christina williams: Kitchen Sink Clutter Control

For me, the kitchen sink is usually one of the hardest spaces to keep organized in my home. There's such a variety of ugly plugs, sponges, scrubbers, soaps, and other unsightly items that clutter up the sink area. I found an article in a magazine somewhere (I wish I could remember where) a long time ago detailing how to get the clutter under control and most importantly, out of sight. If my kitchen sponges were as pretty as these pictured above, from Martha Stewart, I wouldn't have to worry about them being on display...but that's not the case. So I choose to hide the ugly stuff.

This article (I swear it was in either Martha Stewart Living or Real Simple...but I can't find it on either website) showed how to organize the door of your under-sink cupboard to house all those unsightly kitchen sink necessities. One quick trip to the Container Store, and my kitchen sink is clutter-free. I used removable Command Adhesive Strips to attach everything so I wouldn't damage the cabinet door. I used a plastic bag holder to keep all my plastic bags, and I found a little basket to hold all the sponges, and drain covers. There's hooks for my scrub brush and dish cloth. It's definitely not pretty, but it keeps all this ugly stuff out of sight. And everything hangs separately so it has time to dry out between uses.

Next, make the visible stuff pleasant to look at:

I just got this hand JR Watkins hand soap on my latest trip to Target. I love the vintagey packaging. Plus, the product is a natural plant-based formula, dye-free, non-toxic, and not tested on animals. And, it looks cute too! Now I need to step up my search for one of these great bottles (below, from Martha Stewart) for my dish soap and I'm set.