Ikea BEKVAM Spice Rack Review

If I bought this to store spices, it'd probably never be used properly since salt and pepper are the only two in my pantry. No, this was purchased with a completely different use in mind. And I got two.

Ikea BEKVAM Spice Rack Package

Configuration
Ikea BEKVAM Spice Rack, Birch - USD$ 3.99 (CAD$ 6.99)

Video
Ikea BEKVAM Spice Rack Overview

Assembly
I took the plastic wrapper off, took a quick look at the relatively short instructions, and got to work. Less than ten minutes later and I was done. And I didn't even have to dig a screwdriver out of my toolbox. The hardest part was taking everything apart to remove the crossbar since I didn't need or want it for what I was using it for.

Mounting the spice rack on a wall like it was meant to be used probably would have taken a lot more time. Good thing I didn't need to do that?

Assembly Time: 10 minutes

Stability
It felt solid in my hands. Not sure how it would do mounted on a wall.


Ikea BEKVAM Spice Rack Assembled minus Wall

Expandability / Customizability
Pretty good considering that I used it for something completely unrelated to spices.

How was it?
Okay, what did I actually do with two BEKVAM spice racks? I needed a really short shelf to prop up a DVD player over a cable box. The internet was scoured for short, tiny shelves made of wood and the only things I could find were two-layer shoe racks. Another idea was to use cork yoga blocks but that was slightly more expensive.

Two inverted BEKVAM spice racks with the crossbars removed looked like they could do the job. Unfortunately, I should have done some closer measurements because the spice racks were too short by about a centimeter or two -- they ended up blocking all of the ventilation ports on top of the cable box.

Plan B involved using the BEKVAM racks as legs for a spare GORM shelf I had lying around. This wasn't the safest idea in the world, but I didn't think it was the most dangerous either. Nothing has broken or fallen over so far but I'll be keeping a close eye. I am thinking of swapping the GORM out with an IVAR shelf though because of how rough the wood is -- this also drove home the reason IVARs were priced higher than GORMs. Speaking of GORMs, it probably would have been cheaper to just buy some GORM legs and cut them to the size I wanted. That would have required work and a bigger mess to clean up.

Conclusion
They've been working as legs pretty well, especially for the price. Not a clue how they work as spice racks.


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