Knife to meet you!

As you all know, counter space is tight in a kitchen like mine, and sometimes that will lead to investigating new and exciting storage ideas. Well, I had seen magnetic knife racks in some of my friend's condos and I thought they were jolly good fun! Then I was at Ikea a couple of weeks back and they were selling magnetic knife racks for only $14.99! Whaaaa!? Sign me up! So I threw it in the cart (which lead to a hilarious attempt to pry it from the metal cart later) and brought it home and stared at it for a few weeks as I didn't have the right size screws to attach it to any sort of wall. Finally this weekend I bought some screws and now I get to show you my hard work! Yay!

I decided to place it beside the stove top for 3 reasons:
1. It was the best spot
2. It didn't involve drilling through tile (yikes!)
3. I actually do all my prep work on the stovetop, so it is logical to have knives nearby

Now, as you can see in the photo below, my knives used to sit in a knife block on the counter. But with my utensil rack and toaster, it was actually a bit crowded for such a small piece of land.

So here is the new proposed "home of the knives":

This is the spot beside the fridge and to the left of the stovetop! Have I mentioned before that I love my stove? I love that it is flat, easy to clean, and has a clean edge all the way around, as the controls are on the front. Really helps add more visual space under the microwave.

First thing I did was hold up my rack and pinpoint where on the wall I needed to drill and keep it level.

I need an extra hand

Then I taped off on my drill for how deep I needed to make my drill holes, because I didn't want to drill into the side of the fridge or anything! I used my sharp drill bit, as pressboard is very dense and hard to drill through.

Once I completed my drill holes, I was able to quickly screw the shelf onto the wall! (And make sure it was still level)

After that, the piece with the magnets snaps over top. This thing is evil because if it snaps on wrong it is IMPOSSIBLE to pry off and fix. At least I know it is strong!

Ta-da! I put my steak knives in front, because I use them all the time. Then in the back I put my more often used ones first. Except my giant knife (a carving knife?) was in the wash, so it isn't shown here. I also faced the knives to the back, because I thought that would be much safer.

Overall, I am very happy with my new shelf and I am proud to say that it has not yet fallen down! So score one for me and my drill. I am so excited to be learning these new skills, even if I do call my dad to run through my plans with him first, just to be safe. haha.

And now my counter top is looking much more spacious! (The old knife block will go to storage until the day I own more counters).

The beers have actually moved into the fridge now that I made more space for tall drinks!

So what projects did you all get up to this weekend?