Kitchen organization has a dirty secret: most systems are designed for the day you set them up, not the hundredth day, when you're tired and in a hurry. If storing it takes more than a few seconds, you'll stop doing it — and the pot strainer will drift back to the counter, the windowsill, or wherever things go to be forgotten.
So the bar for every idea in this guide is simple: it has to survive a busy Tuesday. Nothing here requires precision, patience, or a label maker you'll use once. Just honest, low-friction ways to keep it put.
You don't need more storage space. You need the space you have to work harder — and nowhere is that truer than with small, oddly-shaped tools like it. They're the first things to get buried and the last things to get a designated spot.
This guide changes that with a full menu of storage ideas, each one practical, each one cheap or free, and each one tested against the reality of a kitchen that's actually used for cooking.
Family kitchens have more cooks, more chaos, and more opinions about where things go. it needs a storage spot with family consensus behind it — visible, reachable, and hard to mess up.
What follows is the busy-family playbook: zones by user, labels that actually get read, and systems designed for the reality that 'clean as you go' is aspirational at best.
Worth saying outright: A pot strainer is one of those tools that punches above its size — its flexible silicone grips the rim. Silicone is forgiving stuff — most silicone kitchen tools tolerate the dishwasher, but a quick hand wash with warm soapy water keeps this tool at its best for longer. Small tools like this are the easiest wins in kitchen organization: give your pot strainer a home and the whole drawer feels calmer.
A note on cost: almost everything below is free or close to it. The expensive part of kitchen organization is indecision, not equipment — so decide fast, try something, and adjust next week if it isn't working.
Enough theory. Here are the ideas, each one self-contained:
12 Ideas, Zero Renovations Required
-
Clip it to its pot. The genius storage move for this tool: leave it clipped to the pot it gets used with most. The pair nests together on the shelf, there's nothing to hunt for at draining time, and the clip keeps its grip between uses.
Once it's in place, putting this tool away becomes automatic. Decant the drawer. Empty the drawer it lives in completely, wipe it out, and only put back what earns a place. the pot strainer will almost certainly make the cut — the exercise just evicts the expired coupons and mystery batteries competing for the space.
Store it where you use it, not where it 'belongs.' it should live within arm's reach of the task this tool performs. If that's the prep counter, the drawer nearest the prep counter wins — even if some organizing book says otherwise. Proximity beats taxonomy.
Assign zones by cook. If multiple people cook, your pot strainer lives in the primary cook's zone — or in a shared neutral zone everyone agrees on. The family meeting about where this tool lives takes five minutes and prevents a year of drift.
Try command strips for odd shapes. Adhesive strips and small hooks handle tools that don't hang naturally. Test the hold with it for a day before committing — and remember they remove cleanly, which is the whole point.
-
Label with pictures, not just words. For households with young kids, a photo label showing this tool in its spot beats a written label. Kids match pictures; the system becomes self-enforcing and you stop being the household's lost-and-found.
The visual calm alone is worth the two minutes. Hang it by the clip. The clip that grips pot rims also grips hooks beautifully. it hangs flat against a wall or inside a cabinet door, dries quickly thanks to the silicone's airflow, and takes up essentially zero shelf space.
Hang it from the pot rack. If you have a hanging pot rail, an S-hook gives your pot strainer a spot with excellent visibility and zero drawer competition. Hanging tools also dry faster and stay cleaner than drawer-dwellers.
Create a kid-safe zone. it lives where the right people can reach it — accessible to the cooks, out of reach of toddlers if it has any sharp or breakable aspects. Family storage is safety storage first.
-
Schedule a family reset. Five minutes after dinner, everyone returns two things to their homes — this tool included. Kids treat it as a game, adults get a reset kitchen, and the system maintains itself.
Do it today; your next cooking session will prove it. Zone by task, not by type. Instead of 'all small tools together,' try 'everything for this task together.' it lives with its task-mates, and each zone becomes a self-contained kit. It feels unnatural for a week, then obviously right forever.
-
Hang it on a hook inside a cabinet door. A single adhesive hook on the inside of a cabinet door creates storage out of thin air. it hangs there invisibly when the door is closed and is instantly reachable when it's open. No drilling, no damage, no counter space used.
Small effort, daily reward — the best kind of organizing.
Beyond the pot strainer: Leveling Up
Consider documenting your setup with photos. A quick snapshot of each organized drawer, kept on your phone, serves as both a restoration guide (after enthusiastic but chaotic 'help' from visitors) and a packing map if you ever move.
The photos also settle household debates instantly: 'where does it go?' gets answered by the picture, not by memory or argument. It's the lowest-tech smart-home upgrade there is.
A Routine That Actually Sticks
Every organizing system needs a maintenance habit, and the only ones that survive are embarrassingly small. Here's yours: each evening, this tool and the tools around it go home. That's it. Two minutes, tops, while the kettle boils or the leftovers cool.
The nightly reset works because it's faster than the mess. A full reorganization takes a weekend and happens never; a two-minute reset takes no willpower and happens daily. the home for this tool stays honest, and the drawer never reaches the critical mass where you'd need to start over.
Organization loves company: a rotary cheese grater pairs naturally with your pot strainer — store the two together and the whole task zone comes together in one grab.
Cook smarter, not harder. A pot strainer is in stock now at KitchEnovaStore. First-time buyer? Take 10% off with code WELCOME10 at checkout. Tracked shipping (Canada 5–12 business days, US 7–15, International 10–25) and 30-day returns come standard.
Pairs well with: a butter mill grater, a rice washing drain basket, and an onion holder slicer — all in the same kitchen-upgrade spirit.
Frequently Asked Questions
What if it's not right for me?
Every order is covered by our 30-day return promise. If your pot strainer isn't the right fit, send it back within 30 days for a refund — no interrogation, no hassle.
Does it need to be fully dry before storing?
Mostly dry is fine — silicone doesn't harbor moisture like wood does. A quick shake and a few minutes of air-drying is plenty; just avoid sealing this tool in an airtight bin while still wet.
What's the smartest way to store a clip-on pot strainer?
Clipped to the pot it gets used with most — the pair nests together and there's nothing to find at draining time. Second choice: hanging by the clip on a hook inside a cabinet door.
Can it stay clipped to the pot permanently?
Yes, that's the intended workflow. The silicone clip holds its grip between uses, and storing the pot strainer on the pot means the strainer is always exactly where the draining happens.