In a spice rack vs floating shelf kitchen setup, buy the rack, and the reason is one length of steel: a rail across the front that a jar cannot roll past. A flat floating shelf gives you a surface and an open edge, so the first knock puts glass on the tiles. Width settles the rest: about six standard 4 oz jars on 11.4 in (29 cm), eight on 13.8 in (35 cm), ten on 17.5 in (44.5 cm), in one row you can read from the worktop.
Why do the jars end up on the floor?
Should the spices go on a floating shelf or a proper rack, and how many jars actually fit? The plank normally goes up first, chosen for the look of it, and the spices move in afterwards like a lodger.
Nothing about a flat board is built for a cylinder. A jar of cumin is a smooth glass tube with a metal lid, standing on a smooth surface with an open edge in front of it and nothing on that edge. You pull the paprika out of the middle of the row, its neighbour rocks, a cupboard door bangs underneath, and the jar lands lid first.
At Houseland we believe the jar you reach for should still be where you left it, which is why the rack we make is a steel wire grid with a rail across the front instead of a flat board, and why the three widths, 11.4, 13.8 and 17.5 in (29, 35 and 44.5 cm), sit on the product page rather than in the reviews.
A shelf is a surface. A rack is a surface with a boundary, and the boundary is the entire product.
Spice rack vs floating shelf kitchen storage: what actually changes?
The front edge changes, and every other difference follows from it. One rail running the full 17.5 in (44.5 cm) of the widest size is the difference between a row of jars and a row of jars plus gravity.
A rail turns a shelf into a container with one side missing at the top. Jars still lift straight out, which is the point, but they cannot slide out sideways under a knock. On a plain board the jar and the board are both smooth, and the only thing holding the row together is friction and luck.
| Wall rack with a rail | Flat wall shelf | |
|---|---|---|
| Front edge | Steel wire rail across the full width | None. The board stops and the jar keeps going |
| Depth | 3.9 in (10 cm) on Small, 4.1 in (10.5 cm) on Medium and Large, one row | Whatever you bought. Past two jar widths you get a back row you cannot read |
| Jars per run | About 6 on 11.4 in (29 cm), 8 on 13.8 in (35 cm), 10 on 17.5 in (44.5 cm) | Same arithmetic, nothing holding the row in place |
| Frame height | 5.5 in (14 cm) on Small, 5.9 in (15 cm) on Medium and Large | The thickness of the board, and nothing above it |
| Fixings supplied | Two screw-in hooks and two adhesive pads, both in the box | Varies. Concealed-rod types want a drill and a solid fixing |
| Load | Light duty. A row of full glass jars on the screw hooks, less on the pads | Depends entirely on the fixing behind it |
| Cleaning | Damp cloth on the frame, barely damp then dry on the wood base | One flat plane that collects an oil film near the hob |
Two things follow from that depth figure. At 3.9 in (10 cm) on the Small and 4.1 in (10.5 cm) on the Medium and Large there is room for one row and no temptation to start a second one behind it, which is where the turmeric you bought twice is currently hiding. It also sits close enough to the wall to stay clear of a cupboard door swinging past.
The rail is a boundary and not a handle. Do not hang a tea towel, a mug or a set of measuring spoons off the front of it, and do not lean on it while you fish something out of the cupboard below.
How many jars fit, and which width should I order?
About six on the 11.4 in (29 cm) Small, eight on the 13.8 in (35 cm) Medium and ten on the 17.5 in (44.5 cm) Large, in a single row of standard 4 oz round jars.
That count is a guide, and it depends on your jars rather than on the shelf. Wide-shouldered supermarket jars eat more width than slim decanted ones, and a grinder with a plastic collar can swallow the space of two. The arithmetic is yours: measure the widest jar you own across its widest point, divide the shelf width by that figure, and round down.
- Small at 11.4 in (29 cm) suits a narrow gap between cupboards, clear of the hob, and takes around six 4 oz jars.
- Medium at 13.8 in (35 cm) is the usual choice for a worktop run or a pantry wall, at around eight jars.
- Large at 17.5 in (44.5 cm) takes a full run of everyday seasonings, oils and a grinder, at around ten.
Measure the wall before you count the jars. What you need is the clear width between the cupboards, or between the end of the run and the window reveal. The frame is 5.5 in (14 cm) tall on the Small and 5.9 in (15 cm) on the Medium and Large, so hold a tape at that height and see what the shelf above it would hit.
If one row is short, two of these hang one above the other, and about 8 in (20 cm) of vertical clearance between them leaves a tall bottle of oil standing upright on the lower shelf. Each order is a single shelf in one colour and one width, so a two-tier run is two orders.
How do I get it on a plasterboard wall without it coming down?
