Ikea ORDNING Flatware Caddy and EKIPERA Container Review

There comes a point in time when plastic isn't good enough anymore. Over a year back, I reached that point with my toothbrush holder. More recently, it happened with the flatware/cutlery stand. No, that would be a lie -- I got sick of the cutlery stand being too small and having to sort through too many items to just pick up a fork.

Ikea ORDNING Flatware Caddy

Configuration
ORDNING, Flatware caddy, stainless steel: US$ 2.99 (CAD$ 4.99)
EKIPERA, Container: CAD$ 0.99

Video
Wouldn't be very interesting.


Ikea ORDNING Interior

Assembly
No packaging. Only thing I had to do was remove the sticker on the bottom and give it a good wash. The sticker came off pretty cleanly. As for the EKIPERA container, I took the sticker off and washed it. The ORDNING fit into the EKIPERA perfectly.


Ikea ORDNING Bottom

Stability
Nice and wide base, not too tall, it held up pretty well with a full load of forks, knives, and spoons in it.


Ikea EKIPERA Container - Top

Expandability / Customizability
Guess I could get more ORDNINGs?

Everyday Use
There were two of these in the house. One was used in the bathroom to hold toothbrushes and the other was used to "properly" hold kitchen utensils. In the bathroom, it worked fine. Not much of a test with only a few, relatively light, plastic toothbrushes in there. I was more concerned with how it would handle a full load of relatively heavy stainless steel utensils. No large spoons or spatulas were put into the ORDNING. In fact, almost all utensils that went into it barely peaked over the top of the ORDNING. They stuck out maybe an inch or two. Regardless, I didn't have trouble with the container tipping over.


Ikea EKIPERA Container - Bottom

The thing I loved about the ORDNING was that it was perforated with holes across the walls and the base. This would, ideally, have helped water to drain and for air to circulate to aid in drying the contents. With the EKIPERA drain pan, it helped to hold a little bit of water and was easy to empty.

One minor issue I had was with the height of the ORDNING. Like I was saying, the utensils barely peaked over the top. This meant that I usually had to grab the utensils by the tip (i.e. the useful, pointy, sharp, or round part) as opposed to the neck with the old, shorter container. Mainly an issue with me because there may have been germ-related concerns involved.


Ikea ORDNING in EKIPERA

Conclusion
No major complaints. I would have preferred it to be a little bit shorter, but that may have affected the stability of the container. Worked well for toothbrushes and kitchen utensils. The EKIPERA drain pan was useful and a nice addition for only about $1.