Before I moved into my college apartments, I lived in a dorm room which, as we all know, has limited storage space. Even so, I brought dinnerware with me to eat in the dorm sometimes. Living with limited storage options helped me come up with a few ways to store dishes in a small space, such as an apartment.
When it comes to versatile dish storage and organization, drying racks are your best friend.
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1. Use a Normal Drying Rack
If you already have a drying rack then it doubles as a good place to store your dishes. This is especially true if you don’t have a lot of cabinet space to spare or you don’t have deep drawers. If you’re going to sit the rack on the counter, then I suggest putting some kind of cloth under it to soak up leftover droplets that didn’t make it into the sink. Also, I specified using a ânormalâ drying rack because there are a lot of different, creative variations that I’m about to list in this post.
2. Store Them Vertically
Another way to store and organize your dishes is by putting them away vertically. This is a good option to go with if youâre not a fan of stacked dishes. Not wanting to lay them on top of each other makes sense in some situations. One being that you have a bunch of plates with unique designs on them.
If you want to eat from the one with a mandala design, but itâs stacked in the middle of nine other plates, then shimmying the desired one out from the pile can be annoying. You also might not be in the mood to lift the other dishes just to get to the mandala one. Using a vertical storage device lets you just grab and go without ever running into this slight inconvenience.
3. Use a Corner Shelf
This is a good solution if you want to stack more than just dishes in your cabinets. You could put plates on the bottom, other small kitchen items in the middle, and bowls on top. Or you could arrange them however you like, I’m not the boss of you. This device is also a good solution if you have unused vertical space in your cabinets. Not to mention that, since itâs a corner shelf, you can shove it to the back and store more things in front of it.
4. Use an Expandable Cabinet OrganizerÂ
This can create even more shelf space in your cabinets by helping you take advantage of unused vertical space. Its expandable feature also makes it accommodating to different cabinet sizes. You can also adjust the height to fit whatever size dish needs to be stacked on top of stored below. This is great for when you don’t want to stack a lot of your dishes on top of one another. It’s also great for cabinets that don’t come with any shelves at all (which is criminal if you ask me).
5. Use an Under Shelf Basket for Smaller Plates
This is another way to add extra shelving to your cabinets. This works best between shelves that aren’t too close to one another, or else there won’t be room for the basket. I suggest keeping lightweight dishes on this, unless you’re up for putting the weight capacity to the test. This is a good place to put oddly shaped dishes or bowls that don’t fit in with your other stacked dinnerware. It could work as a cute way to subtly display them when someone opens the cabinet door.
6. Put Them On A Stackable Organizer Set
This kitchen organizer lets you have a little customization by arranging it in different ways. This comes in handy if you have irregular shaped dinnerware that doesnât fit in your cabinets nicely. This also comes in handy if you want to store some dishes on your countertops without stacking them. Even after you put your plates on them, thereâll probably be room to store other kitchen items, so they can become a sort of hub for your most used supplies. Â
7. Use A Drainage Storage Rack
If you would prefer to not stack your bowls, then this is a good option for you. As the name suggests, it can also function as a drying rack for them. All youâd have to do is line up the bowls on the organizer, let them dry, then pick up the whole thing and pop it in the cabinet. Thatâll save you the extra step of putting them away individually, which could save you a little time. As you can imagine, this rack lives up to its fullest potential if you donât have a dishwasher, or if you hand wash all of your bowls by choice.
8. Get an Expandable Dish Drying Rack
The cabinet organizer isn’t the only form of expandable storage on this list! I already mentioned having creative alternatives to normal drying racks in this post; here’s one of them. If you live in an apartment with a small kitchen, then counter space might be hard to come by. That’s why it’s great that this thing shrinks when you need it to. On the other hand, it can also function as extra counter space by expanding. Want more tips on how to get the most out of a small apartment with a tiny kitchen? Check out my 27 tips on my other blog post!
9. Use a Drying Rack with Multiple Tiers
This is another great way to make the most of minimal counter space. And guess what, it’s part of the expandable appliance club! This isn’t just a great way to store dishes either; it’s great for cups and utensils. There are even slimmer versions of these that can really come in handy if you have zero counter space. It might sound weird, but after all of the dishes are dry, you can keep it on the window sill if it’s wide enough.
10. Get A Retractable DrainerÂ
This has a similar function to the drainage storage rack that I talked about in #7. They allow you to stack your bowls on top of each other to let them dry and, when theyâre done, you can put them away as is. Thereâs no need to put them back one at a time.
