A dish towel is handled more than almost anything else in a kitchen, which is a good argument for owning one you actually like looking at. The Camila plaid kitchen towel comes from Archive New York, and it is made to be used rather than folded away for guests. A plaid also does a far better job of carrying a day's worth of kitchen life than a solid white cloth ever will.
Put it where you will reach for it. Over the oven handle, on a hook by the sink, threaded through a cabinet pull, or folded under a bread basket on the table. A good tea towel earns its place by doing several jobs at once, drying hands and glassware, lifting a warm dish, and covering a bowl of dough, and a plaid one manages all of that without looking like a utility item. It reads seasonal enough for a holiday table and perfectly ordinary on a Tuesday, which is the useful middle ground for a kitchen towel you plan to leave out year round.
Where should you hang a kitchen towel? Kitchen towels are usually hung on an oven door handle, a cabinet-mounted bar, or a hook near the sink so they stay within reach and can air dry between uses. Letting a damp towel dry flat or hanging rather than bunched is what prevents the musty smell that comes from trapped moisture.
