Bespoke Spice Drawers and Spice Racks
Spice up your life with a bespoke spice drawer or spice rack in your new handmade kitchen
When thinking about your dream kitchen, the space and organisation for smaller items is easily forgotten, yet it is essential if the kitchen is to be used for serious cooking and baking. For that reason alone, we suggest designing in bespoke spice drawers or spice racks to hold jars of spices and bottles of olive oil, condiments and vinegar. The kitchen is one of the hardest-working spaces in the home and it should be just as beautiful as it is functional. Smart storage is key to maintaining a clutter-free look, and integrated solutions such as spice drawers and racks are the best way to keep clutter off the worktops. In this blog we explain each of our designs in more detail and how they have worked in our projects.
Spice Storage at a Glance
There are two main approaches. A pull-out spice drawer is a narrow unit that pulls out from the run, usually beside a range cooker or hob, with several slim shelves for jars, and it wastes no internal cupboard space. A spice rack is built onto the back of a cupboard or pantry door, with shelves sized to your jars and a choice of oak, walnut or pine interior. A third option is to use dead space, such as the inside of a mantel or chimney breast, which is otherwise lost. At Handmade Kitchen Company both are made to order and built into the design from the start. Located within the island in the
project, a pull-out spice drawer sits proud, offering space for the essentials.
Pull-out spice drawers
Our bespoke pull-out spice drawers can be neatly positioned on either side of a range cooker or sink, alongside a set of drawers, or used on their own. The design is flexible: multiple shelf levels for spice jars, a two-shelf layout for larger condiments, or even rails for tea towels. Choosing pull-out drawers rather than racks on the back of doors means no internal cupboard space is lost. It also puts everything within easy reach of where you actually use it. Another good idea is to locate spice jars within a faux mantel or chimney breast, using space that would otherwise be dead.
Part of the kitchen layout, and on either side of the range cooker, is where we find pull-out spice drawers in the Elsenham project. Three slim shelves, one above the other, ideal for spices and herbs.
The main run of the kitchen at Hadley Wood is the cooking area. The
hob sits in the middle with a drawer pack underneath and pull-out spice drawers on either side, helping our clients put meals together quickly on busy evenings.
Spice racks built onto cupboard doors
Our bespoke spice racks can be neatly positioned inside a cupboard door on the main run, or within a separate pantry unit. The design is flexible, allowing multiple shelves for all the kitchen essentials, with a choice of oak, walnut or pine for the interior. Our clients love these racks, which can be tailored to exactly what they want to store. What would you keep in yours?
In this handleless project in London, we designed and built racks onto two of the cupboard doors to hold our client's favourite spices, vitamins and bottles. The shelves are evenly spaced with plenty of room.
Adding to this modern classic shaker kitchen is a large day pantry, where we find our bespoke spice racks. Just three shelves, but plenty big enough for all our client's favourites.
At the client's request for a day pantry, we designed bespoke spice shelves onto the back of the door of this floor-to-ceiling unit. It keeps everything in one place and makes preparing dinner considerably easier.
Maximising storage at the Chelmsford project, we created a
and
to achieve an overall clutter-free look. In a practical family kitchen the worksurfaces need to be kept as clear as possible for food preparation and easy cleaning, so the practical necessities are better kept behind doors. That is why we designed spice racks onto the back of these.
A small cabinet sits on the worktop near the cooking area, with space to hold spices, salt, pepper and stock cubes.
Within this royal blue kitchen we created a day pantry filled with shelves, a cold shelf and our bespoke spice racks on the back of the doors.
Using dead space in a chimney breast
Storage within a chimney is something of a hidden gem, as the dead space is used perfectly with either bespoke shelves or a cupboard with a door for a seamless look. Fill it with herbs, spices, salt and pepper grinders, or your collection of cooking oils. We built our client in Stock a large mantel with space for cupboards inside the walls. That became the place to store herbs, spices and cooking oils, easy to reach while cooking. You can read more about
.
Spice Storage FAQs
What is a pull-out spice drawer?
It is a narrow unit built into the run of cabinetry that pulls fully out towards you, with several slim shelves sized for spice jars. It is usually positioned beside a range cooker or hob so that everything is within reach while you are cooking.
Is a pull-out spice drawer better than a door-mounted rack?
A pull-out drawer keeps the cupboard interiors completely free, so no internal space is lost, and it puts the jars right where you cook. A door-mounted rack uses space that would otherwise be wasted on the back of a door, which suits a pantry. Many kitchens end up with both.
Where is the best place for spice storage in a kitchen?
As close to the hob as possible. Beside a range cooker is ideal for a pull-out drawer, while a pantry door suits a rack for less frequently used jars. Storing spices away from direct heat and light also helps them keep their flavour for longer.
Can you use the space inside a chimney breast?
Yes, and it is often overlooked. A chimney breast or a built mantel usually has usable depth inside the walls that can take bespoke shelves or a small cupboard, which is a neat way to store herbs, spices and cooking oils without taking up any worktop.
Where does Handmade Kitchen Company build spice storage?
We design, hand-build and hand-paint bespoke kitchens with integrated storage from our workshop in Essex, for clients across Essex, Hertfordshire and North London. For more storage ideas, see our
and our guide to the
. The beauty of bespoke furniture is that you can use your imagination to create storage that suits your personality as well as your lifestyle. If you would like to know more about storage solutions for spices and condiments,
today. We look forward to hearing from you.
