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The 9 Best Flatware Organizers

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by Ileana Morales Valentine
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A tidy kitchen is a happy kitchen, and a cutlery organizer is a must-have kitchen essential. The best flatware organizers are available in a range of styles, from trays to adjustable in-drawer dividers to wall-mounted caddies, so you can find the best storage solution for your kitchen needs.

Compartmentalized flatware trays are a classic pick, and they come in a range of sizes and styles. Some are spacious enough to accommodate all your silverware, plus a few cooking utensils, and others are sized for smaller drawers. If space is at a premium, consider an organizer with nested compartments, so you can stack utensils on top of each other, or an expandable organizer that allows you to adjust the size to meet your needs. Another customizable option, adjustable bamboo drawer dividers can be installed in your drawers end to end, allowing you to dictate the exact size of each “compartment.”

Aside from trays, you can capitalize on counter, cabinet, or wall space with flatware caddies that store utensils upright. Surface-top caddies are a great portable alternative — especially useful if you like having utensils available on the table or taking them outside for al fresco dining — while wall-mounted options take up zero storage or meal prep space whatsoever (perfect for small kitchens).

Material might further inform your decision. BPA-free plastic is a sturdy budget option, while corrosion-resistant stainless steel mesh is durable and particularly great if you tend to put flatware away when still a bit wet, as the ventilated design won't trap excess water. Finally, bamboo is another practical choice for cutlery storage, due to its antimicrobial qualities — plus, it has a warm, natural look.

From silverware drawer inserts to free-standing caddies, the best flatware organizers will upgrade your kitchen in no time.

1

Editor’s Pick: madesmart Classic Silverware Tray

Bustle Commerce editor Kori Perten says, “This affordable tray from madesmart is everything a flatware organizer should be. It's super roomy, with enough space to fit copious amounts of forks, knives, and spoons, plus measuring spoons, chopsticks, reusable straws, bottle openers, and any smaller odds and ends you might want to corral in your drawer. The textured interior and rubberized bottom do a surprisingly good job at preventing both the tray and the flatware inside it from sliding around, too.” It’s also easy to clean thanks to its rounded corners, and the nonslip rubber feet keep the whole tray from shifting when you open and close the drawer.

This pick is on the slightly larger side — it measures 16 by 12.9 inches, providing ample space to store all of your cutlery, but it’s also available in a more compact size for smaller drawers. Reviewers have awarded this a glowing 4.8-star overall rating, making it a crowd favorite, too.

Promising review: “I love this tray!!! This is the ONE AND ONLY tray I’ve found to fit all my silverware neatly. It’s also the biggest one I’ve found and it fits my weird drawer perfectly. It is excellent, durable quality and has cool rubber grips to keep my silverware from sloshing everywhere when I open my drawer.”

2

The Best Budget: Rubbermaid No-Slip Silverware Tray

If you’re looking for a no-nonsense pick at a budget-friendly price, Rubbermaid’s cutlery organizer will do the trick — and it’s earned a 4.8-star overall rating after 15,000 reviews. Measuring 11.8 by 15 by 1.75 inches, it’s slightly smaller than the editor’s pick, and the squared-off corners mean it’s a bit harder to clean (but you can stick it in the dishwasher). It’s made from durable plastic, and the nonslip base and feet keep it planted in place when you open and close the drawer. One reviewer reported being able to accommodate up to 8 utensils in each slot, making this a pick that offers a good amount of space.

Promising review: “I would say that each individual slot is actually skinnier than most organizers. This is actually kind of handy because the silverware stays together a little nicer rather than toppling over. The horizontal slot at the top is nice because it's long enough to hold things like large serving spoons and forks, and straws, which I found helpful.”

3

The Best Nesting Organizer: Joseph Joseph DrawerStore

For limited drawer space or to maximize your kitchen's storage capacity, this narrow silverware organizer is a great pick. Despite its small footprint, you're not sacrificing any capacity since reviewers report fitting as many as 10 utensils in each of the five compartments — that's 50 total utensils. Even with that capacity, it's by far the smallest drawer organizer in this roundup, with a 15.6-by-4.3-inch footprint and a height of just 2.2 inches. That footprint to capacity ratio is possible thanks to the roomy angled compartments that save space by using less horizontal drawer space than most trays. Plus, it has cutlery icons so everyone knows where each fork, spoon, and knife goes when clean. This cutlery organizer has a 4.5-star rating with more than 63,000 reviews.

Promising review: “Fits my drawer like a glove AND holds my set for 12! Heavy gauge plastic construction that does not give even when fully loaded. This has opened up so much more space in my drawer making it easier to find other serving pieces and the odd items in that drawer. Love it, highly recommend it.”

4

The Best Expandable Organizer: Dynamic Gear

If you need to store a lot of flatware and cooking utensils, this expandable bamboo flatware drawer organizer has the highest potential capacity in this group by far. With its adjustable design, this pick can range in width anywhere from 13 to 20 inches, but its length of 17.3 inches is fixed. (Since this pick is the longest in this roundup, just be sure to check that your drawer is long enough to accommodate it.) This organizer has a whopping seven to nine compartments depending on how wide you expand it — the highest number of compartments among the organizers in this roundup, but you can also opt for two smaller options.

