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.
Kathy
July 27, 2018 @ 2:44 pm
I have a friend who’s VERY OCD. For instance, she follows her dog around the backyard with a plastic bag in hand. I’m sure you can figure out why. No freshly-worn shoe is allowed inside her house. Her newborn isn’t allowed to suck his thumb or have a pacifier to avoid a distorted mouth. She alphabetizes her spices. I could go on and on…
Needless to say, no dish (dirty or clean) is EVER allowed to be left anywhere in her house except the kitchen cabinet or dishwasher. The horror would send her over the edge. VEB, I’m not saying that you’re anywhere near this level of OCDness. But I am surprised that the clutter of a dish rack with (God forbid) dishes in it wouldn’t bother the lovable perfectionist that you are. Maybe you could at least try living without one and see how it goes. It’s a thought…
Sojourner
August 1, 2018 @ 10:41 am
Sodastream has a version made for I think Williams Sonoma, which looks somewhat like a penguin.
It has glass bottles, which is what I like best about it, and it has a lifetime warranty! We have had ours
for years, use it constantly, and only recently the penguin part broke, and they sent us a brand new one without any issue. I cannot even calculate how many plastic bottles we have avoided using, and we
no longer drink water out of plastic.
Julie
August 5, 2018 @ 1:13 am
*I* have a big, fancy dish rack that does NOT look like a dishrack! I found a large silverplate platter with fancy claw feet at a thrift store. My hand-washing goes on it to dry. Did you know silver kills germs?
When my newly washed dishes are put to dry on the dishrack, I call it my fun game of Kerplunk! I pile them on, until things start to topple, then I say, “Oh, alright!” and begin drying things with a dish towel and put them away — or rather, I have my children do that. I didn’t nurse them all until they weaned themselves for nothing. I expect a little putting away of dishes and lawn mowing in return. Totally worth it.
Bonnie Craven
October 4, 2018 @ 4:12 am
Hey, I love your kitchen dish rack. I am going to remodel my kitchen next month. I must add this to build my kitchen design. Thanks for the sharing this information.
Julie
November 10, 2018 @ 9:25 am
In case it gets missed, I use the largest, fancy, silverplated, most ornate, footed tray I could find at a thrift store for under $5, for my “dish rack”.
I searched high and low for a silverplated footed tray — the kind one would receive as a wedding present (then donate after 20 years of never having used it), with grooves to catch the juices from carving “the roast beast”. They were always too small or didn’t have feet. kind
Having feet is the key to not getting a bacteria -laden slick of slime under the dishrack.
june
June 5, 2019 @ 1:34 pm
A word of caution about buying the largest packages of baking soda. It doesn’t have a long shelf life. If its beyond the expiry date you can test freshness by mixing with warm water and a bit of vinegar. If it doesn’t fizz it might be okay to clean or deodorize, but don’t use to bake. Locally, I know both Target and Shop-rite carry vinegar by the gallon.
Ann
June 5, 2019 @ 11:43 pm
I don’t like to dry dishes, so I put hand-washed stuff on a dishtowel next to the sink. An hour later, I put the dry dishes away. Easy, and nothing to store.
I once visited a home where they had rods in the floorless cabinet above the sink; the rods were positioned so they supported all the plates and they dried naturally.and stayed in place for storage. I thought it was nifty. This was in the days before dishwashers; I now think dishwashers are niftier.
Pokey
June 10, 2019 @ 11:01 am
May I suggest: Drinkmate. It does what Sodastream does BUT it can also carbonate juices. Sparkling apple juice is *chefs kiss.
Barbara Chapman
June 10, 2019 @ 12:28 pm
Hi Victoria! Just seeing this post almost a year later. Yes, bulk baking soda can be purchased at Winco, if you have that grocery store anywhere near you. I buy it 10 lbs. at a time for baking but also for cleaning silverplate tableware.
Happy summer,
Barb 🙂
p.s. Love the Kohler sink with the drain in it. I think everyone hates having dishes on the counter… It’s part of life. 😉
Jessica Darcey
June 19, 2019 @ 8:12 pm
Nice ideas on the rack. I prefer having them over the sink. Saves time from cleaning separately.
David Warner
November 19, 2019 @ 1:01 am
Do stainless steel dish racks rust?
Tali Simhoni
July 27, 2021 @ 9:20 pm
Please add thedripdry.com to your next blog!