If there’s one thing I had to learn moving to New York City, it was figuring out how to maximize every square inch of space. My husband and I love to cook, so we have a full range of spices! In our old home, we had a large walk-in pantry, which made it easy to keep everything organized. In NYC, our “pantry” has been downgraded to a tiny kitchen cabinet and a portion of the entry coat closet. What a change!

We still wanted to cook and have access to all of our spices, so we initially moved everything from their original jars into spice bags to save space. They were difficult to use, wasted a lot of the spices, and got everywhere! These lived above our fridge, and as a 5’2” human, I had to get out the step stool just to reach them. What a pain!

That struggle sparked the idea of “decorating” the kitchen with our favorite spices. This would not only make them super accessible, but also add a beautiful, colorful element to the kitchen that represents what we love most. Functional can be beautiful!

I decided to create my own "spice rack" using large glass containers with bamboo lids and floating ledged shelves to keep everything secure. Since we are also short on counter and cabinet space, I added room for our most-used utensils, olive oil, salt and pepper grinders, and the mugs we use every morning.

I also included a special memento from my sister. The adorable vase with real dried hydrangeas added a special touch to the kitchen!

Now, everything we use to cook is off the counter, easy to reach, and looks gorgeous. Because of our apartment’s architecture, I even got to mount the shelves asymmetrically to balance out a cutout feature in the kitchen wall. This creates a unique moment and also protects the spices even more!

We will never look back—the wall-mounted spice rack is a game changer!

Spice Containers

Floating Shelves

Spice Labels

Olive Oil Dispenser

Salt Cellar