Kitchen design: get the dish rack off the counter.
SEE OUR FINISHED KITCHEN, HERE
Wasted space is an egregious breach of all that Paul stands for.
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I love complicating everything with more shiny.
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Can we integrate a built-in dish-rack?
My ideal amalgamation is integrated with the kitchen sink.
But HOW?
Over?
Behind?
In?
Here is our sink.
We are doing a wall-mount faucet, still undecided on specifics… here are my favorite faucet-options.
The dish rack just sitting on the counter all of the time… blergh. ALTHOUGH! You helped me join this century with the microfiber drying mat option or the thing that rolls over your sink.
But still… I am required to load the idea cannon.
You understand.
Also:
We are having extra-deep countertops… so we have plenty of space to get creative… SOMEWHERE in there, SHOULD be a smart design!
Theoretically.
But… err… Once you start drawing… THERE ARE SO MANY PLANES AND ANGLES AND ALSO SOME IDIOT PERSON HUNG THIS ANNOYING ANTIQUE CLUNK IN THE WAY.
ALSO:
Obviously<—— NOT something that LOOKS like a dish rack.
Thin brass rails?
A perforated brass sheet?
100 train racks stacked on top of each other?
But after 57,000 hours of internet-ing, I found no antique brassmeshrackthings of usable size.
Also, after the 197th round of what-about-this, what-about-that, Paul remained unswayed; he felt they were all too– HELLO LOOK AT OUR DISHRACK.
HAVE YOU SEEN THE DISHRACK?
WE HAVE A DISHRACK.
IT IS.
A DISHRACK.
Paul said— no. It’s clutter.
Self clutched Self.
But…
…we ARE clutter.
We are… to stop?
Turns out clutter is irrelevant because I couldn’t get any of the idea-sparks to be something I actually liked.
Perhaps because IT’S A DISHRACK.
But since I spent nine-hundred hours, I thought you might like to benefit.
Sadly, I cannot use any of the ideas that TRULY conceal it.
First– an argument could be made that damp, confined; is not something I would choose… I’d keep it open.
Second– we’d have to add cabinets; which I now see as a plague of locusts sent by the Cabinet-Industrial-Complex to fill all of our homes with boxes to STORE MORE CRAP FROM BED BATH AND BEYOND.
I mention the crap from Bed Bath and Beyond so that I may directly contradict myself by asking about carbonator water machines.
You saw seltzer in my kitchen.
And told me of the existence of seltzer makers.
I did not even know this is a thing.
You ROCKED MY WORLD.
Soda stream looks most popular… but then I saw this stainless one which is… nicer looking.
It’s also stupidly more money.
But unless someone says why not, I think the cost is weighed out in visual?
ALSO, WHY ARE THE CARBONATOR ROCKETS SO MUCH MONEY?
Also:
is there a secret source for buying bulk vinegar and baking soda that I do not know about?
Thank you in advance.
candace Ford
July 26, 2018 @ 12:24 pm
What’s the latest on Webster, do you know if he got adopted by someone who will actually keep him this time?
Emily
July 26, 2018 @ 12:46 pm
I don’t own a dish rack and I have the microfiber thing but I am about to give it to Goodwill. I am also against counter clutter. I put a shelf in my pantry to hold things like toasters, spice racks, blenders. I even put an outlet in there so only a handful of those appliances ever made it into the actual kithen! If you can’t find a good option to hide a dish rack, then I say skip it and dry them by hand or just let them dry on a towel next to the sink. I use the towel for my hand wash items (sometimes two) and then I just toss the towels into the laundry. I think it’s a good system.
Rhonda
July 26, 2018 @ 12:53 pm
I use my dishwasher for plates, cups, glasses, and cutlery, and hand wash the pots, pans, knives, and any baking dishes. Dry them, put them away, and put the dish rack under the kitchen sink. No clutter. Cheap and easy.
Maggielou
July 27, 2018 @ 7:08 am
Good on you, Rhonda. A woman after my own heart
fixitchick
July 26, 2018 @ 1:37 pm
Complicated and pretty beats utilitarian. Soooo, what about standing the mirror out from the wall and hiding a drying cabinet behind it? Clearly Paul has the skills to make it happen. Those extra deep base cabinets give you plenty of room. You [Paul] could build in racks like pictures 4 & 5. Except yours will be behind that mirror. In my minds eye, it would be over the sink, set to the back with a hidden drainage pan and plumbing line that tied into the sink drain below https://goo.gl/images/9YqeiM
I cant really explain it, I would never have a career as a technical writer
In one of my kitchens, I built this dish rack in. it flips up to the wall behind when not in use.
https://scontent.ftpa1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/10426143_586222398158656_2445123499029006993_n.jpg?_nc_cat=0&oh=c50c6167d9ca38993dc973f38b22ee89&oe=5BCFC692
Bernie
July 26, 2018 @ 8:30 pm
Can you imagine the crud that would accumulate in all that cabinetry? The health department could set up a lab in that kitchen.
Jacquie
July 26, 2018 @ 1:41 pm
You have to have fizzy water, you’re saving the environment by not buying plastic bottles. Drying racks, the drawer looks nice but damp, dark under counter space doesn’t sound appealing but aesthetically probably the best option. Love the blog I’ve been procrastinating about a new kitchen for nearly 20 years so I’m looking forward to yours.
