The Restaurant Item That Benefits Your Home Kitchen Instantly

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Bringing restaurant-grade items into your home kitchen sounds like an expensive endeavor. While some products, such as top-shelf blenders, oven ranges, and knives, certainly are an investment, not everything is so costly. Take, for example, a bus bin. Typically priced around $10 to $20 each, these are normally used to carry dishes from the dining area to the back of the house. In a home kitchen, this is one of those surprising options for kitchen storage.

You could use bus bins to clear the table after a large meal, and they're quite handy for gathering dishes and glasses after a party. However, these can be used for so much more, including for storage, organizing, and as a spot for washing and defrosting. They're easily stackable, and can be stored away in the pantry when not being used.

Restaurant supply stores sell these bins, but they're also easy to find online. Often, they're referred to as commercial bins, such as the Ggbin commercial bus box three-pack (for $34.99). These could also be among the kitchen items you can source from the thrift store.

Since most bus bins come in packs, it's handy to know how to make the best use of all of them. For busy days when dirty dishes pile up on the side or inside the sink, place the overflow inside a bin to contain the mess better. The dishes can also be soaked with soap and water in the bin, so you're basically using it as a double sink. Alternatively, if you need more space for drying dishes, place a towel inside the bin for this purpose.

Inside a pantry, these bins can be used to restore order and maximize storage. Bins can be separated by category; for example, cereal boxes, granola bags, and oatmeal canisters can be placed in one, while another is entirely dedicated to grab-and-go snacks. They're also a great way to contain a collection of tea boxes, or make sure all your coffee supplies — filters, syrups, and grounds — are all in one spot.

Have a garden or fruit trees? Use the bins to carry fruit hauls and harvests to the kitchen. The same bins can be used to wash and sanitize produce. If you need a spot to defrost meat from the freezer, an alternative to leaving it on the counter or using the sink is making use of a spare bin.