Posted by
We finally got round to redesigning our kitchen after four long years. Now that the design has been finalised and sent off to the fitters I suddenly released that I don’t have any drawers! I have lots of other storage but no drawers.I have no idea how to store my cutlery. I’ve always had a tray in a drawer and now that’s not an option. I would really love to hear about awesome cutlery storage alternatives. My Google-fu is failing me!
-Catherine
Besides investing in a set of hanging silverware (how cool are these rainbow guys!?), here are some non-drawer-necessary options for storing your flatware and other kitchen utensils…
And, I’m spent. What non-drawer methods are Homies using to store flatware?
Super glue mini magnets onto your flatware and then stick ’em to the fridge, or, if you can install these, magnetic knife strips for the wall.
We had those rainbow hanging utensils in our dorm apartment in college! I loved them, but I will say they didn’t hold up very well. They were pretty much done after 2 years of use. The handles started to come apart after a while… we were sad to see them go.
I had a hanging utensil thingy, not the rainbow one pictured, but basically same thing, and i hated it so very much. If you knock it over, all your utensils fall off.
I have a rectangular plastic storage tub, and i put drawer separators in that, it lives on the counter in my pantry. It’s not pretty, but there’s room for all of my less used stuff like chopsticks and parfait spoons
We have our cutlery in a drawer at present, but a lot of our prep & serving utensils are out on the counter in a couple of cans with fabric strips glued to their outsides to make them pretty.
We’ve also hung a lot of prep utensils on hooks by the stove, and a couple huge ones on nails on the other side of the kitchen.
You could totally decorate any sort of jar or can, though — I’ve glued tissue paper pieces to glass jars for a sort of stained glass look, used fabrics on cans, painted jars for paperclips and such… Your imagination is your limit!
For mine I have a wire rack/basket, which is flat and has 4 compartments and sits on a metal stand that keeps it off the worksurface so that I can put things underneath it. I don’t know what you’d call that arrangement since I didn’t buy it, it was there when I moved in. Other than having that space underneath, and every inch of surface counts in my kitchen I can tell you, it’s super-easy to keep clean and it doesn’t matter if anything I put in isn’t 100% dry as it’s very like a drainage board/drying rack/whatever you want to call it; air can circulate the whole time, very hygenic!
we just put in a bunch of those ikea fintorp rails – with our flatware in those baskets, as pictured. i adore them, though the baskets are large enough that the utensils don’t stand up nicely, which is a little disorganized and tweaks out my ocd sometimes. but it’s a hell of an improvement still (our drawers don’t open well, and a silverware organizer always felt like a vast waste of space in the drawer anyway).
Two years ago, when we moved in, we realized we had exactly three kitchen drawers and didn’t want to delegate on entirely to flatware. We bought two metal canisters, possibly at ikea, possibly at the goodwill, I don’t remember. I love them so much I never want to go back to flatware in a drawer, no need to line everything up as you put it away, less sorting.
I could envision this solution being bad for someone with cleanliness issues. We empty them and wash them about twice a year but keep in mind that you do end up fondling the flatware every time you need a teaspoon.
My friend has 3 silver-colored hanging buckets on her wall over the sink (similar to the last picture in the post). For forks, knives, spoons. I think it is really convenient and saves space!
Catherine, can you post a picture of your kitchen design? I’m interested in knowing what it looks like without drawers!
Unless you have tons of counter space, I vote for using wall space instead.
I made a flat storage thing (like the mail storage pictuered above) out of Legos, that’s always on the dining table. The best thing is: with Legos, pretty much any style is possible.
I owned that rainbow one, but I eventually upgraded to a different set. I was always knocking it over! My last place I used some old canisters: one for forks, one for spoons, one for knives. I liked it better than using a drawer actually.
I really like the mason jar idea, reuse/recycle, etc.
The restaurant style container would just bring back horrible waitressing flashbacks every time I went for a spoon…
Why not put screws/ hooks on the inside of one of your cupboard doors and you can hang them. They won’t take up bench or much cupboard space then.
