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Monday, September 7, 2015

Necessity is the Mother of Invention....

The blogger sphere is filled with beautiful home renovations...

It makes one giddy to see all the beautiful design work out there.

But oftentimes you simply do not have the funds to do a renovation... bills have to be paid, the kids needs school clothes, etc. and there is just too much month at the end of the money...





And sometimes you just need to see things in a different light...


Like many houses, my house was built in stages. The main house was built in 1867. There is literally a well underneath the flooring of my kitchen!

Then there was a renovation in the 1920's where the bathroom was apparently added.

And in the 1970's the great room with the two bedrooms and the master bedrooms were added.

And those doing the renovations, often did not do them in the best way. You can see the outline of the window in my living room wall that was once the end of the house.

And in the kitchen, we had a shuttered window with no glass that they just left that way. Huh.



This verbal house tour has a point....



Don't be hating on my lovely Ziebrick wall!
And that point is I needed a spice cabinet and had no walls to really put it on that would be convenient.

But I had a window frame.

And a husband that was both artistic and had an engineering background.

And this is what we did.


After removing all the insulation, etc., we cleaned up the window and stained it.

Steve made some simple shelving to fit into the frame and put a piece of molding on it to prevent any jars from falling over the ledge.

We simply screwed several planks of wood for the backer.

Then we drilled several holes and put in some simple little shelf holders available at all hardware stores.

I purchased a bunch of these little jars at Michaels for about $.50 each and labeled the top with a Sharpie marker.

And there you are... a window turned into a spice cabinet. It looks a bit like a "built in" which I guess it is... and it takes up no additional space.

Necessity is truly the mother of invention!
 

20 comments:

  1. Hi, Stacie. I'm visiting from Show and Share. You have a house with a lot of character and now you have a spice cabinet to match. I love the look.

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  2. What a fun piece of history and a neat conversation piece! Stopping by from Meandering Mondays. Great job!

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  3. Neat idea! And you're right, it's great when you can make do with what you have and still create something lovely.

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  4. I'm stopping by from Talented Tuesday - boy is THIS ever talented! You two did a great job with this - I'm more than mildly jealous! I love it when people do something all their own, instead of buying the same thing thirty million other people bought!

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  5. What a great idea! I think older homes have more personality and charm than modern boxes. How wonderful that your home has so many stories to tell! That's more fun than stories to live in...and clean.

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  6. I love it! Very clever idea and y'all did an awesome job!

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  7. Thanks so much for joining in the fun at Thursdays Favorite Things Blog Hop.

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  8. You and your hubby are both talented.
    This is such a great idea and so handy too!

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  9. What a neat old home!! Thank you for adding it to SHARE IT 27! It's great to have you party with us! Hopefully we'll see you tomorrow evening or Sunday at the FineCraftGuild.com site. ~ Rose

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  10. Your spice cabinet came out lovely! That is the way our home projects work too and I am always pleased at what we accomplish on a few pennies and some imagination. Thank you for sharing on the Art of Home-Making Mondays! :)

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  11. What a beautiful, historic home you have! Your spice cabinet is gorgeous, both beautiful and functional. Pinned and shared. I'll be featuring this post in my Hearth and Soul post later today. Thank you so much for being a part of the Hearth and Soul hop.

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  12. Stacey, you and Steve look like you're doing a fabulous job. Love that spice cabinet. Funny, I was just talking to a friend yesterday about how making-do is nearly a lost art. Glad to find it here!

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  13. Thanks so much for linking up to my Thrifty & Vintage Finds link party! I hope you'll come by soon again! I'll be posting the new post tonight.

    Dagmar ~ Dagmar's Home

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  14. So clever and it's as pretty as it is functional. Kuddos to your hubby for a job well done! Thanks for sharing with SYC.
    hugs,
    Jann

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  15. Your wonderful post is featured today at Foodie Friday and Everything Else. Thank you for sharing!

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  16. You are so right! Some of my best ideas have come from out right necessity! This is a great transformation! Blessings, Cecilia

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  17. That is the most clever idea. I love old houses but they do present a challenge ocassionally.

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  18. Love the results of the spice cabinet. I tend to keep little jars too. You can always use them in so many ways. Thanks for sharing your great ideas in the progress of your home. Your home is warm and friendly and that's what makes people smile!!!!

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  19. I love your spice rack! It looks like it has always been there and it makes your home look very charming. Great transformation!

    Blessings,
    Sandi

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