The Downside of Vintage

Dear Kitchen Storage Manufacturers,

Hey there!  I'm in the market for a new cutlery tray.  I had my last one for 15 years, and the plastic was starting to get a bit grungy.  It seemed like time to get a new one.

I'm starting to second-guess my decision to throw that one away, because I'm having a hard time finding another one that fits in the drawer space I have.

See, what I keep finding are all these expandable trays, which sounds fantastic, except that my drawers are too small.  Some of us don't have big new(ish) kitchens with ample drawer/cupboard space.  Some of us are dealing with kitchens from probably the 1970s or some other era where plates and glasses were smaller and you didn't have so many kitchen items overall, so why you would need large cupboards and drawers is beyond anyone's imagination (especially if you have a pantry and a china cabinet).  And some of us who have these kitchens are stuck with them because we're renters.

I have a kitchen drawer that I should be using for silverware.  It measures 18 3/4" x 9 7/8" x 2 1/8".  Many drawer organizers are too wide or too tall. The OXO expandable tray I brought home, which I liked because it looked like a great space saver, was too tall.  Many others are too wide, so I can't even think about buying them.  I've got my fingers crossed that a basic Container Store tray will work, or else I'm going to have to buy individual Rubbermaid trays and link them together (not a bad plan, but it's an expensive one comparatively).  Or I could buy a Rubbermaid tray online, but honestly, I kind of like shopping for this stuff in person, and I don't want to wait several days to have it shipped to me.

I just wanted to say that not all  of us live in big spaces, and maybe you should jump on the downsizing bandwagon and make smaller products to fit the smaller homes that people will be moving into (since that's what they'll be able to afford).  Don't forget us!  Don't forget me!

Your pal,
Jill