Cutest Dish Rack Ever

We added a dishwasher back when we remodeled our kitchen, but I’ve been washing Eleanor’s bottles, bowls, and spoons by hand. A tea towel on the counter worked well for laying everything out to dry, but then I found the grass drying rack by Boon. It’s adorable.

Cutest Dish Rack Ever

I tried to make the other side of the sink cute too. The green soap dispenser is for hand soap, and the olive oil bottle is for dish soap.

Soap Dispensers

The green one is great but the other isn’t working out as well. I liked the look of it much more than any actual dispensers I had seen, so I thought I was being very clever when I bought it. When I tried to use it though, I realized I’d have to dilute the soap considerably for it to pour through the spout. Oh well. At least I tried, right?

Kitchen Sink

114 Responses to “Cutest Dish Rack Ever”

  1. Mandy FordNo Gravatar says:

    The grass drying rack is adorable! We just switched to using an oil bottle for our dish soap too, and it does come out a lot slower, but we’ve noticed that we’re saving soap that way because we don’t use nearly as much.

  2. jbhatNo Gravatar says:

    The drying rack is perfect. I heart everything Boon. Love the snackball.

    jbhat

  3. Amy KellyNo Gravatar says:

    What a cheery sink you have! I’ve been wanting to find a pretty vessel to hold my dish soap, hand soap, and lotion but I haven’t found the perfect solution yet. It’s a shame the olive oil bottle isn’t very practical, it’s so cute!

  4. CynthiaNo Gravatar says:

    Hi Nicole how lovely is this!!!!!!!!!!!! And what kind of plant is that?!? I need one!

  5. I concur with Mandy. I had the same trouble, but I don’t mind, because in reality we tend to use more soap than we need to. Just a thought.

    Anyway, it all looks super cute!!!

  6. KeriNo Gravatar says:

    reminds me of this- http://www.furniturestoreblog.com/image/grassy%20pencil%20and%20pen%20holder.gif

    umbra grassy holder. i have one on my desk and love it!

  7. ELIZABETHNo Gravatar says:

    I’m loving that dish rack. Been thinking about replacing my plastic bottles with nice glass one’s. I like the one’s they have at target!

  8. AllisonNo Gravatar says:

    I have used something similar for dish soap with no problem … an old lemonade bottle with a top that I bought at a resto supply store. Maybe the style of top on mine works better for something viscous like soap? Or maybe my soap was thinner….

    Anyhow, here’s a picture of it:
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/angorian/3324298080/

  9. DeborahNo Gravatar says:

    I do the same thing with dish soap, but I buy super cheap dish soap so it pours through nicely. I have a dishwasher so I only use it when I’m soaking something in the sink.

    I’m loving mine! So much cuter than the bottle.

  10. So cute. I love how you carry the pink through your house. I had the same problem when I tried to use a bottle like that for dish soap.

  11. JeanNo Gravatar says:

    The olive oil dispenser is beautiful and ingenious! I just started using liquid castile soap for, well, everything, including as dish soap. You’re supposed to water down castile soap so it might work perfectly in your olive oil dispenser.

  12. TiffanyNo Gravatar says:

    I use a syrup dispenser like you would see at a diner for my dishsoap. Same kind of look, and the top makes dispensing just a little bit pretty easy.

    And your house is adorable as always! I’m always inspired and a pinch jealous at how effortless you make it look!

  13. Mrs SoupNo Gravatar says:

    Oh man, that is so cute….and what a GREAT idea with the olive oil….we’ll have to see if we can get ours to work…we have one with a bigger hole that may work.

  14. I read your blog while cooking my breakfast.. then I looked over to my kitchen sink.. and I’m looking at my DAWN dish soap still in its plastic bottle, sitting right by my sink. It’s never looked uglier. Thanks for the idea… Make dish soap look pretty!

