My husband and I have been remodeling our kitchen over a period of several years.  In the process, I lost my old narrow pantry that used to house my spices I had to find a new place for them.  And though I’d gained new cabinetry in the peninsula, a lot of it was already earmarked for other things.  I realized that I had a nice space next to the stove where the backsplash ended and a magnetic spice rack would look great.  Plus, it would mean I wouldn’t have to find cabinet room for the spices.  So I found someone who could cut a sheet of 400 series stainless steel to size and ordered the magnetic spice tins of various sizes from your website.  (400 series is magnetic since it lacks nickel... 300 series is not magnetic because of the nickel.)

There are a lot of amazing things in the remodeled kitchen—the granite, the wolf range, the incredible butcherblock… but I get more comments on the spice rack than anything else.  And considering how much those other things cost, the spice rack is BY FAR the biggest bang for the buck in the room. As for the fuctionality of the new improvements, about a month ago, my mom, sister and I were all prepping food and cooking at the same time.  This is not something we could have done in the old kitchen, but we didn't have to deal with the cost or hassle of a complete renovation to achieve this.   For anyone planning a kitchen redo, either large or small, I'd highly recommend identifying your pain points and figuring out creative and cost-effective ways to resolve those before tearing down any walls.  Besides, without a wall, where would I put my amazing spice rack?

Karla was our very first featured cook in our March 2008 Newsletter.

I am currently a Culinary Management student at George Brown College in Toronto, Ont. Canada.  At school I am always learning about new spices and blends and have a love for spices from all regions of the world. I started with over 50 varieties of spices on my own before attending chef school and I'm collecting more all the time. I couldn't find a spice rack large enough to organize my collection, which makes cooking difficult when you don't have your ingredients available to you.