As much as I try to keep an organized home and share with you projects that will help you in having one too, I do slip up once in a while. The cabinet below my kitchen sink is our hideaway garbage can and storage for cleaning supplies. We also keep our plastic grocery bags in there, which we reuse for garbage liners. Things were frankly getting out of control! Here’s my super quick, anyone can do this organizing under the sink project.
You know how I like everything to be neat and pretty, even when they’re out of view? The floor of this cabinet was a horrible 60’s (or was it 50’s?) floral Con-Tact type paper that had seen better days and had peeled off in various places. Now, I don’t know how well you know me, but I will tell you in no uncertain terms that 60’s-or-was-it-50’s floral pattern is not my style. It had to go.
On this particular day, I was lazy. Super lazy. I wanted to clean out my under-the-sink cabinet and move on to the next project. I didn’t want to remove yucky floral paper or repaint any interior cabinets. I just wanted to have an organized under-the-sink cabinet. I had some leftover outdoor vinyl from resurfacing our deck. I scooped up a large scrap of it and cut it to fit the floor of the cabinet. The edges curled up a bit, so I used carpet tape to hold down the vinyl. It was already looking brand new!
Similar items were grouped together and given a new home inside the cabinet. If the item didn’t belong under A) garbage supplies, B) kitchen cleaning supplies, or C) dishwashing items, they were outta there!
Be ruthless in your organizing, people!
Once all the clutter was gone, I placed all the necessary under-the-kitchen-sink supplies inside the cabinet, with the least used items in the back row. Garbage can, dishwasher detergent, and multi-purpose kitchen spray were front and center.
I also used the backs of the doors for the little things so they wouldn’t get lost in the cavernous space of the cabinet. There are a multitude of over-the-cabinet-door containers and hooks out there! This is not to be confused with over-the-door products because over-the-cabinet-door products will have smaller hooks to fit over the slimmer cabinet doors.
This is where I decided to store my garbage liners (aka plastic grocery bags). I used to keep them all tidy in a roll and then pop one out like a cleaner wipe in a canister, but I soon tired of making a new roll with the new bags and they all started to pile up. It was outta control, seriously! Now, I just go with the “throw the bag in the cabinet” method, while contained in the wire basket behind the door. So far, this system is working for us!
I also hang my dish gloves and dust mitten behind the other door. I love the simplicity of this organizing project. And it can be done under 30 minutes! (Photography session to show off this beautiful new little space is extra.)
In a nutshell, here’s how to get your under the sink organized:
1. Clear out the entire cabinet. EVERYTHING.
2. Wipe down the cabinet walls and floor. If needed, line the floor with vinyl or wallpaper or Con-Tact paper or wrapping paper. Even ceramic tiles will do the trick - if you can cut them to fit. Just anything to cover up ugly floors.
3. Throw out all the things that don’t belong under a kitchen sink. (Or a bathroom sink, if that’s what you’re working with! These steps totally apply in that room, too!)
4. Organize kitchen sponges and rags into plastic bins (shoebox sized are perfect for these small items!). Use over-the-cabinet-door hooks and bins to store plastic grocery bags and latex gloves.
How organized is your space under the sink? Do you have any other organizing tips to share?
RESOURCE GUIDE:
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OTCD Wire basket: Bed, Bath, & Beyond
OTCD Hooks with clips: Daiso
Plastic shoeboxes: Walmart
Garbage bin: Ikea
I’ve linked up this project at these parties here.
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