Under the Bathroom Sink Organization
You’re getting two under the sink organization posts, back to back!
This wasn’t planned FYI, just a coincidence and coupled with the fact that the pull out drawer unit I wanted for under my bathroom sink was on sale at The Container Store. More on that later.
You’ll see a bit of similarity to my under the kitchen sink organization, specifically referring to the four pull out drawers. I wanted to maximize the height under this sink as well but instead of using individual (but stackable) clear pull out drawers like I did in the kitchen, I chose a unit that has slots for a variety of drawers.
Before I get into the unit, I wanna break down a few things about organizing under the bathroom sink. While it is very similar to kitchens in the sense that you have to be super careful with measurements (taking the pipe into consideration always) and you want to contain as much as possible to keep things from getting gunky. I talked about that being an issue in so many homes in my last post. And I’ll reiterate here that you want to pull everything out and thoroughly clean the space before you do any organizing.
Also, using as much of the height as possible while not putting too many things out of reach in the back (where they get lost) is another rule you should follow for both spaces.
The difference between under bathroom and kitchen sinks lies in what you should (really, could) store under them! For the kitchen, dishwashing supplies should always be stored with little exception. Cleaning supplies are also usually stored here because most people don’t have a ton of extra cabinet or nearby closet space to give these products.
For bathrooms though, you may have a linen closet either in the room itself or right outside of it. You may have shelving or a piece of furniture that can store your stuff. You might also have an abundance of vanity drawers or medicine cabinet space to put your products. Every bathroom setup is totally different!
Many times what you store under here is less out of what you want to store here and more about what you need to. I’ll give you a general list of things that could have a home here but I’ll tell you right now that no client of mine has ever had the same stuff stored under the bathroom sink. In other words, there’s no right or wrong answer here!
Some of the things that you can store or may already be storing under your bathroom sink are:
Back stock (TP, q tips, floss sticks, cotton balls, soap, razors, other shower products, feminine products, etc.)
Towels (preferably smaller ones like hand or washcloths)
Skincare
Hair care
Hair tools
Body products
Nail products
Cleaning products
Makeup
Travel toiletries
First aid*
Basically anything that you can or would use in or near the bathroom!
*Note : while it’s OK to store bandaids and other first aid products in a bathroom, try not to store any medicine or vitamins. The moisture / humidity from hot showers can reduce their effectiveness. Instead, store them in an offsite linen closet or in the kitchen.
Once you decide what you need and want to store under your bathroom sink, the next step is to divide into categories. I’ll use my stuff as an example.
While I don’t have a medicine cabinet in my bathroom, I’m fortunate enough to have three drawers and three shelves flanking either side of the sink. I broke down what went into the drawers in a previous post (mostly items that I would have put into a medicine cabinet if I had one). I haven’t shown you the shelves (yet!) but they hold larger, more frequently used items like hair products and makeup (both thrown in a bag and stored in acrylic organizers which is what makes that category “larger”).
So what’s left is the less frequently used stuff, back stock and washcloths/makeup cloths. I’m also a firm believer that you should store bathroom related cleaners in the bathroom. Not necessarily under the sink if you have another spot for them but they definitely don’t make sense in the kitchen.
Always store things near where you use them if you can help it!
The less frequently used items are:
Face masks (the skincare kind, not the Covid kind)
Waxing strips and other hair removal products
Self tanner
I’m a huge fan of the Elfa line at The Container Store and have used their products in many of my client’s homes. They are really amazing quality and very versatile. Their back of the door organizers can be used for anything from accessories in a master closet to snacks in a pantry to medicine or back stock in a linen closet to gift wrap in a guest room (and literally SO much more).
That comes with a price tag though so when they were having a sale awhile back, I grabbed their XS narrow cabinet unit. It fits perfectly but if you’re looking for something similar (I’ll link some less expensive options as well!), I cannot stress this enough: please measure more than a few times to make sure it will fit even with the pipe. There is a slightly larger cabinet sized unit that would not have fit under my sink at all. But it may fit yours!
Their unit sold as is comes with two “one runners” and one “two runner”. (There is also a three runner FYI). In other words, the unit sold as a set comes with two shallow drawers and one medium deep drawer. It can technically also hold any of the following combos:
4 one runners (seen in my photos)
2 two runners
1 one runner and 1 three runner
If you want to basically “build your own” Elfa cabinet, you can purchase the frame first then choose your drawer combo. You can also choose to add casters or a top to it - neither of which I think is necessary under the bathroom sink but could be helpful if you store this somewhere else.