  15. annaNo Gravatar says:

    I have a more functional (less form-tastic) olive oil pourer for my dish soap, and I’ve never had to dilute it. So I guess you have to decide between pretty and “it works” sometimes. :)

  16. christina in nhNo Gravatar says:

    i just noticed that pottery barn reissued the original 70’s star wars sheets! is your husband campaigning for them yet? hehe

  17. EmmaNo Gravatar says:

    Cute, yes. But, a good place to grow mold fast. No, thanks!

  18. That is the cutest sink I have ever seen! Too cute =)

  19. UyekNo Gravatar says:

    I use the same olive oil bottle/spout for my detergent and had the same problem with the slow flowing soap. However, a trick of my mother’s saved the day: dilute the soap with some vinegar. It will speed things up and, according to Mum, makes the dishes cleaner too.

    Great dish drying rack!!
    I do the bottles-on-a-tea-towel-on-the-countertop too. I am so ordering that rack right now!!

  20. JennyNo Gravatar says:

    I love the drying rack but was wondering if you found it to get a moldy smell. That is my only fear if I get it as it does not have anywhere to drain. Would love your feedback.

  21. AHH! I can’t get over how pretty your SINK area is, of all places! What type of pink dish soap is that? It is the prettiest color…

  22. charmaineNo Gravatar says:

    The drying rack is so cute! I use an oil bottle for my dish soap as well, so far no problem. The sink is adorable!

  23. EmilyNo Gravatar says:

    Where did you get that adorable baby bowl? My little girl is starting solids so I’m in the market, and everything seems to bright and gaudy.

  24. doloresNo Gravatar says:

    I would love to do dishes in that sink any day! Everything looks perfect!!

  25. MBNo Gravatar says:

    I love it! That is the cuttest and coolest drying rack I have ever seen! I’m lovin’ the pink dish soap bottle too. I put our dish soup in an old chemistry bottle. Dish soap in a glass bottle is actually a pretty thing, who knew…Thanks for sharing all your creativity with the world, you’re fabulous!

  26. MargaretNo Gravatar says:

    I use a glass sparkling lemonade bottle. It has the old fashioned top attached by a metal clasp, you know the kind? Darling and works like a dream.

  27. AudrieNo Gravatar says:

    That’s the cutest drying rack ever!! Now I want one!

  28. KatrinaNo Gravatar says:

    That is the cutest drying rack ever! I’ll have to get one for my best friends baby

  29. WinNo Gravatar says:

    I dilute dish soap 1:6 with water in my olive oil bottle. This is for washing individual dishes. In fact, I think this is the recommendation (might have read this on Apartment Therapy a few years ago) because otherwise the soap is far too concentrated.

  30. Scientific HousewifeNo Gravatar says:

    That drying rack is awesome! That would look so neat in my kitchen :)

  31. cNo Gravatar says:

    oh gosh. i love everything about your kitchen, nicole!

  32. Mrs. JonesNo Gravatar says:

    I used the olive oil dispenser thing for a while, too, but had the same problem. Then I bought this http://bit.ly/bOBYrs and I love it! Just as cute but more functional.

  33. Love how fresh the kitchen looks. Nice, clean color palette! Love it!

  34. TracyNo Gravatar says:

    Pottery Barn makes a clear pump for their bath line.. I use mine with light blue in the kitchen. Works great, and great simple styling!

  35. christieNo Gravatar says:

    SO cute! Does the grass come off so you can wash out the white part?

  36. DanielleNo Gravatar says:

    I saw this on Land of Nod’s website! Very cute! Now I know that I want it also!

  37. DecofabulousNo Gravatar says:

    May not function properly but it sure looks beautiful. :) I have been using a couple of clear soap dispensers for both the liquid soap and the washing up liquid. It gets some people confused when they come to the kitchen but it looks soo much better than the original botthles of both liquids.

  38. sarahNo Gravatar says:

    I love your kitchen.

    I’ve been using the Limmaren bottles from Ikea for my dish soap for a few years with no problems aside from a little rust spot on the spout, which stays away if I wipe a little oil on it periodically.

    http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/60083653

  39. BrigiteNo Gravatar says:

    Gah! I must have that drying rack. I looked at the description and it’s recommended for bottles, etc. Would you recommend it as a replacement to a traditional rack for a non-baby household? We have a dishwasher but was certain items (glasses & pots and pans) by hand.

