How To Organize Under the Kitchen Sink (Easy Ideas!)
Is that dark cabinet under your sink a scary messy you’ve ignored for far too long? Learn helpful tips on how to organize under the kitchen sink and maintain it with ease.
This year one of my goals is to get our home more organized. I don’t have a thought out plan on how to make it happen. It’s more like this: I’m going to tackle a space when I decide I’ve had enough of the mess.
So today that mess is the cabinet area under my kitchen sink. If you have avoided that cabinet like me, I can help.
I’m sharing my whole step-by-step process on how to organize under the kitchen sink. Plus I’ll talk about the one item many may organize under the kitchen sink that won’t be under mine!
How To Organize Under The Kitchen Sink
There is a reason why kitchen cabinets under the sink have doors. Let’s state the obvious, there’s holes in the wall for plumbing with ugly plastic pipes. Who wants to look at that?!
You’ll also find under the sink those big garbage disposals and cords. Plus it’s just like the darkest place in the whole kitchen. I much prefer this view of the kitchen sink area!
But one night I had finally had enough. What was behind those two little doors under-sink area was driving me insane!
So let me break down the steps on how I finally organized everything under that farmhouse sink.
Remove Everything
Before I show you the good — aka the finished look — the first thing I have to show you is the bad and ugly.
Yes, my under sink cabinet had become a cluttered mess. It’s so embarrassing to admit but I’m giving you full transparency here. We’re all friends right? 🙂
Ugh. It was so bad! I didn’t even realize until I removed all the items under the sink.
I was hoarding like 20 spray bottles of Mrs. Meyer’s hand soap, dish soap and cleaning products. I know. Even if you’re a fan of Mrs. Meyer’s stuff – that’s still way too much. You’d think I own stock in her products or something.
So this is exactly why the first step is to just pull everything out from under the sink and face it head on.
Sort and Prioritize
Once you have all the items out you can start to sort similar items and prioritize what should be in this space. If you find items that don’t belong, remove them and store elsewhere.
Then think about what annoyed you most in the past with items under the sink. What needs to be closest to the front? What do you reach for daily?
One of my biggest frustration I was having in this space was not being able to easily reach the dishwasher cleaning pods. I would have to pull our like two items just to get to the container. Since we run the dishwasher daily, this was annoying.
So I decided on two things. One, I was going to move the dishwasher pods to the very front of the cabinet. And two, I was not going to look at the ugly Cascade dishwasher pods box every time I opened the cabinet.
That’s where my favorite stainless steel OXO containers sink organizers come into play. I got a 2.4 Qt for the pods and a 1.5 Qt for my cleaning sponges. I love the clean, organized look of the storage containers.
And now all I have to do is open the door and pop the top. Such a great way to save space under the sink too!
Rethink the Space
To maximize this tiny under sink space to it’s full potential, it’s important to stop and rethink how/where you’ll store your items.
Another one of my priorities for this space was to easily reach my Mrs. Meyer’s products.
I knew a sliding pull-out drawers organizer would not only organize them but also give me easy access to the under-sink cabinet storage.
But because of the garbage disposal placement, it would only fit on the right side of the kitchen sink cabinet.
Remember to take into consideration all plumbing pipes and big items like the garbage disposal. I measured more than once to make sure everything I wanted under the sink would fit properly.
Then I installed some new shelf liners to protect my cabinet from any spills or leaks. It’s not necessary but I think it’s a great idea!
Restock with Essentials
Once the sliding organizer was actually installed, it was time to restock and organize under the sink.
On the bottom shelf (towards the back), I placed all my extra Mrs. Meyer’s soaps and multi-surface sprays (which I get monthly through Grove). Also placed towards the back of the cabinet was my baking soda cream and stainless steel cleaner because I only reach for them once a week.
Towards the front of the lower shelf would be where I would store my scrub brushes and extra sponges. These were everyday items I would reach for often, so they need to be stored right inside of the door.
On the top shelf I placed extra bubble scrubbers and microfiber cleaning clothes. Plus I found the right place for my vegetable cleaning brush too!
I’ve found the best way to store cleaning supplies used less frequently is on a shelf riser, bin, or a lazy Susan towards the back. And if you need to store a dish towel, hang it inside the door with a couple of adhesive hooks!
Enjoy The Newly Organized Kitchen Sink Area
It was basically that simple for me to clean up that yucky mess behind those tiny doors and organize under the kitchen sink completely.
After completing this organization project, I realized two things.
One, I really need to check my inventory before ordering more Mrs. Meyer’s products. 😉 And two, I shouldn’t wait to so long to organize spaces that frustrate me. Life is too short!
What You Won’t Find Under My Kitchen Sink
Oh, and what’s the one thing you will never find under my sink? Cutting boards. I know for many, it’s a popular place to store them.
But the fact this area has open cabinet holes to the wall, combined with the possibility of water leaks, and it’s such a dark location. I just can’t. If you go looking for my cutting boards, you’ll find them on the kitchen counter.
Don’t Miss This: Speaking decorating kitchen counters, I have some fabulous ideas on how to display cutting boards throughout your kitchen! See them all HERE.
Some store paper towels under the sink as well but I’m not a fan. Trash bags or plastic bags? If you have the extra space – I say go for it!
UPDATE: GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED. And guess what? My current Kitchen Organization Giveaway is still going on. So if you would love to add a sliding organizer, the OXO containers and more to your kitchen…be sure to click here to enter.
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I hope you found these ideas helpful for how to organize under the kitchen sink!
Don’t forget to pin this so other’s can get their under sink cabinet organized too!
If you are looking for other ways to organize your kitchen, be sure to check out my post on Organizing the Corner Lazy Susan. It’s one of my most popular posts to date!
I love how realistic your sink organization looks! I’ve seen so many posts where people clean out that area and reorganize. But by the time they’re done, they only have 4 or 5 items under their sink. I keep lots of backups under my sink and yours is so much more realistic for my needs. Thanks for the post! Cant wait to try it in my own home.
Oh ya! I’m so glad you found my under the sink organization tips helpful! I do love my Mrs. Meyer’s soaps so the best place for me to store them is under the sink. Although I do try to keep them to a minimum, but still use the space to the fullest! 🙂
Love your kitchen! Do you have a post on how you installed your gorgeous farmhouse sink in an existing cabinet?
Thank you so much, Mindy! Unfortunately, I don’t. I meant to create one when I did the remodel in 2016, but then time got away and it never happened. Sorry. 🙁