$6 Storage Hack (I Wish I'd Done 2 Years Ago)

Jeanne Johnson Ortego
by Jeanne Johnson Ortego
1 Material
$6
1 Hour
Easy
I've been on a bit of a storage safari for the last few weeks. It's not a New Year's Resolution or anything. I've just been cooped up in my house and limited as to what I could do because of the unbelievably cold weather (for us).

I decided to try decluttering under my sink and kitchen island. Remember the tension rod that I used to hang those pretty orbs in my "Twine With A Twist" project? Yep, that was supposed to be to declutter under my kitchen sink. OK, so the glue was only on the outside of the packaging! And I only moved into this house 2 years ago!
5/8" Tension rod
Be sure that you get the larger tension rod. The little ones tend to have thin sides that let the springs burst out if you apply too much pressure.
Before: All junked up, can't find anything
It's true what they say: If you want a neat space, first you have to take everything out and clean the space! Not Fun!
Clean and empty
After I pulled everything out, I cleaned the bottom of the cabinet really well, then let it dry. While it was drying, I threw away anything that couldn't be used anymore and consolidated bottles of the same thing.
Figured out where to hang the rod behind the drain pipe, but high enough to put a second row of bottles underneath. Be sure it's level and in there as tight as you can fit it, so the weight of all those spray bottles doesn't drag it down and make a big ol' mess!
Shelf liner under drain pipes. Started organizing bottles with trigger sprayers on tension rod.
Then I organized the bottom with most frequently used items in the front.
I need to keep that gallon of vinegar handy for frequent cleaning!
Recycling can on the left.
Nice and neat, with plenty of room left for my under sink trash can!
All done!
Gaining that extra level of storage by hanging trigger sprayer bottles on the tension rod allowed me to move things that I had been storing on the bottom shelf of my island to under the sink. Because they hang up high, the spray bottles are easy to see and reach. I am really loving this system!


That's really all there is to it. The rest will depend on what you store under your kitchen sink. But now we have a convenient place to store the cast iron pots and the gumbo pot. No more trying to fit all the pots together like a jigsaw puzzle!
Suggested materials:
  • Tension rod   (Amazon, Dollar Store)
Frequently asked questions
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  1 question
  • Penny Penny on Feb 18, 2018

    How can you hang the rod ?

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  • Kathryn Lumpkin Kathryn Lumpkin on Feb 01, 2022

    Yes, I have used the tension rod idea, but with a twist: I position the tension rod close to the cabinet doors, enabling the hanging of a roll of paper towels on the same tension rod.

  • Comet Comet on Sep 11, 2022

    You can buy small curtain rod **cups** that are attached to the sides of your cabinet to help keep the tension rods in place. If they can withstand my vintage RV bombing down thousands of miles of bad roads they will hold up in your house!!

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