We moved to an apartment with a tiny two-sectioned sink and I wanted a small rack that would fit in one of them and not take up any counter space. I purchased the collapsible over the sink dish drainer from Amazon (photo #1) and I LOVE it. Holds a surprising amount of stuff. Never will rust. Throw it in the dishwasher now and then to keep it clean. I also own the larger counter top version with drain pan that I used in our last place. I held on to it just in case I have a huge wash job and don't want to use the dishwasher. In a small apartment, collapsible anything is the way to go:)

Got to love a good dish drainer, but a $98.00 dish drainer - wow . I saw a similar one at Ikea for 1/4 the price. (I'm talking about the dish doctor) I'm looking at the Sur La Table drying mat ~ that looks useful.

I can't believe they're charging 50 bucks for #4. Anyone who's had one knows the wood gets grungy rather quickly and of course all those surfaces are almost impossible to clean thoroughly.

Ikea has an identical-design one that's steel. I got one there in the Returns department for about $3, which means they can't cost more than about twice that new. It can be put in the dishwasher to clean.

Ikea used to sell a dish drainer that looks just like #4 and it was way cheaper. Just sayin'
Ikea also has a great hanging dish drainer rack that is perfect for small kitchens that don't have a lot of counterspace (like mine) for only $6.

$49 for a folding wood dish rack (4)??? I have a bamboo one just like it that cost less than half that.

@pollys I had the exact same thought. ?!?!

I actually bought #4 from Costplus World Market and it was $20.

@lauriebird I have #1 and LOVE it too. Very easy to clean, flexible layout, holds a ton of stuff. I'm ready to replace it after 3 years (though not strictly necessary, it's nice to indulge in new plastic now & again) and at the price and ease of use, it's a no-brainer.

i really like this post! and i'm glad to see the comments, because i've been looking for a dish rack like #4, but thought the price was a little ridiculous.

I have a Skip Hop baby bottle drying rack that looks like grass ... I mostly use it to dry wine glasses though ... Looks great on the counter & people always ask where I got it from.

I love this article!

We don't use a drying rack in our tiny (no dishwasher) apt. The clean dishes just get angled and stacked, like a huge jenga game. We've never had a problem with them falling, so I wonder if we need a rack. Thoughts?

Where was this post 4 days ago when I went drying rack shopping! I picked up a nice one (not shown here...) for 15 bucks at superstore, plus another 7 bucks for the tray for underneath. It works well, holds plenty of dishes and is stainless with the bottom 1/3 dipped in a coating... Its not ugly so I don't mind leaving it on the counter

I have #4 and most likely paid the same as everyone else, about $20. The only problem I've ever had is that if you're washing all your glasses and mugs at once and put them on the lower section without anything in the upper section, the thing will tumble to the floor, breaking all your glasses and mugs. It's ugly and sad. So just be sure you're balancing the load top and bottom and you'll be fine.

I use a dish towel and then toss it in the wash - don't have to worry about storage or something permanently taking up counter space.

@erennich we do the same thing. We also don't have a dishwasher, and used to hand dry them with a towel, but have since gotten lazy. They get stacked all kinds of ways on top of our counter. Usually we'll put a towel underneath, although sometimes we don't. They've always dried fine, no fun smells, or anything.

Again, AP has the **most annoying layout ever!!**
I'd think it would be easy to have the caption underneath each picture, or corresponding numbers on the pics.. *sigh.*

For people living in small apartments/studios in NYC, who have very small counterspace and only one sink- Progressive has another great dish rack.
It is large enough and collapsible. I just bought it and it is very sturdy and holds a lot of dishes.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0026RI3TK/ref=oh_details_o04_s00_i00

I don't use a dish rack, since I hang my pots and pans up to dry-dry. Anything else that I hand-wash -- knives, large bowls, etc. -- I dry in the dishwasher. I just have to time it so that the dishwasher's empty when I'm ready to use it as a drying rack. Helps me save counter space!

That was supposed to be "drip-dry," not "dry-dry" above...

Jeepers. And I baulked at the $35 dish rack I saw in IKEA the other day.

No dishwasher here, and things take forever to dry if they're upside down on a towel. I've been in my new place a month, and still looking for a drainer that fits the weird sink configuration. Argh.

The best ever dishrack I've had is IKEAs Ordning. http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/10018194/
I warmly recommend it. Have tried various other ones over the years but nothing is as good as this one.

