Twenty-first century dish racks
A recent trip to my local Container Store left me impressed with recent improvements in dish racks. Impressed by dish racks? I was surprised, too.
Growing up, our kitchen housed a large, stainless steel monstrosity of a dish rack. It was always on the counter and always holding dishes. You probably had the same dish rack in your home. I don’t own a dish rack now, however, because I predominantly own only dishwasher-safe kitchen utensils, dinnerware, and cooking supplies. In the rare event that I need to wash something by hand, I just lay out a dishtowel and set items to dry on it.
Many homes, though, are without a dishwasher and owners have to sacrifice counter space for a dish rack the same way we did when I was a kid. A walk through the kitchen supply section at the Container Store showed me that dish racks aren’t the space eating devices they used to be. Clearly, not being a handwasher of dishes has left me clueless to innovation. I found a whole world of space-saving, uncluttered options.
My favorite rack was the Sesamo manufactured by Snips and designed by i Casalinghi (pictured at right). Unfortunately, the Sesamo is not available yet through the Container Store’s website, but it’s for sale in the brick and mortar stores.
There also was an innovative In-Sink Dish Drainer that suspends itself from the sides of the sink.
When I arrived home, I found a slew of in-sink and collapsible rack designs on the internet. I even found the sexy Dish Doctor, which is designed by Marc Newson and produced by Magis, that wouldn’t be too horrible looking to leave on your counter continuously.
I’m certain that there are other, innovative, uncluttered dish racks out there that I’m missing. Most importantly, though, I’m just glad to see that the days of oversized, cumbersome dish racks are behind us. Let us know of any uncluttered dish racks you’ve encountered in our comments’ section!
Popularity: 14% [?]
Uncluttered doesn’t have to mean sterile
When my husband and I were registering for wedding gifts, we had an epiphany about our future: we will eventually break our dishes and glassware. We doubted that we would break each and every dish, but we knew that a few would become casualties amid our daily routine.
Acknowledging that dishes will break resulted in a few changes to our registry. First, we decided to register for plain, white dishes of which we had no emotional attachment but served high utility. We went with a pattern that had been produced by a major manufacturer for decades because we knew that it was likely to continue or at least be easily replaced off of Replacements, Ltd. Also, we went with plain white because we knew that we could dress it up or down, as well as put it in the dishwasher.
Second, we decided to register for glassware that we knew was being discontinued. This kept the cost low, and paved the way for our real hope with our glassware. The idea was that as each piece broke, we would replace it with something completely different from our original set. If any of our friends broke a glass and offered to replace it, we’d just tell them to buy an inexpensive glass of their choosing. Variations in glassware look creative and inspiring against our plain white plates when we set the table.
It may sound cluttered to have non-matching glassware in the kitchen, but it’s not. We don’t have more glasses than we need, all of our glasses are functional, and they are stored appropriately. Being uncluttered doesn’t mean looking exactly the same, it means using and honoring what you have and being organized with its storage system.
The idea of mismatched glassware against a plain background can be instituted in many areas of your home. Think about having every chair around your dining table being different pieces from the same period or knobs on your kitchen cupboards being the same style but in different colors. Remember that good design and an uncluttered life can be full of variety and creativity in unconventional ways. You don’t have to live in an uncomfortable, soul-less museum to be clutter free.
Popularity: 53% [?]
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