Michelle Parsneau
July 26, 2018 @ 1:42 pm
Here is the fix for those absurdly expensive SodaStream CO2 cartridges. A standard paintball CO2 canister, with this adaptor. Make sure, however, that your SodaStream is a model that opens from the back, not one that you insert the cartridge from the bottom.
https://smile.amazon.com/Sellution-Paintball-Canister-Adapter-Conversion/dp/B00IAJZUIU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1532626864&sr=8-1&keywords=sellution+sodastream+adapter
Lora
July 26, 2018 @ 2:03 pm
Part One: Dishwasher
Part Two: Dishes are washed and laid out on the counter to dry before bed.
Part Three: They are put away as one has it’s first cup of coffee in the morning.
Part Four: No visible dishes on the counter. (Also no GFT)
Red Ellie
July 26, 2018 @ 2:14 pm
Are…you having a dishwasher? Can’t remember if that’s been addressed or not. My opinion is for the most low-key option available. And I’ll tell you why…
Because other things in your new kitchen must shine. There are grand piano islands, induction cooktops, astounding refrigerators, incredible huge antique mirrors, at least 12 stunning adoptable kittens, and the big sign reading, “No Stupid Vent Hoods Welcome Here…”. Therefore, it is absolutely advisable to keep the mundane need to dry dishes as bland and unfrilled as possible.
Also, because I wash 97% of my pots, pans, dishes, and flatware inthe DW there are almost no hand washables anyway. And the occasional cut glass salad bowl or delicate stemware can be hand-washed, rinsed in hot water, placed on a hand towel for 6 minutes, then put away. The hand towel can be hung to dry on a hook…somewhere.
I don’t dust often enough. I rarely iron. But I truly hate leaving dishes out very long to dry and I immediately fold/ put away clothes straight from the still-warm dryer too.
Emerald
July 26, 2018 @ 2:56 pm
What about a retractable dish rack that comes down from the ceiling? You could have a fancy lever that makes it ascend and descend.
Tucker
July 26, 2018 @ 3:03 pm
Hi VEB!
You (Paul) can hack a soda stream to be pretty affordable! https://www.frugalwoods.com/2015/08/07/the-great-homemade-seltzer-discovery-of-2015/
Kissa
July 26, 2018 @ 3:19 pm
It looks like someone has already covered this, but you can alter a soda stream so that you can use a 5 or 10 lb CO2 tank (which are refillable) instead of the the little jawns. My neighbor, in his first salvo to eventually get his wife to allow him to install a tapline for beer in their kitchen, did this for his wife. They have a 15 lb CO2 tank (that is a LOT of CO2) hidden in their mudroom that’s permanently connected to the soda stream.
Marianne in Mo.
July 26, 2018 @ 4:05 pm
Do not fret over a dish drying rack — just use a thick towel, lay the washed dishes on it, and dry them and put away. Not worth all the brain power you are using. If you really need a rack, how about finding some dishwasher racks, install them in a cabinet and grow some mildew and other grossness. I for one would never dry dishes in a confined space except my dishwasher, which dries the whole thing every time. And I hand wash knives, pots and pans, and bulky items. Dry them soon after, and put them away.
Maggielou
July 26, 2018 @ 10:30 pm
EXACTLY, Marianne. Too simple.
S Roche
July 27, 2018 @ 6:43 am
Yes, just wash, dry, put away…..All this nonsense is taking away from GFT-searching and kitten-cuddle time! :}
Jennifer
July 26, 2018 @ 4:36 pm
When I live in Italy, the two cupboard doors above my sink opened up and there were two shelves of dish racks that drained right into the sink. Close the doors once your done and no one sees a thing.
God I miss that magical cupboard.
Jean Stein
July 26, 2018 @ 5:24 pm
I finally decided to put a dishrack in one of my double sinks, and OOPS the dishrack is about 5/8″ too big on all sides. I squished it in there but now it looks funny. I also had one of those European over-the-sink drying racks and there were always always always drips. So now I’m thinking, what would Paul do? He probably has a remarkable solution, so let’s ask him!
Diana Ings
July 26, 2018 @ 7:59 pm
Wooden dish racks of any kind and water do not mix. Closing dishes in a cabinet wet to dry on a rack is not a good idea, too much of an opportunity for growth of all sorts of things, and if the bottom is open, then you get water draining onto a countertop, which is unsightly. Storing wet clean dishes to dry in a dishwasher works well because there is ventilation. A standard two bowl sink instead of the unevenly divided sink you have chosen, would be an obvious solutions and a compromise , which I suspect you do not do!
Maggielou
July 26, 2018 @ 9:11 pm
JUST DRY THEM BY HAND! Use what we in Australia call a “tea-towel”. I don’t understand the dilemma AT ALL. Wash the dishes, dry the dishes, put the dishes away. VERY SIMPLE.
Katie
July 26, 2018 @ 9:16 pm
I have a a sink grid that works very well as a dish drainer for a few, big items. Now if you are washing everything (plates, silverware, etc.) by hand it wouldn’t do at all.
Linda Hill
July 27, 2018 @ 1:20 am
Why is fhis kitchen taking forever to be built? Maybe you should just eat takeout.
Ann
July 27, 2018 @ 1:33 am
Suggest this brilliant work for Paul’s leisure hours:
MAKE YOUR HOUSE DO THE HOUSEWORK, by Don Anslett
https://www.amazon.com/Make-Your-House-Do-Housework/dp/1558703845
Paola44
July 27, 2018 @ 5:39 am
Seen from Europe, this discussion is definitely over my poor level of understanding. Either there is a dishwasher, or you wash and dry the dishes by hand and put them away. You aren’t a family of ten persons so I can’t see the problem.
I love kitchens which do not look like kitchens, but the are still kitchens, so the functionalities of a kitchen must be given. (Btw, in my opinion, a wall-mounted faucet isn’t discreet at all and drives the attention much more than a faucet on the sink.)