Seeking tiny dish rack

February 27, 2024 12:50 PM

You have a small kitchen with a small sink and hardly any counter space, but you've found a perfect dish rack solution. Show it to me, please.

That's pretty much it. The over-the-sink ones that are like on stilts, over the sink nozzle, seem kinda hulking and like they'll feel oppressive, but maybe you'll change my mind. I can't do one of the ones that sits in the sink because it's just a small, single sink and I need to be able to still use it. So I'm guessing I need something on the counter. The thing I have now is way too big so it both wastes my precious counter space and *also* annoys me. Give me your solution, please!

(There are some previous questions, but either the links are broken or they don't refer to a specific product.)

posted by BlahLaLa to Home & Garden (17 answers total)

Best answer: I don't know if this one will be tiny enough for you but I am really fond of this OXO folding rack. It is pretty compact while out and also genuinely folds up in such a way that I can truly put it (on edge, so it just takes up a slice of space along the side) under my sink in between times.
posted by redfoxtail at 1:00 PM on February 27, 2024 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I bought this little guy for my work kitchen and have been very happy with it. It fits on a sliver of countertop next to the sink and is great for a bunch of dishes and mugs, plus the occasional mixing bowl or big cutting board and knife. But I haven't ever tested it with pot/pans/home use loads.
posted by zem at 1:01 PM on February 27, 2024

Best answer: This is not exactly the answer you want, but when I was in this situation, I put a heavy dish towel on the counter, piled the dishes on that, and then either let them air dry or just dried them, put them away, hung up the towel, done.

I kept trying different “folding” drying racks but never could locate one that fit my space.

Now I have more counter space, which could comfortably house a ginormous drying rack, but honestly my partner prefers the towel on the counter method so I actually still do this.


I also know someone who had open shelving with notches to hold plates and bigger spaces for bowls and things built in over their sink and just let the dishes drip dry! This would require the right space, the ability to modify it, and some carpentry, however.

I hope you find a solution! Please let us know.
posted by kyraU2 at 1:07 PM on February 27, 2024 [6 favorites]

Drying closets could be a reasonable solution, depending on your setup.
posted by Think_Long at 1:14 PM on February 27, 2024 [2 favorites]

We like absorbent mats, which you can hang to dry (or even tumble dry) when finished, they roll up easily for storage.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008UFUXEU?tag=foodandwine-onsite-prod-20&ascsubtag=7097062%7Cn27afe7aa03da44e599b63c6a74f1546521%7CB008UFUXEU%7C1709069400224%7C
posted by mmf at 1:31 PM on February 27, 2024

I have thought about building in a dish rack between my cabinets over the sink, but I haven't done it. Any chance you'd share a photo of the space?
posted by bluedaisy at 1:34 PM on February 27, 2024

Oh! Oh! Similar to the drying cabinets, we had two of these mounted over our old kitchen sink. I freaking LOVED it. We’ve since redone our kitchen and our sink now faces a window; I still miss these dish racks dearly. So sturdy, so convenient, perfectly acceptable looking, keeps your counter and sink clear… just ideal.
posted by samthemander at 1:34 PM on February 27, 2024

I live in NYC and have limited counter space but need lots of dish rack space. I use this rack from Yamazaki. I love it. I used to the use the OXO one but it was too small. This one takes about the same amount of space on the counter but the double tier doubles the dish space and it has a side utensil hanger. I also like the tiny hooks where I can hang additional tools or a cloth. It's expensive but worth it. Wait for their 15% off sales.
posted by ichimunki at 1:37 PM on February 27, 2024 [4 favorites]

We have a single-bowl kitchen sink and almost zero counter space as well, so we've ended up with something like this roll-up draining mat that goes over part of our sink (different brand, we bought ours from Bed Bath and Beyond back in the day); we roll it up and store it under the sink when it's not in use. When it's in place, we can't wash, say, large baking sheets or our 14" skillet, but we can rinse glasses and plates and flatware. It's a compromise, yeah, but I liked that it could double as a cooling rack because it's safe to put bakeware straight out of the oven on, and meant I didn't have to own a separate cooling rack as well.
posted by Pandora Kouti at 1:52 PM on February 27, 2024 [2 favorites]

@smitten, I think we posted the same dish rack. I just order direct from Yamazaki because I like supporting them directly and they have 15% off sales often.
posted by ichimunki at 4:58 PM on February 27, 2024

I spent an absolutely stupid amount of money (though I don't think this amount of money) on this corner drying rack for my old apartment with no counter space. It's small and it fit perfectly in the otherwise unusable corner behind my sink. Oh I had a corner sink. Relevant info.

Anyway, sharing this here because it was a really good drying rack that I used for the better part of a decade, it met most of my needs, and I remember when I was looking for one a corner dish rack was almost impossible to find. Which is how come I paid such a stupid amount for it. If it doesn't suit your needs, maybe it'll please a future reader.

I left it behind when I moved out with a note to the landlord to please keep for the next tenants, I hope it's serving them as well as it served me.
posted by phunniemee at 5:19 PM on February 27, 2024 [2 favorites]

i have a collapsible dish drying rack https://a.co/d/8IqK4Yc

I can either leave it on the counter and wipe up what's dripped down or fill it as I wash the dishes, with it sitting in the sink I'm using to rinse, and then I spray everything to rinse and leave it there to dry. I also put my pots and pans and larger things, mixing bowls, etc, on the stove to dry.
posted by lemniskate at 5:56 PM on February 27, 2024

Best answer: IKEA has many ideas for you. I use one each of these, and two of these, though I could probably just let them drain on the sink counter.
posted by happyfrog at 7:02 PM on February 27, 2024 [1 favorite]

I have this one from Ikea which sits on the narrow corner to the left of my sink. I augmented it with a clip on cutlery holder kind of like this one

I stack my bowls and stuff in the below, and then use the top for plates and stuff. I just use my stove as a drying rack for any big pans, because it's quite close to the sink on the right side.

One of the best things for making my small kitchen without much cupboard space is using the thin, unbreakable, and majestically stackable tempered glass dishes from Corelle for my bowls and plates, and using expandable shelves like this one within my cupboards
posted by wowenthusiast at 10:28 AM on February 28, 2024

Response by poster: Thank you! We're gonna start with kyraU2's suggestion to abandon a rack entirely, and I also highlighted a few others that might work in our space if it feels like I need to add one.
posted by BlahLaLa at 2:07 PM on February 28, 2024

I just want to chime in that the trays on racks tend to get super gross unless not cleaned regularly, but slap a towel down there and just toss that bad boy in the washer and no problem! I actually do have a rack but it doesn't have a tray. I just set the small rack down on a bar towel on my counter. Bar towels are super cheap so get a pack of 10 from walmart and toss in the wash and replace as necessary.
posted by Saucywench at 5:02 PM on February 28, 2024 [1 favorite]

I have one of these on my windowsill, mostly for bottles, mugs, and glassware.
posted by Eikonaut at 9:11 AM on March 1, 2024