DIY Pot Rack

Have I told you that we live in an apartment with a teeny, tiny little kitchen? Not ideal for a cook like me who likes all kinds of gadgets, gizmos and the latest cookware. But.... in the words of the beloved Tim Gunn, it's all about making it work. It's hard for me to believe that hubs and I thrashed and fought with our seemingly unexistant cabinet space for nearly 12 months in this apartment before putting the pedal to the metal and getting funkdified with some storage solutions for our pots and pans. The goal: open up the limited space for other much needed kitchen items. Exhibit A: Our small kitchen. We do have a nice little breakfast bar, and behind that our sink and a teensy square of counter space which is our main prep area. See that larger door on the back wall? That will come into play in a minute. Please excuse the crudeness of the photo - I didn't make the kitchen too pretty for today's photo shoot. Exhibit B: Our FOUR cabinets. Yes - four. How's a girl supposed to make do? With only two drawers and essentially four full size cabinets to work with, putting the dishes away after making dinner every night was becoming a regular WWE match. Remember that door I mentioned before? It leads to our laundry area. There's some wire shelving in the laundry closet, so time to put some of that negative space to use!

Feelin' crafty at Home Depot one day, I picked up 7 or 8 S-hooks in which to begin construction on my basic pot rack. I just wanted to get these suckers out of the way so I'd have more room for baking dishes, cutting boards, my crock pot and stock pot -- and also so I wouldn't have ro rearrange the cabinets each time I wanted to take something out or put it away. The plan was to thread the S-hooks through some of the wire shelving, secure them so they didn't come unthreaded when pots are removed, and get me some more usable cabinet space in my thumbprint kitchen! See? Pretty little S-hook. I think I purchased 8 hooks for a grand total of $2.12 at Home Depot.

Being in a very un-permanent apartment, I'm going for function over form here. The first step was to hang some hooks without securing them so I could play with the layout of the pots. I didn't want them banging into each other and getting scratched or nicked. When I had my design as I liked it, I threaded the hooks through the wire shelving. To secure the hooks, I went with something I had on hand.... rubber bands! Simple, easy, functional and FREE! To secure the hooks, first thread them through the wire, then wrap and twist the rubber band around the middle of the hook and then up to the top of the S, forming an enclosure. This will ensure that the hooks don't come flying when you go to remove a pot in a hurry. As soon as the hooks were secured, it was time to hang my pots and reclaim my cabinet space! Hallelujah praise be AMEN!!!

And now for the final product!

Not too shabby, eh? This was the perfect solution to our space problem, and now using & putting away our pots and pans is a breeze. Plus I have easier access to all the other kitchen goodies I need in my cabinets!