Under kitchen sink organization

Measure the space the plumbing leaves

Empty the cabinet and sketch it from above and from the front. Mark the sink bowl, the drainpipe and its curved trap, the shutoff valves and any disposal, water filter or hot-water tank, with their hoses and electrical connections. Then measure each pocket you could use: its width, depth and clear height, allowing for the plumbing and the hinges, as Rev-A-Shelf’s measuring guide asks. A space beside the drain can be tall at the front and shallow under the bowl, so take the lowest obstruction over the whole bin, not the highest empty point.

Measure the door opening separately: a wide interior can sit behind a narrow face frame or a center divider, and hinges take more. A cabinet’s listed depth isn’t the space an organizer gets (standard cabinet depth).

Match the organizer to what’s in the way

Start with the simplest arrangement that works. Two separate bins often beat one shelf across the cabinet, because either can come out on its own.

A turntable needs room for its whole circle, including bottles that stick out past the edge. An adjustable shelf must fit around the actual pipes, with its legs on the cabinet floor, not resting on plumbing. A shallow door rack can hold a brush if its mounting suits the door; close the door slowly to check that it doesn’t hit a bin, pull a hose or stop a child lock from catching.

Example: two bins beside the drain

In this example cabinet, with no disposal, filter or hot-water tank, two bins 8 in wide, 14 in deep and 6 in high fit in front of the plumbing, each 4 in narrower than its door opening. That spare width helps you lift them out, but the handles, the hinges and the angle you pull at still need a real try. If the lowest pipe over either bin is 10 in above the cabinet floor, a 6 in bin leaves 4 in above its rim, which tall bottles use up. Try a light empty box of the same outside size first; if it only comes out tilted, a smaller bin may be easier to live with.

Leave the plumbing in reach

Keep the shutoff valves’ handles visible and easy to reach, and the drain trap, the curved section under the sink, uncovered. Storage should lift out without loosening any plumbing. A filter may need room below or beside it to change its cartridge, a disposal has its own maintenance points, and a hot-water tank may restrict what can be stored near it: the installed equipment’s instructions say what each needs, and no single clearance suits every cabinet. InSinkErator advises checking the plumbing connections from time to time, which is hard in a tightly packed cabinet that hides damp patches.

What belongs under the sink

Give each bin a small job, spare dish brushes in one and the supplies for one cleaning task in another, and keep extras elsewhere. Check the equipment first: InSinkErator warns against storing flammable things such as rags, paper and aerosol cans near a disposal.

Where children live or visit, don’t make a low bin the home for cleaning chemicals. CPSC recommends keeping household chemicals locked up and out of children’s reach, in their original child-resistant containers, and Poison Help says to follow each label and keep products in their original containers, never in food containers such as cups or bottles; matching decanted bottles look tidy but lose the label. A high, locked cabinet elsewhere may suit your household better. Small appliances belong in a dry cabinet of their own (how to store kitchen appliances).

Test it before adding more

Put everything in, then open and close both doors, pull each bin out, lift out its biggest item and put it back. If one bin has to move before the other comes out, that extra step will grate every day. For a fixed pull-out, check the maker’s minimum opening, mounting and load limit before buying, and that the hardware suits the cabinet’s construction (how to choose kitchen cabinets). Finally, take the bins out once more and check that the connections and the cabinet floor are easy to inspect: if you find water or damage, fix the cause first.

Questions people ask