  40. MefiNo Gravatar says:

    you make the sink look awesome. thanks for the tip.

  41. JanNo Gravatar says:

    Love the dish rack! At least you tried with the olive oil bottle; and it seems you’ve gotten some good advise about it.

  42. CaliKatrinaNo Gravatar says:

    Ah! A fellow BOON lover!
    http://calikatrina.blogspot.com/search/label/boon
    Your grass looks perfect and oh so lovely. :)

  43. you find the cutest things! Thanks for sharing all your fun finds with us!

  44. LauraNo Gravatar says:

    I have to have the drying rack. I don’t have childern but have been using metal water bottles and they are a pain to dry…this is perfect and super, super, super cute! Love you can pull it apart and place in dishwasher!!!

    It’s at Target for $14.99! I’m going tonight!
    http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/183-8825436-2325861?asin=B0032G9E0G&AFID=Froogle_df&LNM=|B0032G9E0G&CPNG=baby&ref=tgt_adv_XSG10001

  45. LauraNo Gravatar says:

    Decorative bottles has always been one of my MS favs! I’ve been wanting to do it but haven’t taken the time to find a clear bottle for recycle or used all my pump soap. I’ve heard you need to cut the soap with water for better pouring performance.

  46. Emily SNo Gravatar says:

    I JUST went and bought the drying rack yesterday, so I was quite amused when i saw it pop up on your blog :) However the rest of my countertop doesn’t look nearly as lovely.

  47. Emily SNo Gravatar says:

    Also, I was wondering if you picked up any good Liberty of London goodies this weekend? I got a few pieces, but my Target had been practically picked clean by the end of the day!

    • My Target was pretty empty too, and I went just an hour after they opened! I got the bike (ordered it online), and in store I bought some dresses for Eleanor and ties for Brandon.

  48. NatalieNo Gravatar says:

    I just added that drying rack to my baby registry a few days ago! My husband decided that we needed to have a special drying rack for bottles, so I jumped on the opportunity to get the cutest one I could find!

  49. KariNo Gravatar says:

    Love the drying rack. So adorable.
    And I wonder if it’s just your brand of dishsoap–I use a olive oil bottle for mine, and it’s worked great for years.

  50. simply groveNo Gravatar says:

    That drying rack is adorable!!! The whole look is great! xx

  51. MichelleNo Gravatar says:

    I’ve been using a square recycled glass bottle with a white pump for about 7 years now (with Method dish soap, but now the cucumber matches my kitchen better than pink grapefruit). Every so often I have to scrub the pump area to get it clean again – but I love not needing to pick up the bottle. I picked my dispenser up at Pier 1 in their bath section, but they’ve stopped carrying them. I’ve seen them at Target (on the wall of kitchen gadgets) and Bed Bath & Beyond (but can’t find it online at either retailer). It looks like this amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/Square-Soap-Bottle-With-Pump/dp/B000E8UQYI

  52. That exact thing happened to me with the olive oil spout and bottle. I even used a vintage decanter that looked so lovely, but was completely useless for actually dispensing!

  53. SusanNo Gravatar says:

    That drying rack is so great!! I love the look — I am wondering if it’s easy to clean. I have a Skip-Hop bottle drying rack, and when even the smallest amount of excess water collects toward the bottom after a while ,it is SO GROSS to clean. But easy to click apart and run under soapy water and dry with a towel. I am interested in feedback on cleaning between the grass blades.

  54. JoiNo Gravatar says:

    Um, I think I need the drying rack! It’s adorable!

  55. hena tayebNo Gravatar says:

    i like the idea of soap in an oil dispenser

  56. EllenNo Gravatar says:

    That is so cute! I am headed to Target to pick one up tonight. :)

    I have been using a towel to dry my baby stuff too. This will be much cuter!

