I currently have a colander-type drainer than sits over part of the sink. Otherwise, I don't use one.
My mother in England (and many of my friends) has a drainer mounted on the wall, with a drip tray incorporated into it. They're popular in Europe, and I know Ikea has one.

I don't have one any more - I just drain any handwash dishes in one side of my sink.

I just drain the few things I handwash on a towel on the counter - dry them and put them away.

Please keep in mind that the pix taken on the FKB, in kitchen porn mags, etc are taken when kitchens are at their cleanest and least cluttered, but not necessarily when they are working. (You rarely see toasters, coffeemakers, other daily-use small appliances on countertops either.) If you have small kids, your kitchen is probably working as hard as you are! So...keep it on the counter and use it with a clear conscience. When company's coming you can stuff it under the sink.

I'm w/ weissman--I eliminated the dish drainer, and I either dry them immediately (if it's 1 or 2 things at a time), or I let them drip on a towel (if it's a few more)

I too always had *something* in the dish drainer, but I'm so glad to have the counter space instead in my galley.

Like Weissman and Talley Sue, I finally gave mine up and opted for a dishtowel on the left side of the sink. I also started doing way more dishes in the DW instead of doing dishes by hand several times a week. So, I mostly changed the way I do things. It's hard, but it works. And you find that when you use a towel, you are more apt to just stack the DW, and you are also more apt to do fewer, putting them away in a few minutes when they are dry.

I never thought I could give up my dish drain rack and I never thought I could Really start using a squeegee in the shower to cut down on shower cleaning, but I learned to do that too.

Red

never had one - that's what the double sink is for.

the dishes that get hand washed dry in the smaller of the 2 sinks.

I used to wait until there were enough dirty dishes to make getting the drainer out from under the sink worth the effort. I was wandering through Williams-Sonoma in May and found a mat with recesses to collect water as the dishes drain. I love it. It stays on the counter most of the time, although it will not in my new kitchen. I gave them to our Moms for Mother's Day.

Here is a link that might be useful: Drying Mat

I really like that idea of the drying Mat. I might just order one. Better than using the dish towel I now use.
I always found the dish drainer too bulky to store so I got rid of it.

Ditto bluekitobsessed - I keep mine to the right of my sink. After marathon cooking sessions I have a lot of pots and pans that don't go into the dishwasher. Also, to save energy, we use DW without a heated drying cycle and just dry the plastics in the drainer. Like the drying mat - I think I'm going to pick it up for occasional use in addition to the drainer.

Like yanalg, I have a double sink. The big one on the left is where I wash the dishes. I always keep a dishrack down inside the smaller one on the right. That way the drying dishes are not visible, cluttering up the counter top. I am too lazy to take out and put away a drainer. Plus, I keep up with doing the dishes that way.

My old sink, the Kohler cast iron Executive Chef, had a drainer available that fit the smaller sink exactly. My new sink will be a Franke, and doesn't have a drainer that fits it, so I'll have to find one.

We have ours on the counter next to our sink---and it too is piled high with dishes most of the time. I'm quite the expert at making the pile as high as possible before it tips over. I guess some people have problems with them, visually, but it's never bothered me. I have a chrome (or chrome looking) one that folds up and can be stowed under the sink when needed. I've done this for picture taking and thought I would do it when company came. But it turns out, even in our brand spanking new kitchen, it still doesn't bother me so it stays out in all its glory. I don't like drying dishes in the sink--even double sided, because it seems they get splattered with water whenever the sink is used. The thing that DID bother me was the mat under the dishdrainer, it tended to get gunky when not cleaned often enough and it was a fairly large expanse of plastic. We had drainboards cut into our stone counters so that the water dripping from the dishrack could find its way into the sink. I also like the air circulation the dishdrainer enables around the dishes. My guess is that once all the dishdrainers disappear in the kitchen, they'll start popping up in magazine spreads to bring back a sense of nostalgia. I still hang my clothes on a line too.

