This past fall we were on one of our regular IKEA trips when I found myself wandering areas of the store that I didn’t even belong in. My husband caught me in a trance staring at dish drainers. He walks up and says “Why would we want one of those?” He had a point. We’ve lived in this house 10+ years and haven’t needed one yet, but I still couldn’t stop gawking at them.
They were so simple, but so sophisticated. The construction was solid, and the powder coated metal frame felt good in my hands. I tried thinking as fast as I could about how I could justify purchasing one, knowing I wasn’t going to use it in the kitchen, and there was a chance I wouldn’t use it at all.
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Insert a random “Quincey Idea”, as my husband would call it.
I begged him to just listen to me for a minute, and reminded him that he’d be rewarded with a frozen yogurt cone at the end of our trip if he had good behavior and displayed patience. 😉
I pieced together and blurted out the idea that they could be used under the window in our mudroom. They’d be placed over the vent and the kids could put their hats and gloves on it to dry after they’d been out playing in the snow.
He hesitated a little, but he could tell I wasn’t going to budge, so he agreed to let me put it in the cart. Then I did the unthinkable…. I asked for a second one! “Sure” he says, as he trailed away looking for that promised cone.
I picked up two of the drainers and one rail. Because the rack can hang over edges of the rail it didn’t matter that the width dimensions would be a couple inches different.
I ditched the bottom plastic tray that came with the rack, because I wanted the air to be able to flow better.
We’ve been using this setup for a two months and it’s working extremely well! Thank goodness for that, because I don’t know how many more of my quirky ideas this guy will agree to before he puts me on house arrest and cuts up my credit card!
Here’s all you need:
2 Bygel Dish Drainers & 1 Bygel Rail
Safety Warning: Whenever you’re drilling into your walls, be sure you know where the studs and electrical lines are. A Stud Finder
Hack # 2:
Install a couple of simple Command Hooks
The white one obviously is holding a basket, and that’s so the toddler can reach her own gloves and hat. The Brushed Nickel
Hack #3:
For hack numeral three I used more command hooks! This was a flighty idea, but it has proved to work well! I put two hooks on the back of the door for my big kids to hang their soaking wet snow pants when they come in from outside. This way they drip onto the entry rug, and not our beautiful built-in oak hall tree.
Bonus Real Life Snippet:
This is what I WANT this area to look like:
Here is what it actually looks like on a typical day:
The kids have baskets on the hall tree to put their winter gear into once it’s dry, so it isn’t supposed to linger on the rack, but it does. And really people, just set your boots up straight! haha, oh well, I’m just happy we know where everyone’s hats and gloves are now!
