Swap Your Dish Rack For A Dollar Tree Substitute That's Perfect For Small Kitchens

For those in the know, Dollar Tree offers a ton of easy, affordable ways to increase the storage space in small kitchens, from budget-friendly storage containers and bins for organizing your cabinets to low-profile items to maximize countertop real estate. After all, preparing meals is a whole lot easier and more enjoyable when you can spread out and really get into an efficient flow. This is much harder to do when you have lots of clunky appliances and things like bulky dish drying racks taking up all of that valuable room. 

While not everyone can afford things like a sleek, compact toaster or a mobile kitchen island to create more counter space, downgrading your dish rack to a minimalist alternative is both inexpensive and effective, especially if you're shopping at a dollar store. Dollar Tree's dish drying mats are just $1.50 each and take up much less room than a traditional wire drying rack. Lightly padded and absorbent to wick draining water away from your dishes, they also come in a variety of colors and patterns to match your existing kitchen decor, or even add a much-needed splash of color. 

These mats lie flat to protect your counter from moisture while in use, and fold up for easy storage after your dishes have dried and been put away. This means that, as long as you keep up with your dishes, you'll have plenty of clear counter space to make your favorite two-ingredient no-bake chocolate cake, chop vegetables, or even create stations to prepare several dishes at once.

Though Dollar Tree's dish drying mats have a low profile and are easy to store when not in use, there are some drawbacks. For one thing, a traditional drying rack with a drainage tray holds your dishes upright, exposing plenty of surface area to facilitate air drying. With the mats, however, part of each dish will always be touching the mat and retain moisture. This is an especially troublesome issue with cups, bowls, and containers, as drying them upside down helps the water drain out, but could also prevent the inside from drying completely, which could foster microbial growth.

To remedy this, be sure to reposition your dishes at intervals while they dry to ensure all the water has a chance to evaporate. It's also important to hang these mats up after putting your dishes away, as storing them wet could lead to mildew. Luckily, they're also machine washable, so you'll be able to clean them regularly (and easily) to prevent mold growth or bacteria transfer to your dishes. Since they're so inexpensive (and come in stylish or seasonal patterns), you may even want to get several to ensure you always have a fresh one at the ready. 

If you find the dish drying mats simply aren't large enough to accommodate your needs, you might supplement them with another genius kitchen organizing tool: a wall-mounted dish drying rack. This hack also gives back counter space while simultaneously providing you a convenient place to dry extra dishes, with the mat positioned below to absorb dripping moisture.