  57. loriNo Gravatar says:

    I’ve never had a problem with that type of soap set-up. (I had a boiling flask from the local university’s cast-off sale with an olive oil-style plug until I broke the flask. Boo hoo.) I use 7th generation soap, and it seems to come out okay. Maybe it’s a thinner soap than Method?

  58. biancaNo Gravatar says:

    I want my kitchen to look this sunny!

  59. LOVE that drying rack! Do you mind if I use one of your pictures in a St. Patty’s “Best of Green” post tomorrow? (with links back to you and credit where it is due, of course)

  60. PencilsNo Gravatar says:

    That’s an adorable drying rack–I’ve seen it online–but doesn’t Eleanor drink more bottles than you can put on there? Do your bottles not have a lot of pieces, or do you wash them all day long? We use the Dr Brown’s bottles that have a bunch of pieces, and I have to use two drying racks with a lot more space on them to dry the bottles. I do run them through the dishwasher now that Aurora is older, but I rinse them again by hand. We had a lousy dishwasher in our old apartment, and I haven’t gotten past the habit. We’ll see what the new Bosch is like when it’d delivered next month.

    It is a really adorable kitchen setup. I’m very jealous.

    • Eleanor is still nursing, so she only gets a bottle occasionally. Here’s what’s typically on the rack: her little bowl, a few baby spoons, a cup, a bottle or two, and a pump shield or two.

  61. Condo BluesNo Gravatar says:

    I love Boon and have considered buying the dishrack for myself. Why do kids have to get all of the cool designs, why not us too?

    I have the snackball. I don’t have kids. My husband uses it to hold trailmix when he’s out and about. I use it to hold treats at the dog park.

  62. Love that you even have pink dishwashing detergent!

    I have a Simple Human System dish rack and although I like it a lot, I’ve noticed that there’s a strange orange build up that seems to collect on the plastic parts. It washes off okay, it just worries me what this stuff might be and where it’s coming from!

  63. CharlotteNo Gravatar says:

    Absolutely love it! I use Fairy liquid in my glass dispenser -I’m sure it must be available in the US too.

    Charlotte xx

  64. EmyNo Gravatar says:

    I use a soda bottle with a spout that I got from Kmart and mine works a little too good. I just use Dawn though, in blue of course. ;)

  65. CarolNo Gravatar says:

    You are so right – I bought 4 of the ‘olive oil’ dispenser for the same reason you got them for – but they don’t work so well. They look nice though but alas! they now sit unused in storage :-(

  66. ChristinaNo Gravatar says:

    Your readers share really great ideas! I did the olive oil container years ago but gave up b/c it was just too slow!! Now I have several other options to try … or going back to the olive oil type container but with soap that has vinegar in it! Beautiful sink area, by the way!! Love it!

  67. I tried to do exactly the same thing with the olive oil dispenser for my dishsoap – big fail! Oh, well, it was a clever idea!

  68. KarenNo Gravatar says:

    I had the same trouble with using an olive oil dispenser with dishwashing soap. I replaced the top with a metal wine pourer, which has a much larger opening, and it works like a charm.

  69. jenyNo Gravatar says:

    ladies, i’ve used the glass decanter with dish soap for years … try out different spouts and remember to keep them clean. clean by soaking in hot water then rinse. and, the cheaper (plastic bar type) spout seems to work better. especially if you like your soap to pour out fast(er).
    happy dish washing!

  70. LisaNo Gravatar says:

    Aww, LOL! That grass rack is sooo cute. :D Your blog is always full of incredible inspirations. I get excited every time.

    Also, I have a favor to ask…
    I’m trying to win a party contest and would love your help! Would you go here:

    http://thecitycradle.com/party-3-spy-agent

    and leave a comment at the end of the article? Your comment will give me a vote. Thanks so much! I appreciate it lots. <3
    Lisa

  71. jennNo Gravatar says:

    We use olive oil bottles for dish soap, and the trick is to use a top/stopper that has an air hole in it

  72. saraNo Gravatar says:

    the one question that hasn’t been asked- where is the white planter from?

