IKEA's Clever $45 Dish Rack Is the Small Kitchen Upgrade Tiny Spanish Homes Have Used for Years to Create Extra Storage

During a recent trip to Spain, where many compact residential homes were designed to sacrifice kitchen space for more outdoor cooking and living areas, I noticed one clever feature that instantly cleared clutter inside.

Instead of dish drying racks next to the sink, they were hidden in wall cabinets, allowing you to double up your drying and dish storage space and keeping the area around your sink clear.

The cabinet above many Spanish sinks I saw allowed space for water to drip into the basin below, but you can easily and quickly recreate this space-saving kitchen storage idea with IKEA’s KUNGSFORS $45 dish drainer, which comes with a drip tray and can be wall-mounted.

I visited Iran a lot as a child to see my family, and this vertical storage trick was also a common feature in apartments across Tehran and beyond. Keeping dish racks tucked into cabinets above sinks was a space-saving design feature that served multiple purposes, and I saw it this week in Spain too.

The benefits of this setup I’ve often spotted in hot and humid countries include:

• Instantly clears sinkside clutter.
• Opens up extra countertop space for food prep in small kitchens.
• No more manual drying of dishes is required.
• As you wash items, you’re also putting them away, reducing chores.
• Removing sink-side drainers allows space for washed pots and pans to dry.

Design Experts Agree It’s a Genius Dish Rack Replacement

Head of Interiors at Homes & Gardens, and our resident design expert, Hebe Hatton, explains the problems switching to this style of dish rack can solve.

She says, ‘You could invest in the chicest dish rack, which looks fine when empty, but as soon as you actually put it to use and stack it with dripping dishes, any potential design statement is gone.

‘It's clutter, and it's noticeable – right at countertop level, which can be a busy place at the best of times. If your kitchen design does allow for a dish rack to be taken up off the countertop, it can make a lot of difference, especially if you make it part of a shelving display with shelves above it that you can style with crockery and cookbooks.’

If you need to store wider items, the IKEA item’s separator spikes can flatten down, transforming it into a shelf, while the IKEA KUNGSFORS Suspension rail and shelf combination comes with a shelf for exactly this.

Hebe adds, ‘This IKEA product frees up space around the sink and is more subtle both when not in use and when filled with dishes.’

The fact it has a drip tray and can be moved into a hidden spot makes it extra useful in busy hosting periods.

How the IKEA Drainer Can Help You Replicate This Design Feature

As it can be placed sink-side, inside a cabinet (it has a drip tray) or mounted on the wall, it allows you to corral wet dishes in a multitude of ways to best suit your compact kitchen or busy sink area.

It’s made from non-toxic stainless steel, and the steel wire has a galvanized coating for longevity. The tray that catches the drips from your wet dishes is also made from stainless steel, making it easy to clean lowers the risk of mold, which makes keeping it hygienic all the easier. Simply wipe clean with a spot of dish soap and dry with a clean cloth.

Avoid any harsh chemicals or rough scourers that can impact the surface, however, or it might become scratched.

You can also pair it with the KUNGSFORS suspension rail for an alternative mounting route.

More to Shop

Sinkside clutter is an issue for many, even in bigger kitchens, as the items there are in permanent rotation and a constant cycle of wash–dry-use. Here are some clever sink-side solutions to keep yours as functional as possible without creating an eyesore.

All prices were correct at the time of publication.

Say goodbye to the traditional dish rack with a clever alternative.

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