Clearing Clutter Under The Kitchen Sink

Last Updated on August 15, 2020 by Ellen Christian

I have been working on clearing clutter in my home.  I’m not exactly sure how it got this way but I feel like I woke up one morning and looked around and there was clutter everywhere. I’m sure that’s not how it happened really. It’s been building for years and I just noticed it. I tend to be one of those people who doesn’t think about things unless I see them.  I could have a bag of potato chips in the pantry but I will forget about them until I go in the pantry and see them.  The same is true for my clutter.  I put it in a drawer, in our spare room, or in a cupboard and I forget about it until I open the door.

Clearing Clutter

Since I’m working on clearing clutter in the kitchen, the next project I decided to tackle was under the kitchen sink.  Under the kitchen sink has somehow turned into the place to stick things that have no home. I followed the same standard steps that I’ve been using throughout the house.

• Take everything out from under the sink.
• Separate items into similar groups.  Cleaning products in one place.  Sponges in another.
• Put everything that doesn’t logically belong under the sink where it does go.  Why do I have motor oil under the sink?
• Throw away anything broken, unusable, or out of date.
• Get rid of things that you never use. I was given a fruit and vegetable wash by a friend. I never use it and honestly never will. I dumped it and recycled the container.
• Now that there is nothing under the sink, clean it out well.  I scrubbed the linoleum on the bottom but since it’s quite old, I couldn’t get it totally unstained.

• Paint the back or sides if you need to.  I painted the back a bright, happy yellow since that’s what I had leftover from painting my daughter’s room.

• If necessary, replace the linoleum or shelf paper on the shelf.   I added non stick liner (like this one on Amazon) to the bottom. I don’t like using the kind that sticks because it’s hard to change.
• Wipe down all of the bottles of cleaner before you put them back.

• When putting things back, group similar things together.  I put the cleaning products in white plastic tubs I got at Dollar General. I put the sponges in a plastic container with a lid to keep out any mice that might wander down there.

Now the most important part of this process is to put the things that did not belong under the sink where they go. Do not put things under the sink that don’t belong there in the future.  That way, next month your sink will still be clean and you won’t need to go through clearing clutter under the sink again.  Are you working on decluttering?

If you are working on decluttering and organizing your home, I highly recommend the e-course, Decluttering Made Easy.

Ellen Christian

Ellen is a busy mom of a 24-year-old son and 29-year-old daughter. She owns six blogs and is addicted to social media. She believes that it doesn’t have to be difficult to lead a healthy life. She shares simple healthy living tips to show busy women how to lead fulfilling lives. If you’d like to work together, email info@confessionsofanover-workedmom.com to chat.