life in a tiny apartment.

Tip # 176: Get a magnetic thing-y for your knives, take two.

Last week’s encounter with our neighborhood knife grinder lit a fire under me to figure out a solution for storing our kitchen knives. Like so many folks living in a small space, our kitchen lacks both a lot of counter space and even a single drawer. Instead, we’ve kept our knives secure and visible on a magnetic rack installed on the wall (you can spot it here). The only trouble is, that as our kids have grown, they’ve taken a liking to sitting uncomfortably close to the knives. I’m not what you might call a worry wart, but each morning we witnessed a perilous dance between buttery hands and flailing arms and a whole row of potentially lost fingers. When we moved out of our apartment for a few weeks this spring, we had to take down the rack (and everything else that hangs in this place) and when we moved back in, we didn’t put it back up.

For the past four months we’ve had our knives lined up neatly piled haphazardly onto a dishtowel on the back of a different kitchen counter, which kept them out of reach of kids, but in the way of nearly everything else. I wanted a simple solution, but I also wanted the right solution. So as is my wont, I deliberated. Tiles and electrical wires meant that the other kitchen walls were off the table. I tried to imagine myself living with a knife block. (Couldn’t.) I asked a certain leathersmithing friend for help dreaming up a simple pocket sheath to store them in. (The solution was brilliant, but the knives would have remained in reach.)

I didn’t feel as though I’d landed on the right thing until I found myself wiping down the side of the fridge last week and realized with a start that what we really needed was a magnetic rack that was also a magnet itself. Does such a thing exist? 

Why yes.

So here’s my unabashed enthusiasm for a bit of metal that nearly pinned my fingertips to the fridge. It hasn’t transformed this rental kitchen into the space of my dreams, but it’s certainly gotten it one tiny step closer and whole lot more organized. Here’s hoping a doubly magnetic knife rack might help a few fellow tiny apartment dwellers in their quest for a clutter-free kitchen. (Larger space dwellers also permitted to take advantage.)

For the curious:

Our magnetic knife rack.

Our small kitchen knife set; our santoku; our chef’s knife; our bread knife.

Our corkscrew (a gift I brought to James from France when I was 22)!

Our neighborhood knife grinder.

Plus, a few other kitchen and household essentials.

Tiny apartment survival tips #1 – 175.

This post includes affiliate links. Reading My Tea Leaves might earn a small commission on the goods purchased through those links.