How to Organize Under the Kitchen Sink: Organizing Ideas to Tame the Mess

Why Should You Organize Your Under-Sink Space?

The cabinets under your kitchen sink can be a very handy place for often-needed and much-used kitchen supplies. You know the things you don’t necessarily want to have out on display on the kitchen counters all the time, but that you need to grab often. 

Having a well-organized under-the-kitchen sink cabinet can really help the feel and function of your kitchen and home. And this organization project is an easy weekend or even afternoon project! #quickwin 

What Should You Keep Under Your Kitchen Sink?

Well, that depends entirely on you and your kitchen space.

Many people keep these items under their kitchen sink:

• cleaning products
• sponges or scrub brushes
• dishcloths
• dishwasher tablets
• trash bags
• a garbage bin

Some people also have a garbage disposal beneath their kitchen sink, which takes up some room too. 

We keep some of these things, but not all of them under our kitchen sink. Under our kitchen sink area, we store:

• dishwasher tabs
• dead batteries (we drop them off at our local municipal waste facility)
• a kitchen fire extinguisher
• fruit and vegetable cleaner
• rarely used stainless steel cleaner (for the appliances)
• glass oven top cleaner and scraper
• a small recycling bin 
• a roll-out compost bin set from Ikea

We also have a drawer to the right of the sink that holds garbage bags, dishcloths, tea towels, and scrubbies above the large recycling and garbage bins. 

Things I don’t keep under the kitchen sink

We don’t really store cleaning supplies under our kitchen sink, as most of those live in our laundry room. But there are a few.

And our dish soap, hand soap, and all-purpose spray cleaner are decanted from their original packaging into amber glass bottles on a tray on the kitchen counter beside the sink. 

How to Organize Under the Kitchen Sink in 7 Steps

You should organize under the kitchen sink to fit your needs and how you use your kitchen. There’s definitely no one size fits all solution, but there are many easy ideas you can use. Here’s how to organize under the kitchen sink, step-by-step:

01| Empty everything out of the cupboards

As with all organizing projects, you want to start by emptying out the space you’re going to organize. Take everything out from underneath your kitchen sink. 

02| Clean and refresh 

Next, you’ll want to wipe down the inside of your under-sink cabinet. Use wipes or all-purpose spray and paper towels to clean up any spills. Use a magic eraser on tough scuff marks or stains. 

If you’d like a fresh start, you could also line the bottom of the cabinet with a pretty shelf liner. Or give the inside of the cabinet a fresh coat of paint (if your cabinet material is paintable) to brighten it up. 

03| Declutter and sort

Now, purge any unnecessary items from the things you’ve removed from beneath the sink. Any obvious trash, duplicates, broken sprayers and the like should be tossed. Put away anything that doesn’t belong under the sink.

Then sort what’s left, like with like. Cloths, garbage bags, sponges, cleaners – keep them all with their similar category of items. 

04| After sorting, measure the space

Once you’ve sorted what’s to be kept under the kitchen sink, measure the space. Be sure to measure the width, height, and depth of the cabinet under the sink, so that you know how much space you’re actually working with for organization and storage. 

Work around obstructions

Organizing under the kitchen sink can be a challenge if you have a large garbage disposal or awkward pipes taking up valuable cupboard real estate under there. So be sure to measure these as well.

05| Choose under-sink organizers wisely

Choose organizers for under your kitchen sink that you will actually use. Make sure you keep it simple and choose organizers and containers for easy access. 

06| Remove extra packaging

Once you’ve got your organizers, remove extra packaging to save space and make your organization look prettier.

Decant things like dish soap into prettier bottles. Place dishwasher tabs in clear acrylic drawers. Stack dishcloths or sponges in a small basket. Put scrub brushes in a small crock. Keep your things accessible for ease of use. There’s no point in organizing and making your under-the-kitchen-sink cupboard look pretty if it’s not functional! 

07| Add labels

Finally, label everything so you and your family or housemates know where everything goes. You can find pretty labels on Amazon, the Dollar Store, or Etsy. Or you can DIY your own on a basic home printer or Cricut. 

What Products are Helpful When Organizing Under My Sink?

As I mentioned, you want to keep the organization simple and easy to use.

Remember to shop the house and even repurpose items you already have. You can use crocks, pottery, baskets, dollar store bins, small bowls, and even old food boxes wrapped with gift wrap or wallpaper. 

Here are a few options to customize the under-sink storage in your kitchen. You can also check out my favorites for stylish home organization on Amazon. 

Lazy Susan Organization

Lazy Susans are a handy tool in the kitchen. They can be used to organize the pantry, the fridge or any cupboard. Use them under the sink for storing cleaning bottles. 

Pull-Out Trash Can/Recycling/Compost Bins

Under the kitchen sink is a common place to store garbage cans, and compost or recycling bins. Having pullout bins is the best and makes cleanup easy. 

Pull-Out Shelves

You can also employ pull-out shelves or drawers to store dishwasher tablets, dishcloths, and more under your kitchen sink. 

Over the Door Organizer

Make use of the space right behind closed doors with a small over-the-door organizer. We’ve used these before to hold scrubbies and smaller cleaners. 

Clear Plastic Bins

The space under the kitchen sink tends to be a little bit dark so using clear plastic bins for some of your organization will help you see what’s there at a glance. 

Hang Things on Hooks

You could also hang hooks – 3M ones work great here – on the inside of cabinet doors or even on the side of the cabinet to store dish towels, scrub brushes, gloves, and more. 

Use a Cleaning Caddy

If the majority of your cleaning products are going to live under your kitchen sink, consider using a cleaning caddy to organize them. That way you can just grab the whole caddy when you need to go clean another area of the house. 

Tension Rod for Spray Bottles

Another smart method for hanging spray bottles is to place a tension rod (like a curtain rod) under the sink. Then you simply hang the spray bottles by the handles/nozzles. Be sure the tension rod is strong enough to hold the weight of the full bottles. 

Install an Under Sink Shelf

You can easily double your under-cabinet storage space by installing an extra shelf. There are even shelves designed to work around most plumbing.