  73. AKANo Gravatar says:

    Maybe a silly question…is the grass drying rack sturdy enough for regular, adult dishes? I want one for me, myself, and I.

  74. KristinNo Gravatar says:

    I just got this drying rack as a baby gift {I’m due in one month!!} and have already used it for washing bottles. So perfect and seems easy to clean :).

  75. LeahNo Gravatar says:

    I am slowly but surely revamping my 50s kitchen…can you point me in the right direction for your cabinet hardware? Those would be perfect.
    Thanks!

  76. LightsNo Gravatar says:

    the kitchen is gorgeous, very cool idea. xx

  77. MelissaNo Gravatar says:

    Love everything! Looks so fun and organized.

  78. DariaNo Gravatar says:

    When I saw your olive oil bottle I thought “What a great idea! Too bad I like to use diluted soap” and then I read your comment.

    For environmental reasons I prefer to dilute my soap considerably when I wash by hand, at a ratio of about 1:10 or even 1:15. That way my soap lasts way longer. With undiluted soap I would use few drops of soap every second or third cup, with diluted soap those few drops could fill about 10% of that bottle, which would last much longer.

    I will look now for a bottle like yours, currently I am using an ugly old plastic bottle over and over again. Based on my current experience (I also wash by hand all my daughter’s bottles, cups, and anything plastic) and I would need to refill it about twice a week, which isn’t too bad.

  79. [...] on another blog this week and I starred it because it was so cute, but then I saw it being used on Making it Lovely and knew I needed to have this for our baby things once the baby arrives. It would totally match [...]

  80. I tried doing that super-cute dish soap in an olive jar thing once too and it ended up being sortof a mess. I just keep it under the sink now :)

  81. carolineNo Gravatar says:

    I’ve enjoyed reading since I came across your site a few months ago!

    Had the same problem with bottle pourers + soap. I found that Palmolive (or equivalent Target brand) works well with these plastic bottle pours:
    http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?order_num=-1&SKU=12959621
    No diluting necessary. Plus the soap comes in green or purple. Even the traditional orange is pretty in a glass bottle!

  82. Renee SmithNo Gravatar says:

    Unrelated baby gear question… what kind of stroller do you have and how do you feel about it? We’re thinking of adding another (baby) to the family and our perfect one-baby stroller won’t work out anymore!

    • I like my Maclaren Triumph. I have a Graco too (metrolite, I think?), but it’s so hard to maneuver in crowded areas. I use my baby carriers more than the strollers though – I love my BabyHawk mei tai!

  83. MaddieNo Gravatar says:

    hello making it lovely! you are an inspiration to busy women out there who are very busy and yet you still have time to make your home beautiful! i just bought an rar chair and i can’t wait to see it in our living room.

  84. NatalieNo Gravatar says:

    Sorry it doesn’t work well ~ at least it looks cute!

    What kind of flowers are those?? They’re so fresh and springy! :)

  85. LindaNo Gravatar says:

    The warmer the kitchen the easier the soap will pour. And yes, keep the spout clean and check around for larger spout.

  86. caitlinNo Gravatar says:

    Love, love, love the grass drying rack.

    You have a beautiful blog. So nice to meet you in person on Friday at Dyson. I’ll certainly be back to read more on your site.

  87. Laura DurrerNo Gravatar says:

    I too tried using an olive oil dispenser for soap and found that the spout was too narrow. I now use a glass sugar pourer. The one I have now I got at Ikea, but the under side of the top is rusting, so i’m back in the market for one. The spout is much wider and more convenient but still and attractive on my counter.

    -Laura

  88. mindy tNo Gravatar says:

    Love the green hand soap dispenser. Where can I find one?

  89. emilieNo Gravatar says:

    very cute, nonetheless!

  90. RebeccaNo Gravatar says:

    This is my first time visiting your blog and I must say you are pretty darn amazing..I love your style. I will be back for more!! :)

  91. StephanieNo Gravatar says:

    Just gorge! I need to get me one of those.

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