TheFineRefine
Apr 8, 20203 min
Updated: Jan 24, 2023
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The cabinets under the kitchen sink can turn into a catch-all for every odd item without a home and everything we're not sure about keeping. Having exposed piping and the potential for leaks makes it a particularly hard space to organize. But no worries, I got you.
Professional Organizer Tip:
As a general rule try to keep everything you need to tidy up and clean your kitchen under the sink and readily accessible to make cleaning quick and easy.
What's in my kit?
My cleaning must-haves: Vacuum, Clorox Wipes, Febreeze Air Freshener, Gloves
Tape measure, paper, and pen.
"Trash" bag, "Donate" bag, "Sell" bag.
Assess the space: check for leaks, pests, damages etc...
Clean and disinfect the space.
Prepare the space: place liners
Measure the area you have to work with.
Keep in mind that under the sink you already have dividers in the form of pipes, wires, and tubing. So you can't just have 1 set of measurements, you'll need as many as you can take.
If you're going to buy organizing products I suggest you measure the area as pictured. The worst thing you can do is eyeball it and end up having to return items because they didn't fit into your space.
For personalized product recommendations request an online professional organizing consultation here.
Sort your items into 4 categories:
Tools - items that are useful and frequently used. (Ex: Cleaning supplies and materials)
Relocate - items that do not belong under the sink, can be ruined if exposed to a leak and food items.
Trash - items that are rarely used, expired, or damaged. Throw these out.
Donate / Sell - items that are rarely used, or items you have more of.
Group the like items in your tool pile together and CONSOLIDATE.
I want you to consolidate multiple small supplies into larger containers. This is the easiest way to make under the kitchen sink highly efficient and organized.
Example: Instead of keeping 2 extra dish soaps under the sink get a large dish soap dispenser and fill it up. You'll eliminate having to store them, you'll have to refill less often and you can have a nice container on display.
The same logic can be applied to other cleaning products.
Consolidate anything you can.
Related: Speed Clean your Entire Home
Establish where to place items according to their frequency of use. How often you reach for an item will determine its home.
If you run your dishwasher every night keep the dishwasher pods readily accessible.
Place your items where you would like them to be and determine how many bins, drawers or containers you need.
Now that you know how much stuff you have and your measurements head over to the store or order from my personal favorite: Amazon. Find my favorite kitchen organizing products here.
Contain all of your products in your bins, organizers, and drawers. Experiment moving things around but always make sure to place your regularly used items towards the front.
These aren't just used to make things look nice, labels are particularly handy if you don't live alone and want to ensure your space STAYS organized. Labels help family members put things back where they go and not just toss them anywhere.
Check out my favorite portable label maker:
This will not be hard if you put thought into organizing this space. If you followed these steps you organized according to frequency of use so your most used items will always be easy to remove and put back in its space.
Hope this method helps!
If you find this doesn't work for you and need some extra help feel free to contact me here for more tips and tricks.