Kitchen Hacks - Everything ABOVE the Kitchen Sink

My husband and I recently moved into a new house.  While we love most of the house's features, I happen to dislike the amount of counter and storage space available in the kitchen.  

We have two small counters on either side of the sink, and several short and shallow shelves on either side of an empty nook above the sink.  The cabinets that we do have, I'm too short to reach!   I've taken up most of the available counter space and cabinet space already with most of our food, dishes, etc.  but there was no where to hang up dish towels, or put sponges and wash cloths where they wouldn't go sour.  

I figured the big empty nook above the sink would be a prime spot to store such things.  They would be out of the way, yet easily accessible when cleaning up the kitchen,  would let soggy things drip into the sink instead of onto the floor or counter.

What You Will Need
Hammer & Nails (Hopefully you'll have some around the house, you'll be amazed what you can do with them.)
Small Adjustable Curtain Rod, about $2-$5 at Walmart, Home Depot, or Big Lots. (Note:  You'll want to measure your nook to know what size to get)
Shower Caddy, about $1-$3 at Dollar Tree, Dollar General, Big Lots, or Wal Mart

Step 1: Stage Left - Drying Rack for Scrubbers and Sponges

One of the last times I stopped in at my local Dollar Tree, I came across a wire shower caddy and realized how perfect it would be for storing sponges in the kitchen, so that they could dry without going sour.  I purchased it and tried it out above the sink - it has been working wonderfully for us!

You don't need to invest in a heavy duty shower caddy, just a cheap wire one from your local dollar store or bargain shop works very nicely for this purpose.  Just use your handy hammer and nails, center it up, and hang your caddy

Step 2: Center Stage

Now that we had a nice place to hang our sponges and scrubbers when we were washing our dishes, we would need somewhere to hang our dishcloths and towels after we were finished drying them.

I had purchased an adjustable silver curtain rod for a  window in the house, but it turned out to be slightly to large.  However, it was the perfect size to turn into our kitchen towel rack!

Simply adjust the rod as directed on it's packaging (usually rotating to lengthen or shorten the rod) at the desired spot to secure on the wall.  Make sure it is level, and try to give it a few extra rotations - It will give your makeshift towel rod more strength.

Note:  This is not as secure as a mounted towel rack, be sure not to put large amounts of weight on it or hang objects other than towels or dishcloths on it.  However, my rack CAN hold up to 5 heavy-duty kitchen towels.

Step 3: Stage Right - Oven Mitt

Now, I've got everything just above stored for when I'm cleaning up the kitchen, but how about those things I only need when I'm cooking?  Namely, I have my oven mitt.  I didn't really have anywhere to store it. 

Until Now

Oven mitts are one of those things that usually come with it's own hanger.  I get excited now when I find anything that is made so that it can easily be hung onto a wall, it saves so much space!  This cool trick can also be done with trivets, pot holders, and kitchen utensils that have a hole for hanging.

Simply tap another nail into the wall, and voila!  Your oven mitt is now both out of the way and easily accessible!

Step 4: Backstage

Now, when you are washing dishes, you have to have somewhere to put them to dry.  (Unless you can wash and dry at the same time, or you and your dishwashing partner have odd washing-drying synchronicity.)  This usually requires a slightly bulky item, known as the dreaded dish drainer. 

It's bulky.  It spends a lot of the time sitting empty on the counter taking up valuable space that I could be using to make muffins or another similarly delicious baked good.

So, with a lot of today's dish drainers, you'll find with a couple of nails in the wall you can easily hang them up to save space.  (Once again, this is GREAT for over the sink, just in case there is a little dampness or dribble that needs to drain.)

Carefully center your nails about 4-6inches apart so that your dish drainer will hang straight.  I recommend using a level for this.

Step 5: Encore - Microwave Cover

I hate getting splatters all over the microwave.  I also hate that half the time, I made a lot of them because I was too lazy to go dig the cover out of the drawer.

Solution?  Hang the cover on the wall beside the microwave, easily within reach (and a great reminder for my husband!)

This is another simple nail-in-the-wall kinda solutions.  Simply tap the nail into the center of the wall at the most-convenient level to hang it.  Most of the basic microwave covers hang very well on a single nail.