I have often reminisced about these useful little items that are common all over south Asia (as far as I know), but don’t seem to have penetrated anywhere else.

What is this strange wedge of wood doing between the door frame and the door?

Here it is deployed to keep the door open:

Flipped over on its hinge, it jams the door open – no amount of wind will slam it shut!

Simple, cheap, effective. Why can’t we have something like this on our doors and windows in Italy?

Dishwashers are not nearly as universal in Italy as in the US, due to small kitchen spaces and the high cost of electricity. Italian kitchens also tend not to have a lot of counter space where you can leave dishes to dry after hand-washing them.

The solution? Dishes are washed, then immediately placed in a plastic-coated wire (or stainless steel) rack suspended over the sink. They’re ready to be taken out for the next meal, and when not in use the rack is closed off with cabinet doors that match the rest of the kitchen.

This appeals to my senses of efficiency and greenness: it saves steps cleaning up after a meal, and air drying is ecologically good practice. (NB: This particular rack in my mother-in-law’s kitchen is quite old; they normally look better than this!)