Under Sink Organization and Waste & Recycling System
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Organizing under the kitchen sink can be challenging with all the pipes, hoses and drain taking up valuable space. Do you have a center bar like I did? I was thrilled with the improvements in my new sink cabinet. There is a lot more usable space with the drain further back. Everything is accessible now that the middle bar between the doors is gone. Getting my recycling bins out of my kitchen entrance way and creating a system to get all the waste out was a game changer.
In my previous attempts to organize this space I couldn’t comfortably fit my trash, compost and recycling bins. Everyone would come here to put their recycling, but it wasn’t here. I had to really think about the items I needed to be here and discard or find another home for those other things.
Determine what needs to be kept in the cabinet under the kitchen sink to organize...
I wanted to keep my garbage and compost here, and an essential oil diffuser that I like to put on after cooking sometimes… Some basic cleaning supplies for the kitchen and dish washing items are essential. Extra cleaning supplies were cleaned out that were not required in the kitchen and stored elsewhere. The only ones left are the ones that need to be here.
- Hand dish soap
- Dishwasher rinse fluid
- Dishwasher cleaner
- Dish brush
- Bottle brushes
- Toothbrush for cleaning grooves around sink and faucet
- Scrubbers and sponges
- Rubber gloves
- Sink stoppers
- Garbage and compost bags
- Essential oil diffuser
- All purpose cleaners
- Extra hand soap
- Rubber Gloves
Containers under the kitchen sink for organizing...
After determining what was to be kept here, the search was on to find the right containers. I found these wire stacking bins at a dollar store (Dollarama) and the metal caddy at Homesense. Frequently used supplies are kept in the caddy. (Comet, a dish brush and dishwashing liquid.) Some other back-up supplies – sponges and scrubbers are in the wire bins.
My garbage and recycling system...
The black pullout garbage and recycling bins under the sink, were from IKEA but they have been replaced with grey ones. I also got some grey pullout bins which I use for recycling, that are in the cabinet beside the sink cabinet, from Costco. When the recycling bins get too full, or I have something too big to go in them, I put them in my overflow bins in the garage.
Into the garage...
Designate a place for your decluttered items until you are ready to get them onto their final destination. Decluttered items to donate or sell, and a bag for textile recycling are kept on the white wire shelves. Some old wood shelves were repurposed to hold my excess temporary recycling overflow bins. The bin categories are for paper & cardboard, containers & plastic, metal & electrical, empties and things that belong to someone else. When the recycling bins get full I take them to the bigger bins that go out every week or take a trip to the dump. The Beer store here in Ontario takes all empty alcohol bottles and cans so whenever that bin gets full I will take them in. What categories would you use?
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