Where to Store Kitchen Utensils in a Rental

Where utensils should be stored is the question I did not know I was answering on a Tuesday morning in October 2021, when I was standing in the kitchen of my Long Island City studio at 7:30 in the morning trying to find a spatula. The spatula was not in the drawer where I thought I had put it. It was not in the cabinet where I thought I had put it. It turned out to be in the dishwasher, because the drawer was so disorganized that the spatula had migrated to the cleanest surface in the kitchen.

I have stored kitchen utensils in three rentals since 2021, and I have tested five different ways to do it. The first rental was the Long Island City studio. The second rental was a one-bedroom in Bushwick. The third rental was the railroad apartment in Astoria I just moved out of in November 2024. I have used five different storage solutions across the three rentals. Two of the solutions worked. Three of the solutions did not work. The solution I am telling you not to buy is the third solution. The third solution is the ceramic utensil holder that every listicle about kitchen organization tells you to buy. The ceramic utensil holder is the solution that does not work in a small rental kitchen, and I will tell you why, and then I will tell you the four solutions that do work, and the four solutions that do work are not the solutions the listicles tell you about. If you are looking for where kitchen utensils should be stored in a small rental, this is the answer.

The 5 places I have stored kitchen utensils in three rentals since 2021, and which ones I am keeping when I move into the next rental in 2026.

Place one was a junk drawer in the LIC studio, which came with the apartment and which I never organized. It held two spatulas, one wooden spoon, one whisk, one can opener, three rubber bands, two dead pens, and a takeout menu from a Thai restaurant that closed in 2022. I stored utensils there for the first six months. It did not work because the drawer was too deep and the spatulas migrated to the back, disappearing under the pens. Skip the junk drawer.

Place two was a tall ceramic utensil holder on the counter, which I bought at Target for $35 in April 2022 after losing the spatula three times in two weeks. It was 7 inches tall, 6 inches in diameter, and held 6 utensils. It worked for three months because the utensils were visible and reachable. It stopped working in month four because it collected crumbs and sauce, took up 6 inches of counter space I did not have, and slid against the wall every time I wiped the counter, chipping the paint. Skip the ceramic utensil holder.

Place three was a drawer divider from the Container Store, which I bought in October 2022 after giving up on the ceramic holder. It was a 5-compartment bamboo divider that cost $24 and fit the LIC kitchen drawer. It kept each utensil in its own compartment, did not take up counter space, did not collect crumbs, and did not slide around. This is the solution I am keeping when I move next.

Place four was an IKEA pegboard with 6 stainless hooks, which I bought for the Bushwick one-bedroom in June 2023 because the kitchen did not have a drawer large enough for a divider. The board was $24 and the hooks were $12. It was 24 inches wide, 18 inches tall, and mounted between the refrigerator and the sink. It got the utensils off the counter and out of the drawer, but it collected grease from the stove, needed weekly wiping, and left four holes in the wall that cost me $40 of my security deposit. It worked for one year. It did not work for two. Buy it only if you are staying less than 12 months.

Place five was a counter caddy I built from a 6-inch IKEA wooden box and 6 stainless screws, used in the Astoria railroad apartment in 2024. It was 6 inches wide, 4 inches tall, and held 4 utensils. It worked because it was small enough to fit on the 18-inch counter between the sink and the stove, did not collect crumbs because it was open at the bottom, and was heavy enough not to slide. This is the solution I would build again if I had less than 24 inches of counter space.

The 1 storage solution to skip, which is the part of where to store kitchen utensils that the listicles do not write about, because the listicles are written by people who have 36-inch counters and full drawers.

The ceramic utensil holder is the solution to skip. It is what every listicle tells you to buy, what the West Elm catalog recommends, and what your mother-in-law gave you for your wedding. It does not work in a small rental kitchen because it takes up counter space you do not have, collects crumbs and sauce, slides around and chips the wall, and looks good on Instagram but bad in real life. Skip it. The other four solutions I tried all worked for different rentals.

The drawer divider method, which is what I would recommend for any renter who has a drawer at least 18 inches wide and at least 16 inches deep.

The drawer divider method uses the $24 bamboo divider from the Container Store. It requires a drawer at least 18 inches wide and at least 16 inches deep. Measure the drawer before buying, because the divider does not fit in a 16-inch-wide or 14-inch-deep drawer. Take everything out before installing, because the divider sits in the bottom and the utensils sit on top. Assign one compartment per utensil. It keeps each utensil visible, does not take up counter space, and does not collect crumbs. This is the solution I would buy again.

The drawer divider method is also the answer to the broader question of where kitchen utensils should be stored in any rental that has a drawer.

The wall hook method, which is what I would recommend for any renter who has a wall between the refrigerator and the sink and who is staying for less than 12 months.

The wall hook method uses the IKEA pegboard with 6 stainless hooks. It requires a wall between the refrigerator and the sink at least 24 inches wide and 18 inches tall. You drill 4 holes, which cost me $40 of my security deposit in Bushwick. You must wipe the pegboard weekly because it collects grease. It gets utensils off the counter and keeps them visible and reachable. It works for less than 12 months. It does not work for more than 12 months because the deposit hit is too high.

The counter caddy method, which is what I would recommend for any renter who has less than 24 inches of counter space and who is comfortable with a $4 IKEA box and 6 screws.

The counter caddy method uses a 6-inch IKEA wooden box with 6 stainless screws attached to the bottom to hold utensils. It requires less than 24 inches of counter space, a drill, and 6 screws. Assembly takes 15 minutes. It works because it is small enough for the smallest counter, does not collect crumbs because it is open at the bottom, and is heavy enough not to slide. This is the solution I would build again, not buy.

How to pick the right setup in 3 questions, which is what I would ask you if you called me from a kitchen and said "where do I put the spatula, and where should kitchen utensils should be stored for a small rental anyway."

Question one: how big is your drawer? If it is at least 18 inches wide and 16 inches deep, use the drawer divider. If it is smaller, go to question two.

Question two: how big is your counter? If you have at least 18 inches of counter space, build the counter caddy. If you have less, go to question three.

Question three: how long are you staying? If less than 12 months, use the wall hook—the deposit hit is worth the counter space you save. If more than 12 months, negotiate a longer lease or find a bigger apartment. The wall hook does not work for more than 12 months.

If you do not have a drawer, do not have a counter, and are staying more than 12 months, the answer is to ask your landlord for a drawer before you move in, and if the landlord says no, the answer is to move to an apartment with a drawer. The ceramic holder is not the answer. The ceramic holder is the thing the listicle will tell you to buy. The ceramic holder is the thing that does not work. I am telling you this because I lost a $340 Le Creuset in a yellow cab two years ago because I bought the wrong cooking pot, and I have spent the time since then figuring out which kitchen thing is worth buying and which kitchen thing is the listicle talking. The ceramic holder is the listicle talking. The drawer divider is the thing worth buying. The counter caddy is the thing I built for $4 and that I would build again. The wall hook is the thing I would buy if I were moving in for less than 12 months and that I would not buy if I were moving in for more than 12 months.

If you have ever wondered where to store kitchen utensils and what the right setup is for a small rental, the answer is the answer I gave you above: measure your drawer, measure your counter, decide how long you are staying. The drawer divider wins when you have a drawer. The counter caddy wins when you do not have a drawer. The wall hook wins when you are leaving in less than 12 months. The ceramic holder never wins.