How Do You Dry Dishes With Limited Counter Space

Not everyone has the luxury of a big kitchen with plenty of counter space. For those who live in small houses or apartments, every inch of the kitchen countertop is valuable real estate. Given the number of items that you need to have if you cook regularly at home, it can be a huge headache trying to find the space for everything. And one of the items that is a must-have is a dish rack especially if you don’t own a dishwasher. But how do you dry dishes with limited counter space then?

The most apparent solution would be to wipe them dry. Hence, there won’t be a real need to find space for a large dish rack. The question then is whether this practice is convenient given your habits. Are you going to wipe all the dishes, cooking utensils, and coffee cups dry each time you have washed them? I doubt most of us would religiously do so. In other words, you will still need a dish drying rack, even a small one, for convenience sake.

Furthermore, some people also prefer air drying their dishes and cutlery rather than wiping. They may feel it is more hygienic this way. After all, the dish cloth may not be as clean as you think. So, where can you dry dishes in a small kitchen if wiping is not your thing?

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Dry Dishes With Limited Counter Space By Making Use Of The Sink

A double or triple tier drying rack will help you to save space but the fact remains that you will still need to allocate a reasonable area for it. Another alternative will be to use a drying mat. This may be a solution as a mat can be easily rolled up for storage. But again, the mat needs to be laid out on your countertop when in use.

So, a better way is to make use of space in the sink. If you only have a single sink, this may be a bit difficult to implement. But if you have a double kitchen sink, you can always use one to dry your dishes. You can get an expandable dish rack with arms that extend over the sink.

If you want to use the sink, you can easily remove the rack and place it elsewhere. As the rack has a depth to it, the items inside would not fall out when you move it from one spot to another. Another advantage of such a rack is that you can also use it to wash vegetables and fruits such as tomatoes, oranges, and capsicums.

A similar type of dish drainer that sits across the sink is a rolled-up rack. This allows for easy storage as you can roll it up and store it away when not in use. But if you want to move it, you will need to remove the plates, glass cups, coffee mugs, and whatever that you are drying first. Otherwise, you will risk dropping the items because it is just a flat rack rather than a basket.

Make Use Of Vertical Space Above The Sink

If you are not keen to allocate one sink for draining dishes, where else can you dry them then? Well, another option is to see if you can make use of the space above the sink. If that space is bare, then you can put in a 2 or 3-tier rack over it. Such a rack also doubles up as an organizer with different compartments for different items such as plates, cutlery, knives, and chopping boards.

Given its bigger size, this over the sink dish rack can easily cost $50 and above. If it has 3 levels with a width that extends over 2 sinks, you can just imagine the amount of items that it can accommodate.

Basically, how do you dry dishes with limited counter space is to utilize the sink itself and the area above it. It may cause some inconvenience and the sink area will look more compact but the upside is you will be able to put one more appliance on the countertop without a dish rack hogging the same space.