Yours is a nice set up. I spotted a vintage wooden tool caddy at a local store and knew it was just what I needed:

From the living room:

That was over 5 years ago, and I still love seeing it every day.

We have a built-in soap dispenser in the counter -- it is for dish soap but we use it to wash our hands, too. And I have a suction-cup thing to hold the sponge on the side of the sink (inside the sink). So, the only "thing" on the counter by the sink is a pump bottle of hand lotion, which isn't in anything fancy -- just the container it came in.

I only keep a bottle out for dish soap and one for hand soap. Dish soap is ORB, hand soap is clean with ORB top. Sponge is in cabinet under sink - in a small holder inside a large pull out (on rollers) container.

Sue - I used to have one of those built in soap dispensers. They are nice.

Allison, I'm smitten with your house! Love the paper towel dispenser too.

My last home had a built in soap dispenser. Now I have a soap dispenser that gets wet on bottom so I have to keep a coaster under it. As for sponges I use one that suctions to inside of sink

We have a clear bottle with ORB top that holds the dish detergent, and a smaller bottle of SoftSoap foaming hand soap next to it. We use one of those dish scrubbers with a detergent-filled handle, and it's kept next to the sink in the Emma Bridgewater piece that I received at Christmas ...

The sponge rests on the sink divider and is thrown away and replaced often. I can't stand the thought of a not-so-fresh sponge! I saw these at Marshall's the other day and even though it's a salt crock, I was tempted to buy it for the sponge, but wasn't sure how well it would allow the sponge to air out between uses, and I really don't need more clutter around the sink.

I saw that at Home Goods! I don't like clutter either but I don't like putting a wet sponge under the sink and my DH always leaves the big bottle of dish soap on the counter in a puddle of water....but I'm not complaining because he washes dishes.

We have a built in dispenser for soap and have tip out trays installed on the false drawer fronts for sponges.

Oh, yeah, Pork - love those tip out trays. Such a great idea for an otherwise unused area.

All behind the sink or just to the side ... pottery bowl holding steel wool, pottery dish for bar soap (dh prefers bar soap), bottle of Thymes Gingerbread liquid soap, bottle of Mrs. Meyer’s dish soap, pottery bowl with veggie brush, bottle of Thymes Gingerbread hand lotion. I use a dish cloth (don't like sponges); that's draped over the sink divider.

We use dish cloths too but we have a large single sink so the cloth ends up draped over the faucet. Not my ideal but it does remind me to take them to the laundry room.

I know kitchens are working spaces but sometimes it is nice to just have them look clean and tidy -- if only for few hours or even a few minutes.

I keep sponge in dishwasher and it gets cleaned every time I run it. I have built in soap dispenser hooked up with the nevermt hose to a big bottle of dish detergent under my sink. I only have a stainless look no touch hand soap dispenser sitting on back edge of sink.

I read that some sponges can be put in the microwave to kill germs.

it's an old Southern Living Home pot holder.

I really like that idea, Errant! I might have to get one of those myself.

DH installed "false" fronts that open with a tray in my cabinetry and all the things one doesn't want to see are in there hidden away. Soap dispenser is built into the sink.

Side bar to this question - those of you with false front tip out trays, do your sponges dry properly and not smell? We bought a house with the tip out tray and don't use it but we need to do something with the sponges!

I had a house once with that tip out tray and hated it. Felt that the sponges stayed dingy. I just hated putting wet sponges in there.

RGS, my sponge is used on the sink. The little dish thingy it sits in allows it to drain/drip into the rubber bottom piece. Of course I wring it out first. Like Jenn, it is washed often (dishwasher). Jenn - love that pretty piece. I also prefer dish cloths. My laundry room is adjacent to the kitchen and I keep a small hamper in there for dish clothes and dish towels, they go to the hamper daily.

I have a built in soap dispenser and store everything else out of sight under the sink when not in use.

theclose - I feel like my sponges dry in the tip out trays, but I also put them in the dishwasher almost every night. I buy them by the gross at Costco and am willing to throw them out at the first sign of icky-ness. I really like being able to store them out of sight.

I have the same over sink colander that Errant has. Our sink is in the corner with a cabinet over it. I tried to keep most brushes up there, but it seems the men in my family found that too hard to get to, so I leave some in a clear fridge tray at the side of the sink for daily use that can be easily removed for photos or guests.

I have thrown pottery bowl for kitchen sponge/nail brush catch all. I have a thrown piece that fits the liq hand pumps for the powder room.

