commercial kitchen” look.

I drilled the empty cabinet with holes for shelf pegs, and added a battery-powered LED light fixture above.

Here’s the periodic table of spices, wrapping the back and sides of the cabinet in a U-shape.

Shelf pegs and shelves installed, face edges of aluminum shelves blacked with Sharpie to match borders on the periodic table.

Spice jars installed, each labeled with its two-letter symbol.

Night light mode

Bam.

30 Responses to Kitchen Geeks: Build This Periodic Table of Spices Rack

Jonathan Peterson on February 4th, 2015 at 1:18 pm said:

Recently finished re-doing our kitchen – large spice drawer by the stove with the most common 30 spices in alphabetic order, labeled and lying sideway, less common stuff up in a cabinet in the same jars. But now? spice rack envy.
Duncan Boa on February 5th, 2015 at 12:57 am said:

This has brought on a minor nerdgasm. Love the spice jars!
Chris on February 5th, 2015 at 1:21 pm said:

Any specifics on the jars used? Or did I miss that somewhere in the article?
- vidicious on February 5th, 2015 at 1:42 pm said:
  
  Same question here.
- Chris on February 5th, 2015 at 1:43 pm said:
  
  Did 45 seconds of Googling. They might be these: http://www.webstaurantstore.com/libbey-71355-4-5-oz-vibe-spice-jar-with-lid-12-case/55171355.html
- Chris on February 6th, 2015 at 5:03 am said:
  
  Or these:
  http://www.webstaurantstore.com/anchor-hocking-95941-4-oz-studio-spice-jar-with-lid-6-case/55095941.html
- wayne on February 6th, 2015 at 10:09 am said:
  
  I used 4-fl.oz. candle jars from Specialty Bottle. They have a great shape and an airtight seal. http://www.specialtybottle.com/studioglasscandlejar4ozwglasslid.aspx
Kat Bford on February 5th, 2015 at 4:54 pm said:

I see you printed it on 30-mil styrene, I also see that your cupboard was 30″ high, can you tell me for your cupboard what was the width your styrene was when flat?
- wayne on February 6th, 2015 at 10:11 am said:
  
  I would have used slightly less-rigid 10-mil or 20-mil styrene but I could not find any at local sign shops. The width of the print is 32″ and the height is actually 29.5″.
  
  Kat Bford on February 9th, 2015 at 3:21 pm said:
  
  thanks!
DjNiX901 on February 6th, 2015 at 8:04 am said:

very well done!! super cool!!
- wayne on February 6th, 2015 at 10:27 am said:
  
  Thanks!
Amanda Bevill on February 8th, 2015 at 7:04 am said:

I am in awe. SO COOL!!!
Somebody_Something on February 8th, 2015 at 12:11 pm said:

Incredibly cool.
Michael on February 13th, 2015 at 1:31 pm said:

Nerdgasm here! I love it – great job.
mcspeakeasy on February 13th, 2015 at 2:43 pm said:

This is by far one of the sickest ideas I’ve ever seen. Major Applaud here!
Allen Brown on February 14th, 2015 at 8:16 pm said:

Well Done!
RetroRazor on February 25th, 2015 at 9:03 pm said:

Incredible! great use of existing space. Any chance you would share the Numbers file (or as xlsx) for us to blend up? Thx!
Kieran McNeff on February 26th, 2015 at 2:04 am said:

Simply brilliant!
Nona Maus on June 3rd, 2015 at 2:33 pm said:

Share that spreadsheet please!
Thanks
Steve Baker on January 19th, 2016 at 7:19 am said:

Awesome work…now trying to persuade wife that I need to make this! (Also, MUST BUY MORE SPICES!)
Mary Aguilar on October 17th, 2019 at 4:44 pm said:

beautiful
Wayne Hammond on October 18th, 2019 at 10:06 am said:

For those who asked, here is the spreadsheet that the design comes from. https://www.icloud.com/numbers/0hBvMePepBgkrp-ilB96LL9pA#spice

It is a working document and I’m sharing it as read-only but you may find it useful to copy some of the tables and paste into your own documents.

The original design includes 80 spices but the table lists over 120 (and counting). Use what you like. There are also separate tabs where I’d started lists of common spice blends, and common kitchen compounds (salt, baking soda, etc.)

FYI I’ve moved house since the original project so I’m working on a redesign to fit a different cabinet. Cheers and good luck with your project!
David Warner on November 18th, 2019 at 10:09 pm said:

I see you printed it on 30-mil styrene, I also see that your cupboard was 30″ high, can you tell me for your cupboard what was the width your styrene was when flat?
Wayne Hammond on November 19th, 2019 at 8:29 am said:

The width of the print is 32″ and the height is actually 29.5″.
CATHERINE on December 10th, 2019 at 11:44 pm said:

Absolutely LOVE this, well done you! Wish my husband had energy for such interesting projects :)
Catherine on December 10th, 2019 at 11:46 pm said:

How much do you reckon it cost you all together?
Wayne Hammond on December 23rd, 2019 at 9:57 am said:

@Catherine – comment replies don’t seem to be working on the site but to answer your question I spent about $200, half that on the jars and half on the shelves and backdrop. I’ve since moved house and I’m redesigning to fit a different space – I think I’ll be in about $60 for that since I have all the jars already.
Mary on January 12th, 2020 at 8:50 pm said:

Sir,
You are my hero.
Sincerely,
M.
Holly on February 6th, 2020 at 5:34 pm said:

This is brilliant! I’m not able to make this….. but I would love to!