What can you do with an old dish rack? 6 brilliant, creative recycling ideas
Dish drainers/racks are certainly a commonly found object in many kitchens. That said, aged dish racks often find their way into the garbage. Beautiful, wooden racks, for example, can lose their stability and pick up mold; plastic racks can warp and crack; metal racks are prone to rusting and are easier to replace than restore.
Old dish racks can, however, be repurposed in creative ways. Let's check out some ideas together:
Lid organizer
It's impossible to go without food containers at home, but these items can be difficult to store neatly. You can save a lot of space by placing the containers to one side and keeping the lids elsewhere. In fact, most lids will fit perfectly into the solts of an old dish rack, as shown here.
Creative shelves
There are some wooden dish racks that are really beautiful: before they get too damaged, you can recondition an old, wooden dish rack and use it as wall-mounted shelving. Cleaned, sanded, and possibly repainted and sealed, a creative shelf like this will add a nice touch to any room.
DVD or CD holder
Are you a lover of media formats that are now considered vintage, such as DVDs and CDs? Then you will certainly need CD or DVD storage racks. An old dish rack - especially a wooden one - can be easily converted into this type of furnishing accessory!
A mini library
We have books and manuals laying around at home. Avoid creating a mess by placing your reading materials in a basket... which you can make from an old metal dish rack (as shown here)!
You can even repaint the rack, perhaps in some elegant metallic color!
Desk organizer
A dish rack that also had a cutlery basket can become an excellent desk organizer. If you have folders, stacks of papers, pens, pencils and highlighters all over your desk, use an old dish rack to tidy it up!
General-purpose storage baskets
Metal dish racks make excellent substitutes for baskets to tidy up the house. They can be used to divide the insides of closets, to store bathroom products or spare toilet paper rolls in, and so on. So, think twice before throwing an old dish rack away!
Can you think of other ways in which you could recycle an old dish rack?