11. Get A Drying Rack With Prongs
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Since this rack has prongs, you have more freedom to choose how you dry and store your dishes. Depending on how to store them, I suggest keeping this rack on your countertop instead of in the cabinets. If you choose not to line them up in a row vertically, then shoving them in a confined space might make it harder to grab what youâre looking for. Not to mention that, if you remove the whole thing to grab what you want, you risk letting the other dishes roll off. Keeping this on the counter and storing your most used dishes and dinnerware on it is a good use for the rack.
12. Get a Wide, Scandinavian Inspired Drying Rack
This is less about saving space and more about having an aesthetically pleasing kitchen. If you don’t have a dishwasher and, therefore, need a place to dry your dishes, you’ll need some kind of rack. The ones I listed above work perfectly, but some of you might not like the idea of compromising style for necessity. If you have some kind of Scandinavian aesthetic going for your space and you want your kitchen to match that, this lets you have the best of both worlds.
13. Use A Foldable Dish Rack With Multiple Tiers
This is another rack that gives you the option to store more than just dishes on it. If your cabinets donât have shelves then this could be a good way to use the empty vertical space inside. Want to know more cool ways to organize your kitchen cabinets? Check out my 22 tips on my other blog post! You could also just store it on your counter, which would make it easier to use it as both a drying rack and an organizer. Since this is foldable, it can be easily stored away when youâre not putting it to use. This feature also helps when it comes to packing for a move.Â
14. Get An X Shaped Dish Drying Rack With Cup Storage
This is a slightly different version of the rack that I just talked about in #14. The difference is that, instead of having a second, flat tier, it has a built-in cup drying rack. Whether or not you choose to use this device or the previous one could depend on how many cups you use, among other preferences. If you plan to keep your drying rack on the counter, then storing your glasses on this one would prevent dust collection on the inside of them. Sitting them upside down on the counter would have the same effect, but using this makes it easier to move all the cups at once.
15. Use a Flip Up Dish Draining Board
This is a super simple, yet, effective way to store a small amount of dishes. If you have very little cabinet and drawer space to fit even a couple plates and cups, then this could be a good solution for you. This product might also help if you have many plates, but not all of them will fit inside your drawers and cupboards. Another way that this product could be helpful is if you have a very small amount of counter space and need a tiny, compact drying rack.
16. Get a Rack That Can Hold More Than Just Dishes
Since you’re already looking for ways to store and organize your plates, you might as well look for something that can double as cookware and utensil storage too. This will free up room in your cabinets and drawers for other things that might otherwise take up counter space. If this one isnât your forte, then there are a lot of different versions of this product to choose from, especially on Amazon.
17. Mix An Extendable Drying Rack With Prongs
If you liked the idea of having expandable storage and enjoyed the prospect of having prongs on your drying rack, then why not have both? This is a pretty big drying rack that lets you put an assortment of dishes, utensils, and cups on it. Unless you have very big cabinets, then I suggest keeping this on your kitchen counter. Similar to other products on this list, this can function as a good hub for your more commonly used dinnerware.
18. Use Paper Plate Organizers
This is for those of you who lack both a dishwasher and the time to scrub your plates by hand everyday (or every other day). Instead of letting your plates stink by sitting in the sink, you can opt for paper plates. I suggest biodegradable ones for a more earth-friendly option. These are some organizers that you can store them on if you plan to buy in bulk. Large packs of paper plates can be stacked too high to fit in your cabinets. If you don’t have a pantry, then they’d probably be sitting on the counter or something. These let you escape that situation.
19. Get a Mega Rack That Can Hold Containers Too
When it comes to taking advantage of vertical storage, this thing pretty much has a masterâs degree in that field. If this can fit on your kitchen countertop, then it can take a lot of weight off of your cabinet and drawersâ backs. As you can see from the picture (if it’s still working; if not then this is embarrassing), you can sit small appliances on it too. I personally wouldn’t suggest doing that and would, instead, sit heavier containers or decor on it. Just avoid putting anything electronic on it since it’s close to water.
20. Use a Pull Out Drawers for Cups and Small Dinnerware
These are most popularly used as under sink storage for cleaning supplies. However, if you can fit cups and small dinnerware in them, then why not utilize this storage space, right? And there’s no need to keep them under the sink despite the name of the product. Put them anywhere that they’ll fit. In all honesty, you could probably use them as drying racks for small dinnerware too. Just make sure to put a cloth underneath.
