We stretched our imaginations to come up with different ways to put the $8 Variera accordion rack to work.
BY LISA FREEDMAN
File Your Cutting Boards
Any home cook will agree that stacking cutting boards is an inefficient system. (How is it that we inevitably want the one on the bottom?!) Our new favorite solution: Set up your Variera in a cabinet and file your cutting boards vertically— maybe even add some serving platters, muffin tins, and the like. This way, you can pull out what you need without triggering a giant avalanche.
Sort Snacks in the Pantry
Speaking of unruly kitchen messes, those quick-to-accumulate bags of chips and pretzels aren’t going to prop themselves up. Help them! Place the organizer on a pantry shelf and slide your snacks between the spokes. Even half-empty bags will stand at attention.
Hang Jewelry, Scarves & More
If you’re handy with tools, hang the organizer in an entryway or bedroom and turn it into a wall rack. Adjust it to the size you want, put some nails in the wall, and rest the Variera on them. (Depending on what you’ll hang, wall anchors may be necessary.) Then drape silk scarves, necklaces, baseball caps, jackets, and whatnot from the spokes, or “hooks.”
Dry Those Water Bottles
The best way to air out water bottles is to put them upside down. But by the time you wash the whole fam’s, you wind up with a precarious bowling pin situation. Lay a dish towel under the Variera and slide a bottle onto each spoke—you can fit up to 14 at a time. Set the tops and straws in the middle.
Raise Your Laptop
Yes, we’re all still Zooming a ton. Yes, we’re all still annoyed by the unflattering camera angle. A quick and easy solve we wish we’d thought of years ago: Flip the organizer upside down so it’s standing on its spokes. Push the accordion together a bit, until you have a sturdy stand, then set your laptop on top. The Variera will raise your screen four inches and get the camera closer to eye level. Unfortunately, it can’t remind us that we’re still on mute.
Illustrations by Sunny Eckerle