Here's the grass drying rack (doesn't look very big!):

http://www.babyage.com/diapers-and-feeding/grass-countertop-drying-rack/b373mp1.htm

My friend went through a divorce and moved into a tiny apartment. She got to choose three things from her old house to take with her, prior to the division of all the worldly goods. Her entire family was dismayed that she chose her dish drying rack. Apparently, it was a fancy-a&& dish drying rack. :)

I have the Ikea Ordning and its been great. it holds the washing up equivalent to a 3 course dinner for 5 people including water and wine glasses. this includes prep dishes. i bought a separate container for the utensils and that hangs off the side of the dish rack. this complete dish drying system has cost me a whopping £24 pounds.booyashaka!

@ninitj: Interesting. The Ordning is $20 in the US and $30 in Australia, even though the exchange rate is more or less 1:1.

Why does this not surprise me? Grrr. :(

I have the boon winter grass drying rack and it's adorable. http://amzn.com/B0032G9E0G It's technically for baby stuff but it's also great if you have a dishwasher and just a few things that have to be washed by hand.

it took me 2 years to find this simple human drainer to fit my space, it's perfect, and looks smart along my oak worktop http://amzn.to/REx8ZV

I would highly advise against the Dish Doctor. I have the white and blue one and it is impossible to keep clean unless you have a dishwasher (which somewhat defeats the purpose). The holes get moldy and require weekly scrubbing to keep clean.

In addition, over time the colored knobs on the ends of the spikes fall off. I emailed the Marc Newson design co a month or so ago to ask them if there was a way to replace the knobs or recycle the whole thing, but no reply.

I'm not sure why this item keeps getting recommended by AT and other design roundups. If something looks cool but isn't practical or sustainable, it's not well designed.

We received a bamboo dish rack from BB&B as a bridal shower gift over 3 years ago -~$20 before a coupon. Still going strong-folds flat. We love!

@TRANZER, I use a teatowel as a drainer too. Cheapest, cleanest, most flexible option. Definitely should have been included in this list.

I have a dishwasher and I only wash the odd pot, pan or vintage melamine cup or plate, so I love the ikea BOHOLMEN Dish drainer and flatware basket. It's compact, simple in design and the price is right!

I have a wall above my sink, rather than a window. This is perfect, because I now have a suspended dish rack and silverware cup there (ikea, of course) and can free up space on my counter for other things.

I have a Simple Human dish rack which is perfect for small kitchens. I bought it and 2005 and the thing still rocks! :-)

*bought it in 2005* :-/

My biggest problem is that ours does NOT drain correctly or at all. We have the KitchenAid one from Costco, but here's the amazon link to it: http://www.amazon.com/Kitchenaid-Piece-Dish-Drying-Rack/dp/B001E9O2DM/ref=sr_1_1?t=slickdeals&tag=slickdeals&ie=UTF8&qid=1299456185&sr=8-1

If I'm washing a ton of dishes and drying them on the rack, the water tends to stay in the tray and I can't tip it without danger of all the dishes shifting and or sliding off!

I've tried putting a ramp of some sort underneath the end farther from the sink to tip it towards the sink, but no height is stable enough that still properly drains! The water then ends up staying in the tray and gets all grimey and white/black/moldy. Sigh.

If anyone has any helpful tips, I would super appreciate it!

Just as I was looking at my sink and thinking, my dish rack is too big for all of the other things my roommates need to put on the counter. AT = life savers.

I had a Simplehuman one at my last apartment . . had it for five years. The drain tray is disappointing, though. It has a spout that screws on and drains into the sink.

Two problems:
The spout, screw and mechanism that holds it together gets full of crud. I didn't have a dishwasher in that place, so I had to take it apart and wash it by hand from time to time and it was GROSS.

The spout fell off from time to time, especially after I had it for a while and the edges got worn or something. I finally emailed Simplehuman to complain about this and ask them if they had a better design now, and they actually sent me a new tray. But the problem is a design problem and the new one wasn't much better than the old one.

Sad to say, I threw away my fancy Simplehuman dish rack when I moved out. This place has a dishwasher, so I don't really need one, and will probably just stick with the tried and true cooling rack-over-a-dishtowel trick.

I'm curious - what do you use for a drain tray underneath? I bought a cloth dish drain mat to put underneath but haven't used mat or rack yet; I am afraid it will get moldy.

Sorry; I meant what do people use for a drain tray under Ikea Ordning?

Got the Simple Human one from the Classics section from Macy's (actually got it from BB&B) and it is a PAIN to clean. Has impossible nooks and crannies you can't take apart and they build up scuz. I have to scrub it with a toothbrush and douse those areas with bleach. So gross. Do NOT get that one.