DIY Perfect Dish Rack Keeping Countertop

I live in the city , but not in the city , so my inexplicably tiny kitchenette usually amuses my friends. It can hardly be called a “room”; it’s more of a small space carved out of a hallway and it’s constantly cluttered with my various kitchen projects. There is no countertop space because I have almost no countertop. Since I also don’t have an under-counter dishwasher, I have to decide where to dry my dishes if there isn’t room for a dish rack. For many years I have tried folding models; or flimsy, store-bought dish racks above the sink ; or just laying everything on a towel.

When I decided early on in the pandemic that I was done washing dishes by hand, I forked out for a dishwasher, but I knew I couldn’t save space. So I did what any city planner does: build it up. And you can too

Decide what your dishwasher should hold

First, I mapped out the functionality I wanted from my dream dish rack. I wanted a place where I could drain a bunch of plates, bowls and containers. I also wanted it to be able to support my desktop dishwasher, which needed to be close enough to the sink to hook it up to a faucet.

This meant that everything I built had to be very strong, so I immediately thought of steel pipe. I knew from previous DIY projects that any size pipe can be cut at Home Depot. The store will even engrave the threads on the end so you can join them together.

However, buying a hardware store can take a lot of time and money, so I looked at other options. While shopping online, I found the Pipe Decor Store , which allowed me to buy exactly the size of pipes I needed, down to the inch. They also had every fitting I could imagine, even five and six way fittings.

Find out what fittings and pipes you will need

I then had to design it to fit over my sink. I didn’t use the easiest plan because I need space for the dishwasher, but if you just need space to dry your dishes, you can go a lot easier: just measure the width of your sink from edge to edge to create a simple rack with spacers on each end. Since I was lifting something heavy, I also used a medium support; the important thing is just to carefully measure and sketch out a plan that will help you figure out what fittings you need.

You can order a pipe from black or galvanized steel, I chose galvanized. Once the parts arrived, I just assembled them according to my drawing – they just screw together. I was so impressed with the strength of the structure, but at the time I had an empty structure, no real racks to dry things on.

Accessories to add functionality

To give crockery a place to rest, I was looking for a cooling rack that would fit my frame. Above it, I placed a rack designed for pot lids . I used black coated galvanized wire to attach the bars to the rack. To support the dishwasher, I chose a laminated piece of wood and cut it to size so it fits perfectly on the counter. I added some hooks to hang items on the hanger, like a dish drying canister and one for sponges.

I’ve been using this tall dish rack for three years now, and aside from a little rust (and the general absurdity of putting it over the sink), I haven’t had any problems with it. It holds a ton of plates and takes them off my counter. This is a great option if you live in a very small kitchen and are willing to put up with a little absurdity as a trade-off for extra space.