This Slim Dish Rack Is Perfect for My Tiny Kitchen (It’s Only $17!)

I know both how important it is to have a dish drying rack that fits comfortably inside your kitchen, and how difficult it can be to find the right one. You need it to hold however many dishes you dirty in an average day, but you don’t want it to occupy any more counter space than is absolutely necessary. You also need it to be a little bit flexible — so that it can hold large or oddly-shaped bowls, glasses, or cookware from time to time — but you may not necessarily want it to have moving parts or attachments that you also have to worry about keeping clean.

I’ve had different sized dish racks over the years, and I’m happiest with the one I have now. This piece from mDesign can fit every piece of tableware I own, including my oversized mixing bowls, yet its narrow shape takes up hardly any room on my kitchen counters. It comes with a flexible silicone mat to catch water drops, and in a surprise twist, it’s available in seven different colors (which I wish I had known earlier so I could have gotten the copper model). And at just under $17, it’s a totally affordable dish drying solution for small spaces.

This dishwashing tool is a little over 1 foot long and about 6 inches wide, and the mat below it measures 16 inches by 8 inches. It has 12 rows of dividers and a utensil holder in the front that’s divided into 3 sections (and can be removed for cleaning). The feet on the rack also have plastic coverings that prevent it from scratching your countertops in case you want to use it without the mat. Speaking of which, the included mat does a great job of catching water and letting it evaporate without spilling over the sides. And because it’s made of flexible silicone, you can easily wash it as needed to get rid of any unwanted buildup.

My favorite thing about this dish rack is its small size. It doesn’t get in the way when I’m cooking or cleaning, and I never feel like I want to move it somewhere else (even though I only have a few square feet of counter space in total to work with). I also like that it’s easy to quickly clean if it ever starts to lose its shine, and that it’s surprisingly sturdy — I bump into it constantly and have yet to knock it over.

I appreciate that the U-shaped dividers create a flat space in the middle of the rack where you can stand glasses and coffee mugs upright, which helps them from falling over and breaking. Overall, I’ve found this to be the perfect dish-drying companion to my dishwasher. Whenever the dishwasher is full or if I have something that’s easier to wash by hand, I can set it in this to dry without the need for a larger, full-sized dish rack.

For my kitchen, the silver rack and dark gray mat blend in well, but if you want to experiment with more style in your dish rack, you should definitely check out their bronze and copper options (which come with different colored mats to match). Whether you want a dish rack to supplement your dishwasher, or you just want to save space, this small and budget-friendly find from mDesign is a smart choice. I’ve been using it for two years and absolutely love it!

Buy: mDesign Dish Drying Rack with Silicone Mat, $16.74

This post originally appeared on The Kitchn. See it here: This Compact Dish Rack Is Perfect for My Tiny Kitchen (It’s Only $17!)