My flatware came in a chest, and I’ve always used it. People get intimidated by it, thinking those are the fancy pieces, but I like not having to use up a drawer and still having everything separated out. The husband keeps threatening to go with an open caddy or something in the next house, but the amount of dust and dander that would accumulate there makes me a trifle squeamish, I’ll admit. But then again, I have a lot of pets.
I would use something that has a cover so that your silverware doesn’t get accumulated cooking grease, dust, etc on it. You could get one of these: http://www.pr.com/press-release/42954/file-attachment/SBB811-drawer.jpg or these: http://www.easysaladrecipes.com/woodcuttingboardwithdrawer.html
So it can double as a cutting board too. Pretty awesome. There are loads of them out there! I just googled cutting board with a drawer.
These are all very cool ideas. My mom has a hanging flatware set even though she has plenty of drawer space. It looks really cool on the counter!
Does anyone else find it odd that, in every picture that contains knives, they’re shown blade-up? That’s not a very safe way to to store them!
I like the Ikea Fintorp idea, if they have drainage holes in them you could hang it near your sink and put just washed flatware right in there to dry/already be put away. 🙂
Of course you could store flatware nicely in some brand new, vintage styled mason jars: http://gothamist.com/2013/03/18/finally_brand_new_vintage_ball_jars.php
We keep our silverware in a vintage coffee tin and our utensils in a larger, matching flour tin. We picked up 2 matching sets at 2 different garage sales and use half of the tins for their intended use and the rest hold other stuff.
We have no drawers. Originally, we put the silverware in a plastic tub on a shelf. We now keep forks and spoons in a ceramic vase on the counter, and knives still in the drawer. I have no idea why. That said, I love having the forks and spoons on the counter. It is convenient, and pretty.
I have seen counter-top flatware drawers. They are basically moveable drawers that you can relocate from counter to counter as you need to for parties, etc. Great solution if you want them covered and not obvious.
Any sort of vase/can to hold utensils in is great if you have the counter space. Mason jars, tin cans covered with pretty fabric or paper, terra cotta pots with a ribbon….Personally, I love the ideas of having mismatched teapots to hold my flatware. I also love these colorful plant pots: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0DXBievW_Fw/T5rxiX28KMI/AAAAAAAAA5c/GnJD41757JU/s1600/Screen+shot+2012-02-15+at+6.12.17+PM.png
I just finished unpacking/ unloading our eating utensils from a metal 4-compartment pencil holder/desk organizer thing (a square box divided into 4). We found it on Marshalls clearance for stupid cheap ($1.50- when silverware caddies cost at least $10) and got us through our last shoebox kitchenette. Bonus: it’s metal and gothy lookin’. They got lots of different designs for pencil cups that could work for any decor.
Now that we have a house and full size kitchen its going to hold make up brushes.
THANK YOU for this! My partner and I are currently moving into an old travel trailer, and I just noticed yesterday that there are no drawers. The same thought went through my head, especially since we just got a nice new set my grandmother bought and didn’t want. Now I have some clever ideas. 🙂
You are welcome. Let us know what you end up using!
There’s a pin on pinterest going around with mason jars strapped onto a board at an angle. They are growing herbs in it, which seems like a terrible idea since it’s probably not going to get enough direct sunlight and plants prefer their roots to be in the dark.
BUT, it seems like it would be perfect for your utensil problem. You could make the little signs say spoon, fork, etc. And this doesn’t take up extra counter space!
http://camillestyles.com/uncategorized/transformed-mason-jar-herb-garden/
I really like the last storage idea which is the individual baskets to store the cutleries. I think they make organizing easier too to make it convenient for retrieval later on. The other factor is that it can actually be hung or suspended and not simply placed onto countertops. Therefore, you can actually hang the cutleries over your kitchen sink and any residual water from washing can drip into the sink neatly without spillage all over the area.