I’m Obsessed with This $5 IKEA Gem Hiding in the Kitchen Aisle (It Adds Instant Bedroom Storage!)

published Oct 10, 2024
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this is the 22nd UK IKEA Store. IKEA, founded in Sweden in 1943, is the world's largest retailer of ready-to-assemble or flat-pack furniture.
Credit: Graeme Dawes / Shutterstock

Even if you’ve given most of your home the Marie Kondo treatment, there are several universal items that feel impossible to organize well (at least for me) — swimsuits, underwear, socks, and dish towels, to name a few. But before you resign yourself to digging through your drawers and pulling everything out every time you need something, there’s hope: One organization creator is shouting out a seemingly nondescript $5.99 IKEA find that will end your drawer digging forever. 

It turns out IKEA’s OSTBIT bamboo plate holder can be used for a lot more than just dishes, as @PurrfectHomee demonstrated in a TikTok video. The holder, which measures 11 inches long, 5 inches across, and 3 inches high, features two slabs of bamboo that are attached together and each fitted with seven spokes to hold dishes in place. 

In her video, the TikTok creator — who calls the drying rack a “must-have” — showed how she used the plate holder to store dish towels by folding her towels into fourths and placing them in the rungs. When she arranged the towels in a drawer, she was easily able to see and access each one — no more digging around included.

Elsewhere in the video, the TikToker says she wished she’d “bought it sooner,” as she argued that the IKEA plate holder can also be used to store underwear and socks. The bamboo holders also happen to be the perfect size for her drawers, as she was able to fill the dresser by fitting the bamboo pieces together. 

Several of her followers also commented that they’d found alternative uses for the plate holder, including using it as a vertical bookshelf on a nightstand as well as for lids of pots, pans, and Tupperware.

People who’d bought it also had some creative uses that they shared on IKEA’s website, including using it for displaying laptops and paperwork, separating cutting boards, organizing craft tools, and keeping a kitchen drawer tidy. One happy purchaser even said they’d found a way to create “really cool bookshelves” from the wooden pieces. 

While the OSTBIT plate holder might be the stuff of organization dreams, Amazon has a dupe that’s an even better value than the IKEA version. The Worthyeah Store’s Bamboo Dish Drying Rack features nine rungs instead of seven, plus it’s slightly cheaper than the IKEA version at $5.86 (on sale from $6.99).

It also features anti-slip adhesive rubber feet at the bottom, plus you don’t have to go to your closest IKEA store to get one. However, this Prime Day deal is only temporary, so you won’t want to wait on clicking “Add to Cart” to make sure you get the discounted price.