I would recommend getting “feet” (they come with the unit set) to not scrape the bottom of the cabinet, back stock pins to prevent the drawers from sliding too far back (they also come with the unit set) and labels if you think they’ll help you stay more organized (they do not come with the unit set).
If your head is spinning a little, you’re not alone! There are so many options with the Elfa systems and it takes time to learn (I organize professionally and am still learning about them!). The most important thing if you’re building your own is to make sure all of the pieces read the same size i.e. the unit I have is the XS narrow cabinet size so the frame, drawers and top would all have to read XS narrow cabinet in their title. If you’re really lost, the good news is that they are really helpful over at TCS! Either call for an online order or ask an associate in the store and they will help you get exactly what you need!
One last thing to note - I don’t know their exact timeline for Elfa sales but keep your eyes out because they do run them a couple times per year and the savings are GOOD. I saved about $30 on this unit because I got it on sale!
Back to my stuff, I decided I wanted the masks, hair removal and self tanner stuff definitely separated out and it made sense to store my wash/makeup cloths in the unit as well. That meant I needed 4 one runner drawers. Conveniently the labels come in a four pack so that made my decision even easier ;)
I had to put the unit to the left because the pipe jutted out on the right. Unlike under my kitchen sink, I didn’t put a lot of thought into what order I organized the drawers. In the kitchen, I stored things based on the frequency of use, with the top drawers holding the most often used stuff and the bottom holding the least often reached for stuff. Other than the cloths, this stuff is used kinda sporadically (with the waxing and tanning more often in the summer).
I have room to grow in each of these drawers which is always recommended! I like the fact that they are each contained to small, shallow drawers because it gives me a limit to how much I can really store. Especially the face masks because if there’s anything I could hoard, it’s those. Before I moved, I went through and decluttered almost all of mine and have been slowly building the supply back up. But at some point I won’t be able to fit much more so that’s an indication to stop buying. It’s like a little hack for your discipline!
I bought a four pack of pink washcloths from HomeGoods that I use when I’m doing my makeup or when I’m taking it off at night. The white ones are also new and I got them from Ikea for less than $2 a cloth! I use them in the shower and they are ridiculously soft so highly recommend if you’re in the market for new ones!
I use a combination of waxing and shaving depending on the, um, area. So I threw strips, extra razors and after care for either in this drawer. Even though the shaving cream is technically back stock, I had the room and it made sense to live here as well.
Lastly, I have self tanning foam, face drops and body makeup that live together in the bottom drawer along with a mitt that I use to apply the body stuff. In my last apartment, I used a command hook to hang the mitt on the inside of the cabinet door. I probably will do the same once I’m using it more often as we (finally) get into summer!
The back stock items I needed to store were:
Q tips
Cotton rounds
Garbage bags
Retainer cleaner tablets
I’ve had this white lidded bin from Target for a few years (and it’s always lived under my bathroom sink!) but they unfortunately don’t sell it anymore. The closest thing to it are these Nordic baskets which I have two on my bathroom shelves. They come in three sizes, with either bamboo lids or matching ones and have label clips if you need.
What I like about either bin is that they contain your stuff so heaven forbid there is a leak under the sink, your things can be somewhat protected. They also have small holes letting stuff breathe a bit and by having lids, you can stack them as high as possible! I only need the one for now but can expand. I’ve also stored a new bulky roll of paper towels on top if it won’t fit in front.
In front of the bin, I placed an extra shelf riser I had floating around and put my tub and tile and toilet bowl cleaners on top while my open box of trash can bags are underneath.
Quick tip : if you grab something regularly that comes in a box with a perforated lid like this, take the extra second to cut the whole piece off making it easier to reach in!
Did I really need the shelf riser? No, not at all. But it didn’t have another home and it’s serving a purpose here plus gives me even more room to grow if I need later on.
And that’s all there is to it! I’m sure that as time goes on, I will have other things to add but that’s the beauty of organizing. It’s fluid and I can change things as I need. And I’ll be sure to share those changes with you so you can see it in real time!
If you have any questions, please feel free to leave a comment or email me mary@organizedoverall.com.
Happy April and happy organizing!
PS I have an Etsy shop now if you’re looking for gifts for that organized person in your life!
*Disclosure: I only recommend products I would use myself and all opinions expressed here are my own. This post may contain affiliate links that at no additional cost to you, I may earn a small commission.