Easy Home Expandable Spice Rack

I have a decent-sized but not huge kitchen, and although my kitchen has a dedicated pantry closet, it’s not as large as what I see in newer houses. That means I don’t have unlimited storage space in my pantry, and I have to be purposeful about how I stash my my dry goods.

For years, I’ve stored my moderately large collection of spices in several plastic baskets (purchased from Aldi) in my pantry, but when I needed a spice for cooking, I couldn’t see what was in each basket, and sometimes I had to pull every basket off the shelf before I found what I was looking for.

My old spice storage system. It kept things contained, but I couldn’t see what was in each basket, and I had to pull out multiple baskets to find the spices I wanted.

When Aldi sold an expandable spice rack recently, I decided to get one and see if it could help me better organize my pantry.

The Easy Home Expandable Spice Rack (product code 55988) cost $7.99 at the time of publication. The rack is made of bamboo and was sold alongside other bamboo kitchen organizers such as a cutlery tray and an expandable cutlery tray.

The bamboo rack and organizers are all Aldi Finds (Special Buys), which means they’re only in stores for a short time. They do tend to return about once a year, so if you miss them this time around, wait a year and they’ll probably be back.

The spice rack measures 12.8″ wide x 7.68″ deep x 4.25″ tall when it’s not in expanded form. When expanded, it measures 22.44″ wide.

The rack fully expanded.

The rack was made in China, and it can be cleaned by wiping with a damp cloth.

I like that this rack can be customized to fit my space. My rack is not quite fully expanded, although I made it as large as I could while still allowing room for some other things that have to go on that particular pantry shelf. If I use up some of my spices, I have the option to adjust the size of the rack accordingly.

I did get a small splinter from handling the bottom side of the rack while setting it up. The bottom side has a slightly less smooth surface compared to the top side, so be careful.

The bottom side of the rack, where I got a splinter.

While pulling the rack into its expanded form, I accidentally pulled it apart into two separate pieces and had a little trouble putting it back together again. I think one of the wood bars that holds this rack together is slightly loose, which is what allowed the two sections to come apart, so be careful not to overextend your rack.

I also thought the rack slanted a little in the middle, where the extension connects, but once I filled it with spices it wasn’t noticeable.

My rack seems to slant a bit in the middle where the extension attaches, but after I completely filled it, it wasn’t noticeable.

My old system using four baskets and a wire shelf allowed me to store a lot in a small space, making use of almost every inch of shelf space. Because this rack is tiered and the space under it is unusable, I did lose some storage space, but I gained a better ability to quickly see where all of my spices are without having to pull multiple baskets off the shelf and dig through them.

My completed pantry organization project, with a new spice rack.

I was able to fit all of my spices on the rack, including some larger items such as baking powder, black pepper, and even cocoa powder. I had to find other shelf space for some bags of nuts and chocolate chips that used to be in one of my old baskets, but it’s not a bad trade-off, and one of my kids immediately declared that the new rack looks better and less “messy” than my basket system, so I’m happy.

The Verdict:

The Easy Home Expandable Spice Rack is an inexpensive way to organize your pantry. It adjusts from roughly 12 inches wide to 22 inches wide, depending on how much space you need. It doesn’t appear to be the sturdiest rack, but for the price it’s functional and looks good after it’s loaded up.