This $8 Ikea Find Makes Tiny Kitchen Countertops Feel Twice As Big

Corralling any loose produce on your countertops is one of several surefire ways to maximize your kitchen space, but some designs feel visually heavier than others. If you want to clear some counter space while also making your tiny kitchen feel a lot bigger, you might want to give Ikea 365+ food storage baskets a shot. They're mesh metal baskets that come in dandelion yellow and sea green, so they feel airier than more solid containers while also adding a breezy pop of color to your kitchen. And since they come in a pack of two for just $8, they're as light on the budget as they are on the eyes.

They can also help your fruits and vegetables last longer, as some produce actually continues to respire after it's harvested. Uncut onions, for instance, absorb oxygen and release water even as they're sitting on your kitchen countertop. Keeping them in a sealed container traps all that moisture inside and accelerates spoilage. Mesh baskets allow for better air circulation and stave off this problem.

Not all produce, however, would appreciate these baskets. While onions and garlic would feel right at home, storing citrus on your kitchen counter is a huge mistake. An orange, for example, continues to release moisture through the pores on its rind, so keeping one on the countertop would cause it to lose volume and flavor. For the Ikea 365+ food storage basket, it's best to go with fruits and vegetables that do well at room temperature, like apples, mangoes, ginger, jicama, potatoes, and tomatoes. Bread, coffee beans, and basil are a few other foods you shouldn't store in the fridge.

While the Ikea 365+ food storage baskets do a great job of organizing the produce on your countertop, it's not the only way they can maximize the space in a tiny kitchen. The 365+ series also includes bamboo lids that fit perfectly onto the baskets. Aside from allowing you to reduce even more visual clutter, the lids also make it so that the food storage baskets can be stacked. This gives you additional vertical storage for your kitchen while also clearing up space on your kitchen countertop.

If you want to solve your kitchen clutter problems with a tiny upgrade like a countertop cabinet, the baskets can also be used to store the contents of your cabinet more neatly. At just 5 ½ inches wide and 3 ⅞ inches tall, the 365+ food storage baskets are compact enough to fit inside all sorts of cabinets and shelves. You may not maximize the circulation they offer if you place them inside a closed-door cabinet, but being able to see exactly what's inside each container within your well-organized cabinet is a huge plus either way.

The Ikea baskets don't have to be limited to storing produce, either. Other loose items like spice bottles, salt shakers, and oil bottles fit fairly well inside the baskets, so you can tuck them all into an out-of-the-way spot on your kitchen countertop. Given their size and durability, you can get a surprising amount of utility for just $8, making them a great find for people with limited counter space.