Screw into a stud where you can, use a plasterboard anchor rated above the weight you are actually hanging where you cannot, and keep the adhesive pads for a light load on a smooth painted wall.
- Weigh the load first. Stand all ten jars on a kitchen scale at once, full, and note the number. That figure, not the shelf, is what the fixing has to beat.
- Find the studs. In most stud walls they run 16 in (40.6 cm) on centre, so once you have found one, measure 16 in along and the next is there. Plasterboard is commonly 1/2 in (12.7 mm) thick, which is why a bare screw into the board alone is a hook waiting to let go.
- Set the height off the worktop, not off the ceiling. A fitted worktop is normally 36 in (91.4 cm) from the floor, so stand your tallest bottle on it, add a hand's width above the cap, and mark that line as the underside of the wood base.
- Transfer both hook positions from one pencil line. Measure the distance between the two hooks on the back of the frame, mark both points on that same line, and drill or press there.
- Choose the fixing for the wall you have, not the one you wanted. Screws for a full row of glass, and screws again if the wall is textured or freshly painted. Adhesive pads only for a light load, spread evenly, on a smooth clean surface.
- Load it from the middle outwards, and leave the front rail alone.
Houseland puts both fixings in the same box, two screw-in hooks and two adhesive pads, so the decision gets made at the wall rather than at the checkout. The number that settles it sits behind the plasterboard rather than in the product listing, which is the same argument as how much weight a floating shelf really holds, and it does not change because the shelf is wire instead of oak.
Can spices live above the hob, or does the heat ruin them?
Keep them off the wall directly above the burners, and put them on the return wall or along the run instead.
Two things work against you in that column of air: heat rising off the pan, and the steam and oil riding up with it. Fitted kitchens usually keep 30 in (76 cm) between the cooktop surface and the bottom of an unprotected cupboard, and extractor hoods are commonly set 24 to 30 in (61 to 76 cm) above the surface for the same reason. If a cupboard is not welcome there, neither is a jar of paprika.
The cost is flavour rather than safety. Ground spice is generally written off at about six months and whole spice at about a year, and warmth plus daylight take time off both figures. Keep the jars you reach for daily on the wall, and put the once-a-year bags in a dark cupboard where nobody has to look at them.
The oil film is the other tax. Anything within reach of the plume collects a sticky layer that dust then sticks to, which is the argument in the grease problem with a floating wall shelf in a kitchen, and a wire frame gives that film less to land on than a wide flat board does. At 3.9 to 4.1 in (10 to 10.5 cm) deep the shelf also tucks under a range hood rather than into it. The frame takes a damp cloth and a dry one after; the wood base takes a barely damp cloth and then drying immediately.
Humidity is a separate question from heat, and it is why the frame is powder-coated at all. If the wall you are thinking about is in a bathroom, whether a wall mounted rack rusts over a season is the more useful read, and the short version is to wipe splashes off rather than let them sit.
What would I put on the wall, and who should skip it?
From the shop
Wall Mounted Spice Rack, Steel Wire Grid Shelf with Wood Base
One tier, 3.9 to 4.1 in (10 to 10.5 cm) deep, in 11.4, 13.8 or 17.5 in (29, 35 or 44.5 cm) widths. Houseland ships it as one finished piece at 34.99 USD, with two screw-in hooks and two adhesive pads in the box.
See the wall mounted spice rackThe depth is the first reason. 3.9 in (10 cm) on the Small and 4.1 in (10.5 cm) on the Medium and Large is one row of jars, which means every label faces the room and nothing lives behind anything else.
The second is that both fixings are in the box. Two screw-in hooks and two adhesive pads means a renter who is not allowed a drill still gets it on the wall, and anyone carrying a full row of glass has the screws to hand instead of a trip to the hardware shop.
The third is width against count. 11.4, 13.8 and 17.5 in (29, 35 and 44.5 cm) at roughly six, eight and ten 4 oz jars, and if one row is short, a second shelf hung about 8 in (20 cm) below the first still clears a tall bottle underneath.
Skip it if you own thirty jars and want them on one wall, because this is a single tier at about ten jars on the 17.5 in (44.5 cm) Large, so you are buying three of them at 34.99 USD each and you can do that sum before you order. Skip it if you want an all-wood plank; the base panel is solid natural wood with visible grain and the frame around and behind it is powder-coated steel wire, which is a look you either want or you don't. Skip it if the wall is tiled, textured or freshly painted and you were counting on the adhesive pads, because that is a screw-hook wall and no pad will argue you out of it. And skip it if you need a shelf to carry a stand mixer or a stack of cookbooks, since it is light duty, the rail is a boundary rather than a handle, and it sits in kitchen tools rather than structural shelving.
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