Our dish drainer to the right of our sink, and I don't think it'll ever go away. Bluekitobsessed is right - the magazines don't show the kitchen being used, so they don't show dish drainers. I'm not home enough to wipe the few dishes I can't put in the DW. I'd much rather air dry them.

One of the best things about my new much deeper sink, is that the dish drainer fits inside and out of sight in the smaller side. Bought a SS one that is perfect, and cuz it's smaller than my really ugly old honking big plastic one, I put the dishes away sooner. I feel no compulsion to put this drainer away (like the other one which barely fit under the sink, it was THAT big!)

So, not only did we add to the kitchen, but I am gaining close to 2 feet of counter space by not having that DD on the counter!

Soooo GLAD that I didn't fork out the extra $$$ to have runnels routed out of my counter! Didn't know until AFTER sink was installed that I was going to put DD IN the sink!

I have a chrome one from Crate and Barrell that sits to one side of our big sink. It is adjustable for different size sinks. Keeps the dishes off the counter.

Mine stays under my sink and to the right of it when in use. I'm anal and dry my dishes immediately and store away, along with the drainer. I handwash most of my pots and pans and prep utensils.

We have a lot of wooden handled knives and other items that don't go in the DW that I can't imagine NOT having a DD on the counter. That said, in the new kitchen (to be previewed here soon! with pix) since the sink is in the island I will still have a DD over the dishwasher but am planning on the larger side of the double sink to be big enuf to hold the DD if we are having a party etc.
Of course the kitchen mags never show "reality" of stuff on counters. That's why we have to study them carefully!
Bottom line: can't imagine NOT having a DD on the counter.

mine is on the counter next to the sink and is never hidden away. i don't personally find it shameful, lol. besides, when company comes, there are always a few things i need to wash while doing final preps...extra forks, pots and pans, getting ready for dessert, etc. and after all the festivities, if the dishwasher doesn't hold everything, i finish up by hand washing.

although, that draining matt sure looks nice!

I bought a sink grid (one of the things I never would have considered without this site -- thanks!) and as I'm still getting used to it, it's occuring to me that it would make a decent impromptu dish drainer. So there's another thought.

I haven't owned a dish drainer in years--in fact not since we moved into this house almost 12 years ago. Before that, the drainers we had were always really ugly, so perhaps that fed my aversion to them.

We hand wash pots and pans, stoneware, and some glassware, but there are seldom more than a few pieces unless we're entertaining. We have always just put a towel on the counter. With the new kitchen, we had runnels installed in the counter and we have a grid in the sink. We place dishes directly on the runnels to dry, and if there are just a few small items, we dry them on the sink grid. So now, we don't even use the towel, unless the 'load' is particularly large.

I'm hoping to keep a small one in half of our sink (big blanco super single) so at least it's out of sight. Honestly in our current house our drainer only stores crap that I don't have room for in my cabinets, so in the new house hopefully I'll have plenty of storage and will only need the drainer to actually dry dishes!

bluekitobsessed - Holy cow! I just got sink grids for the first time ever. I can't believe it never occurred to me that I could them as an overflow DD - How simple and elegant!

Is there any ergonomic rule of thumb as to where to put the DD? Such as if you are right-handed you put it to the right of your sink?

I bought a small one to put in the sink and use the other for washing. That works fine for me but it seems that the kids would end up getting the clean dishes dirty with putting things in the other part of the sink. Now I usually put in with a towel on the counter and put it away after I dry or the pots drip dry. It is small enough that it goes under the sink with no problem.

No one has mentioned the dish racks that attach to the wall mounted systems. i have a fold up one from IKEA that i love. even though it is usually down and being used, when i need lots of extra counter prep space, i can fold it up out of the way. it is not directly next to the sink, which is under a window, but about a step away on the nearest wall, which i don't mind at all.

Dish towel for the past ten years and I wouldn't change. Dish towels go in the laundry. The rack was inevitably another thing to clean by hand from time to time. The dish towel method has also improved my "Blockhead" skills considerably.