This organizer is also uniquely made of water-resistant bamboo, which is naturally antimicrobial. And reviewers love its quality and beauty, which is shown by its 4.7-star rating on Amazon after more than 4,700 reviews.

Promising review: “Great item! I love the fact its expandable. Only reason i bought it actually. Nothing worse than the organizer sliding around in the drawer or being too small but yet nothing else fits in drawer with it. This is the fix!”

5

The Best Stainless Steel Mesh Organizer: Yesker

If you happen to put flatware away when slightly wet, this durable stainless steel mesh tray is a great budget option that allows water to escape so flatware doesn't get gross in the drawer. Measuring 12.6 by 2.2 by 9.4 inches, it will fit in most standard drawers, has five compartments for flatware as well as nonslip feet to keep it in place when opening or shutting the drawer. Reviewers love this organizer's "perfect fit." This pick is also backed by a 4.7-star rating after more than 2,200 reviews on Amazon.

Promising review: “We have the world's smallest kitchen which means we have the world's smallest cabinet drawers. There wasn't a drawer wide enough to put in a traditional utensil caddy. I was beyond frustrated after looking and looking. This caddy was a life saver. We put it in the drawer sideways and it's perfect! Now my cutlery has a tidy little home. Highly recommend.”

6

The Best Flatware Caddy: Bruntmor

If you'd like to have the option to get your flatware out of your drawers altogether, this upright flatware organizer caddy is attractive enough to set on your counter or your table, and it's super functional. Each of the five stainless steel cups can hold approximately four utensils, which means a total of 20 utensils. Plus, the five compartments are clearly labeled for knives as well as both small and large forks and spoons.

The footprint of the wooden base is approximately 11.8 by 4 inches and the organizer's total height is 6.5 inches, which means it could also potentially fit in a cabinet or a deep drawer. It also boasts a 4.6-star rating on Amazon with more than 900 reviews.

Promising review: “This has turned out to be one of the best kitchen purchases we ever made! It's beautiful to look at, really well made, and makes it so much easier to find the right silverware. And we can easily tell when we are running low to turn on the dishwasher. So happy with this purchase!”

7

The Best Portable Flatware Caddy: mDesign

Love to serve up dinner outside or just like to have access to your flatware at the table? This portable flatware caddy with its compact size and side handles is a cinch to move. Plus, made of BPA-free, shatter-resistant plastic, this caddy is sturdy enough to survive a tumble.

Its footprint is 6.5 by 10 inches, and it's 4.5 inches high, so, like my first caddy pick, it could fit either in a deep drawer or on a cabinet shelf, too. This five-compartment pick is highly rated with a 4.7-star overall rating on Amazon after more than 1,400 reviews. Bonus tip: Reviewers even report fitting plates or napkins in the fifth compartment. It also comes in four colors, including gray, bronze, and charcoal.

Promising review: “This design is very tasteful and has great function. It is understated and classy. We use it indoors, but I can see that this would be an excellent staple in outdoor dining, as well. Like another reviewer said, I do wish the item had a little more length so that when you place items like straws, they don't stick out as much. But, I love the item so much, that this did not cost it any stars for me. I am very satisfied with this purchase.”

8

The Best Wall-Mounted Organizer: junyuan

If you have a kitchen inside your studio apartment, dorm, or camper van, you know that ample drawer space may not be an option — heck, it might not even have drawers at all. For those who can’t place their cutlery inside of a drawer and lack the counter space for a traditional caddy, this wall-mounted cutlery organizer will do the trick. Made of high quality stainless steel in both silver and black finishes, the basket hangs on the wall with a pair of hooks that latch onto a self-adhesive panel. The metal sides and bottom have a series of holds that allow your forks, spoons, and knives to dry when wet.

Measuring just 6.1 inches wide, 4.93 inches tall, and 1.9 inches deep, this organizer is one of the smallest picks on this list. A divider panel splits the basket into two separate compartments, so you can keep your cutlery separate from your larger kitchen utensils.

Promising review: “Our new travel trailer did not come with drawers (for anything). These were a perfect solution for silverware and knives. I mounted these inside a cabinet where we keep food. I added a small piece of velcro to the backside of each towards the bottom to keep them in place (for when you drive down really bumpy roads, its possible the holder could come out of the mount. But other than that a perfect solution. Could hold a lot of silverware..”

9

These Best Adjustable Bamboo Drawer Dividers: Bambüsi

If you don’t have the drawer space for a full flatware organizing tray — or if you have more than one set of silverware — these sleek bamboo dividers allow you to customize your storage space. Made from premium moso bamboo materials, the dividers can expand anywhere from 17.5 inches to 22 inches, and with a height of 2.6 inches, they can even be stacked inside deep drawers.

Available in a natural bamboo finish as well as a soft gray color, these dividers have a modern feel that suits a minimalist space. You get four in a set, so you can use them inside multiple drawers in your kitchen. With an average Amazon rating of 4.7 out of five stars after over 6,000 reviews, this pick is a space-saving solution for compact kitchen drawers.

Promising review: “These are exactly what I needed! I could not find a premade silverware organizer for my smaller than average drawers - I am glad. These are better!”

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