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Affordable Ways to Organize Under the Bathroom Sink

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DIY Projects· Organization

18 Jul
15.7K21 

“Affordable Ways to Organize Under the Bathroom Sink” has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #DesignedMega #CollectiveBias

Budget friendly ways to organize under the bathroom sink with bins from the dollar store

Under the bathroom sink. Need I say more? It’s a collection of crazy under there: hair dryers, bags of cotton balls, rolls of toilet paper… and so many “trial size” dental floss containers I could knit a floss dress. If you struggle with this area of your home, I’m here to offer you a little hope. You can easily, and affordably, organize under the bathroom sink.

What You Need To Organize Under The Bathroom Sink

Colorful bins from the dollar store that will be used for Organizing Under the Bathroom Sink

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  • Plastic Bins
  • Wire Wastebasket (I found mine at Target’s “Hot Spot” for $3)
  • Spray Paint (I used the colors Oil-Rubbed Bronze and Flat Chestnut)

For Labels- If you choose:

  • Soda Can
  • Good Scissors
  • Black Vinyl
  • Transfer Tape
  • Adhesive Dots


Affordable Bathroom Organization Ideas

Let me show you a few pictures of what my space looked like before this project got underway.

View under bathroom sink prior to organizing

Left side of the sink

View under bathroom sink prior to organizing with dollar store bins

Right side of sink

Pretty bad, right? I believe bags and boxes make everything look cluttered, so removing items from their packaging and placing them into cohesive containers is a great option; and it doesn’t have to be expensive.

Start by creating a list of everything you have under your sink. This makes it easy to figure out how many bins you need, as well as which sizes will work best. Once you have your list in order, head out, and look for bins to match your needs. Many places, like Target, have “Hot Spots” with affordably priced storage bins. Don’t worry about the colors because you’re going to spray paint them. I ended up with a rainbow: blue, purple, red, and pink.

Sanding a plastic bin prior to spray painting

If you have a glossy plastic, it’s helpful to lightly sand it with a high grit sandpaper. This will help the spray paint adhere better. If the plastic has any texture to it, you don’t need to sand at all. (For tips on spraying painting plastic bins, check out this post.)

Updating a bright purple plastic bin with spray paint

Spray paint one side, wait about an hour, and turn the pieces over to spray the other side. I did a thorough coverage of the Oil-Rubbed Bronze followed by a light spray of the Flat Chestnut. I like combining two “metal” spray paint colors in order to add a little texture.

Spray painted bin with a metal label made from a soda can

I am a label-lover, so I decided to add a few labels to my smaller bins. Believe it or not, I used a soda can. Start by carefully cutting off the top and bottom of can.

Obviously aluminum cans are sharp when cut, so please, please be careful! Wearing a pair of leather work gloves is advised.

If you want to avoid this step, you can purchase metal labels instead.

Soda can cut in rectangles to make labels for bathroom storage

With the remaining piece of aluminum, cut out your shapes (I went with rectangles, but you could make squares, circles, etc.).

Creating labels with vinyl lettering made with Cricut

With a vinyl cutting machine, black vinyl, and transfer tape, I created the lettering for each label. Start by choosing a font, and size it to your labels. Cut it out of the vinyl, and use transfer tape to remove the label from the vinyl’s backing and adhere it to your labels.

Glue dots on back of soda can labels

I then grabbed some adhesive dots and placed them in all four corners of the label, and stuck the labels onto the bins. Here’s how they turned out…

Dollar store bins spray painted and labeled for budget friendly bathroom storage

Next, I grabbed my wire wastebasket, which I used to store extra rolls of toilet paper in a more “stylish” manner.

White wire wastebasket that will be used to hold toilet paper

I spray painted it in the same way as the plastic bins, and, again, used my vinyl cutter to create a label on some wrapping paper I had on hand, and here’s how it turned out.

Toilet paper in spray painted wire basket

For “feminine hygiene products”, I spray painted a shower caddy with 3 sections… again, from the dollar store.

Feminine products stored in a spray painted dollar store caddy

… and all my hair supplies went into a large bin.

Dollar store basket, spray painted and used to store hair dryers and flat iron

Extra products, such as shampoos, lotions, etc, went into a small tote.

The last step in the process was lying down a “wrapping paper shelf liner” to add a little color. (I used the same method as I did with these “DIY Drawer Liners”.) Here’s the finished space.

Budget Friendly Ideas for Organizing Under the Bathroom Sink

Left Side of the Sink

Budget Friendly Ideas for Organizing Under the Bathroom Sink

Right Side of Sink

Before and After organizing under the bathroom sink

 

Before and After organizing under the bathroom sink

It is so nice to have this space organized. Just one less obstacle to face each morning 🙂

 

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Bathroom Storage Ideas from the Dollar Store. Turn bright colored plastic bins into Industrial bathroom storage with just a little spray paint.

17 Comments

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Comments

  1. Linda Goble says

    August 15, 2019 at 10:44 AM

    I thought I had lots of dental floss but you have me beat by a long shot. Thanks for the tips. I keep trying to figure out without asking hubby to put a shelve in under my sink.

    Reply
  2. Kathy Carabellese says

    September 7, 2016 at 6:36 PM

    You went from a 12 package of toilet paper to 3 in the basket. what did you do with the rest of the toilet paper?

