I got a rail system as a test and took it back. The reason was perhaps personal taste. When I tried the rail system, I had wall cabinets mounted 18" up from the counter. Altho the rail and it's gismos could fit there, it was a big pain to put things into the system and take them out. So, taking a bottle out of the upper level of a two tier rack hit the bottom of the cabinet as did tools in and out of a tool holder. It couldn't fit my favorite brand of paper towels in the size roll I use and I don't use the really huge rolls. I think a rack would work for me if the cabinet spacing was at 24" or if I didn't have any wall cabinets. I don't think I could do the magnetic knife holders mounted under standard height cabinets either. After remodeling, I only had linear space for a small rack and chose to use the space for hanging pans.

Sponge-free home. :) The bacteria aspect doesn't suit me, and I wouldn't be diligent enough to clean one often. I also can't imagine anything would air out properly in a small, enclosed space. We use mostly hand towels for kitchen clean up. (Thank you to GW for eliminating paper towels in my home. Really, what's the point?! The hand towels can do it all...) I have a dish scraper (for when I burn something on to a pan... oops.) It goes in the DW when I do a load. I plan on getting a suction thingy to hang it from the inside of the front of the sink (so I wouldn't be able to see it unless leaning over.) This works because the sink is large and we almost never have anything in it :)

I put my sponges through the dishwasher and then microwave them for 2 minutes. I also change out sponges often. However, I only use a sponge to scrub the sink. I use microfiber cloths for most other cleaning, including countertops. I have small microfiber dish cloths for hand washing, which is very seldom done. As far as the sponge dripping inside the cabinet, it is wrung out before it is put in the tray. I have never had any trouble with it drying. The tray holds a sponge, a brush, the disposer stopper, an SOS pad, and the wrench for the disposer (which I have never used, but you have to know where it is!)

I am a card-carrying member of BOTH Team Clutter-free and Team No-Germs. I have a tilt out tray that my sponge lives in (with washable holder, like jj1smith's), but before putting my sponge away in there I always nuke it for 30 seconds (my old MW it took 60 seconds to get it scalding to the touch) after rinsing and squeezing the water out of it. I have done this for years with nary a problem of smell. Tilt out drawers (at least mine) are not air tight and in fact are usually open to the inside of the cabinet, no? I'm sure that helps.