I'm pretty smitten with anything reminiscent of an apothecary, so when my husband had the idea to reinvent our spice rack with thrifted bottles, I started my hunt. After a couple weeks of searching garage sales, second-hand stores, looking into my own cupboards for jars that could be re-purposed, my spices and frequently-used liquids are now displayed in a much better fashion. It was just a little change, but it makes a difference in our tiny kitchen.
(Image: Leela Cyd Ross)
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wait, this is the look I am trying to get rid of. I think that for the all different bottles to work, there has to be a theme or unifying element- like all closed with corks, or custom labels ( check out justsomethingimade blog for excellent free templates.) I am really not trying to be mean. I just theink the photo shows a jumble rather than a collection.
While I love old bottles and think they are prime for re-purposing I do get a little worried when I see people putting food in them. I just don't trust myself to get all of the gunk out of them. You never know if that vintage bottle was used for rat poison!
It's definitely creative, but I'd be concerned about using something that used to have medicine to store food. Some of those bottles could easily have had poison in them, and I don't know how you'd be sure you managed to get them completely clean.
The short, quilted-style jar right in the middle of the centre shelf - is that a salt/pepper shaker with a cork instead of a shaker top?!?
Either way, I am totally going to use that idea now! I don't like "collecting" things that aren't useful, so I pass up so many lovely vintage salt/pepper shakers because I already have a set - but now I see that with a new lid, they can serve a new purpose...
I hear that those old bottles have lead in them - I'm all for putting the pretty blue ones in the window, though. They're beautiful!
This looks so cool