    Reply
    • Erin Meyer says

      September 8, 2016 at 8:14 AM

      You have a good eye 🙂 Here’s the deal: As you can see in the images of my cabinets, there is a piece of wood that separates the two sides. This only gives me a 9 inch opening. I actually bought about half-a-dozen different containers (which were bigger and would have held more rolls), but none fit through the opening. I finally went with the trash can, but you’re right, it only holds the 3 rolls. I store the rest of the TP behind it… although I may remove the trash can next to the toilet for easy access to extra rolls if one happens to run out at an inconvenient time 🙂

      Reply
      • Michelle says

        November 4, 2016 at 6:14 AM

        Hi Erin
        I live in South Africa. I have been to the USA once to LA. I couldn’t get over the top quality and thick toilet paper and kitchen paper rolls. The quality of ours is absolutely awful in comparison. They are very expensive and even the best brands are poor in comparison to yours. I was wondering if we could import your products or maybe one of the larger chain stores could export to SA. Thanks
        Michelle

        Reply
  3. Tricia says

    August 12, 2016 at 7:28 PM

    Wonderful idea thanks for sharing will give it a go for sure.

    Reply
    • Erin Meyer says

      August 12, 2016 at 7:45 PM

      It is so amazing what some spray paint can accomplish!

      Reply
      • Tricia MacDonald says

        August 12, 2016 at 8:07 PM

        True
        Do you have more idea’s for different label’s?

        Reply
        • Erin Meyer says

          August 13, 2016 at 8:14 AM

          I have used a paper grocery bag and covered it in tape to label items in my cleaning closet. You can see that here: https://www.lemonslavenderandlaundry.com/100-room-challenge-cleaning-closet-reveal/

          In both my laundry room and coat closet, I used little round wood labels with chalkboard paint. I actually found them in the Target Hot Spot section ($1 for 6), but you could easily make them too. Here’s a link so you can see what I’m talking about (just scroll until you see baskets with labels 🙂 ): https://www.lemonslavenderandlaundry.com/100-one-room-challenge-the-laundry-room-reveal/

          I have also created my own labels using sticker labels, like you see here: https://www.lemonslavenderandlaundry.com/cleaning-caddy-printables/

          … and here: https://www.lemonslavenderandlaundry.com/homemade-bath-salts/

          And, if you search Pinterest, you can find some as well. You can always print them onto paper/cardstock and cut them out, which I did here, (but the edges aren’t as clean): https://www.lemonslavenderandlaundry.com/organizing-toys/

          Hope those ideas help. Enjoy your weekend!

          Reply
          • Tricia MacDonald says

            August 13, 2016 at 6:03 PM

            Thanks so much for taking the time to respond. All very helpful.

  4. Justine Y @ Little Dove says

    July 19, 2016 at 6:46 PM

    Great idea! I love the power of spray paint!! 🙂

    Reply
    • Erin Meyer says

      July 20, 2016 at 10:40 AM

      Me too! It’s the best!

      Reply
  5. Jesenia says

    July 18, 2016 at 9:05 PM

    What a fun tutorial! I love the labels, and can’t wait to try this technique in the future. Thanks for sharing! #client

    Reply
    • Erin Meyer says

      July 19, 2016 at 11:19 AM

      Absolutely… Amazing what you can do with your recycled items 🙂

      Reply
  6. Wilma says

    July 18, 2016 at 3:45 PM

    I’ve always wondered how spray painted plastic stands up to continued use. How has this (or other spray painted plastic containers) held up in your home?

    Reply
    • Erin Meyer says

      July 18, 2016 at 3:56 PM

      This is a great question, and many ask about it. When I used plastic bins in my pantry, they were really glossy plastic (almost slippery). I noticed the spray paint starting to chip right away, so I covered it in a layer of Mod Podge in order to seal the paint. It has worked really well, and I haven’t noticed any further chipping. In my coat closet, I also sprayed plastic bins, but these had a very fine texture to the plastic, and the spray paint has held up incredibly well (no Mod Podge needed). For this post, I chose to try lightly sanding those glossier bins. The paint has adhered really nicely and I don’t expect any chipping. One thing I did differently with these bins and those in my closet (vs. the pantry) was I used a spray paint that actually stated it adhered to plastic. The paint I used in the pantry didn’t say this, and that may have been the reason for the chipping. Here are the posts I’m referencing in case it would be helpful:

      Pantry Storage Bins: https://www.lemonslavenderandlaundry.com/100-room-challenge-mudroompantry-food-storage/

      Coat Closet Bins: https://www.lemonslavenderandlaundry.com/100-room-challenge-creating-storage-solutions/

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. 17 Dollar Store Organizing Ideas You Need To Try · One Good Thing by Jillee says:
    October 2, 2019 at 11:39 PM

    […] Idea Details:  Lemons Lavender and Laundry […]

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  2. 17 Dollar Store Organizing Ideas You Need To Try · Jillee says:
    December 30, 2018 at 12:49 AM

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Hi there! I'm Erin. Welcome to Lemons, Lavender, & Laundry, where we believe you can create a home you love... on a budget. [Read More...]

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