I just have one hand soap dispenser by the sink. Used to keep the dish soap in a decorative glass container beside but now it lives under the sink. We use a washcloth and that goes over the sink divider. The occasional brillo pad goes under the sink after drying on the counter. Ha, I know...so fancy. I wish I had space behind my sink.

I like the look of things grouped in containers, baskets, etc. I just feel my counters are too broke up and having multiple things out only adds to the visual choppiness for me.

Here's an idea I think looks nice too.

Nell Hills.com

The close, we have never had an issue with smells. In my home if a sponge or rag begins to smell it needs to be thrown in the wash. I wash them all once a week and that seems to be what they need. DH is the main dish washer in my home and he is pretty diligent about keeping things wrung out so we get no water in the tip out tray.

I use the same Ikea basket shown above. I use the tip out tray to hold dishwasher tablets.

I use something similar to this for our sponge...let's it dry out nicely.

ceramic sponge holder

It's funny. We have the built in soap dispenser that we too used for dishes and hands. My master bath has one too. However, my DH used the hall bathroom and realized he really liked the foam hand soaps.

He likes to wash his hand in the kitchen right before dinner, so I have a soap dispenser there. But, I bought a silver cover that goes over it.

I have a stainless steel dish for the sponge.

Here is a link about putting sponges in the microwave to disinfect them. sponge in micro

I have a bottle with dish soap on the counter. We use it to wash our hands too, or go to the nearby bathroom to wash. I leave the scrub sponge on the sink grid in the bottom of the side of the sink that is used least often. I zap it in the microwave every day to kill germs, and change them out fairly frequently.

I use a small vintage pottery planter with an antique pronged flower frog in the bottom to allow drainage/ airflow for the sponges, the soap is in a vintage amber pump top bottle.

Home goods or marshalls find, the one that has worked best for me. Have a buit in soap dispenser so no bottle

Have tip-out tray where we keep a plastic scrubbie for pots and pans and one of those dish scrubbers with soap in the handle. We keep a bottle of hand soap to the side of the sink and a sponge in a ceramic dish on the other side. The sponge gets put in the dishwasher on every cycle, zapped in the microwave about once a day and I change it out often. They are cheap. Can't stand the thought of a germy sponge.

I also wanted to say I like the white tray you have yours on now!

have the 3 bottle holder from WS., i just sit the sponge on top of hand and lotion bottles to dry out, works well. it holds dish soap, hand soap and hand lotion

Dish soap is under the sink unless DH does dishes and forgets to put it away. I keep Stonewall Kitchen hand soap and lotion on the counter in a little caddy they sell. Sponge is in a pottery holder.

I need something to keep air circulating around sponges and steel wool pads that keep rusting. Also my scrub brush.

Have tip out trays and built in dispenser for Dawn. We use Dawn for hands, too. I have a spray bottle of full strength bleach that I use for lots of things, including sponges. When sponges are past pristine, I use them for the floor for quick spot cleaning..

My sponge sits in the OXO aluminum suction sponge holder.

It's suctioned to the side closest to cabinet front so it's mostly hidden. My dish soap sits in the corner of the sink on the grid. I don't like a lot of stuff on my counters.

I've been eyeballing this caddy for the sponge and scrubber, made by Blanco. I love that it's magnetic, but I do not love the price, at around $50 (ridiculous!).

I have a small oval baking dish that holds sponge, Tuffy and nail brush that sits off to the right of my sink on the deck. I don't consider it an accessory, just a sensible way to contain these cleaning aids. I run it through the DW frequently, because no matter how carefully I rinse the sponge, etc. and replace them when they get a little funky, gunk appears at the bottom of the dish.

You guys made me go buy something. :/

Auntjen, Elkay makes something like that as well, and it's at least as expensive. I've been using a homemade version to test the concept. Turns out that no matter how clever you are, it won't make other people put stuff where you want it...

I just recently purchased a Cuisinart crock/utensil holder to hold my dish brush and dish soap. It is a plain cream-colored one, because I didn't really want it to draw the eye. It would hold a scrubber sponge too, but I only use those for certain tasks and after it dries, put in in a container under the sink.

I use a "berry dish" to hold my sponge. I got mine at Kohl's. It comes in different colors and has drainage slots. I put it on top of my sink corner so that water can drain into the sink. On the other side, I have a tray in a similar color from Pier 1. It's very sturdy and has never chipped, so I went back to Pier 1 and bought a second one to rest my salt and pepper grinders on.

Just wondering if there are any updates on this.

Allison, what is that paper towel holder?

Is there a reason why the soap dish need to be next to the sink? would it be ok putting the soap/rack inside the sink. ere is the soap rack I'm considering