DIY: Kitchen conversion chart

Make cooking and baking easier by getting organized in the kitchen

DIY: Kitchen conversion chart

Source: Best Health magazine, Jan/Feb 2013; Image: Tracy Shumate

I love finding crafts, fitness workouts and recipes online, and Pinterest has made it so much easier to discover new ideas. There’s just no end to the inspiration you can find, whether you’re looking for healthy recipes, fashion trends or wedding ideas. Recreating my favourite finds has become a bit of a hobby for me.

The organizer above was one of my first projects: I can never remember metric equivalents for measurements, and often need them when cooking. So, after searching Pinterest, I found some great ideas for keeping measurement charts close by in the kitchen.

I created this DIY conversion table on the inside of my cabinet door, and added hooks to hang measuring spoons. Here’s how:
1. Make a rough draft on paper detailing the measurements you want to use, and the conversions. Plan out a chart with enough rows and columns for the number of units you’ll be using. I used cups, ounces, tablespoons, teaspoons, millilitres and litres.
2. To make the ‘real’ chart, I used a pencil and ruler to draw the row and column lines on a piece of painted plywood cut to fit my cabinet (my boyfriend, Mark, helped with this). I then used a black felt tip marker to define the lines, and to fill in the chart’s headings and the measurements (or you could use a stencil). You can also simply draw the chart on paper, or create one on your computer, and then affix it to your cabinet door. You may want to laminate it to keep it clean.
3. Secure the chart to the inside of the cabinet door. I glued mine, but you could also nail it to the inside or, if you created yours from paper, secure it with double-sided tape.
4. For measuring spoons, I nailed two strips of plywood (about 10 by 2.5 inches each) below my chart. I screwed in four hooks on each. You can also screw the hooks directly into your cabinet if you like.
Done!

kitchen conversion

This article was originally appeared in the Jan/Feb 2013 issue of Best Health. Subscribe today to get the full Best Health experience’and never miss an issue!