I did drawers under the main sink, not pullouts. Had pullouts in previous kitchen. Drawers hold much, much more…are easier to organize and keep clean, and eliminate bending.

Drop down tray holds spare unused scrubby sponges, still in their wrappers.

Upper large drawer contains boxes of assorted plastic bags, plastic wrap, tin foil, wax paper, and parchment paper. The lower drawer has all of my cleaning supplies, dishwasher tabs, plus spare paper towels,

The sink has a center rear drain. You can see the cutout and surround the GC made to accommodate the pipe, in the upper drawer…and somewhat see it behind the Clorox wipes and BonAmi container, in the bottom drawer. Keep in mind, I do not have a disposal in the sink.

I do have a smaller sink, which is not generally used for prep. It’s across the galley, in the baking center. Under that sink, is a single pail garbage pullout. I don’t have a pic of it opened, but you’ll see the location in this photo. The pullout on the left stores the Kitchen Aid mixer on a pull-up mechanism.

Hi. This isn't my undersink storage solution but I sure do wish it was.

Under the Sink Roll-out Storage · More Info

@darbuka your beautiful kitchen never ceases to amaze me! (I knew about the beautiful counters, backsplash, and cabinets... but not the under-sink drawers.)

@John Liu: I can't remember if this is a new build for you or a kitchen remodel. But if you are also planning / changing any bathrooms, I like darbuka's drawer style for bathroom vanities, too. I saved similar pictures from a friend's guest house, because when I someday update my master bath I'm going to insist on drawer storage under the sink. In case it helps to explain to your cabinet maker, here's a close up of the top vanity drawer at my friend's (what you see below the cut out is a towel in the lower drawer.)

Do you want trash under here or just cleaning supplies? Show us the cabinet and we can help you brainstorm.

I have a 36" farm house sink and I have a rear drain on the left side so that the pipes don't bisect the sink.

On the side without pipes I have a pull out garbage bin. I live in a high rise with a small kitchen and so this is better than before when I had a can blocking a lower cabinet.

On the side without pipes I have a garbage disposal and my cabinet maker installed a low pullout that rolls out and so items can be arranged around the disposal to maximize storage of these things.

This is the larger, washup sink. The sink cabinet is 18” wide exterior, 16.5” wide interior. I want to fit all the kitchen cleanup stuff under there.

The door/face for the cabinet is leaning on the dishwasher. Originally it was a cabinet door intended to be hinged, but I decided to use it as a drawer face.

I ordered a RTA drawer which you see installed here, but realized 1) there is no good way to connect the face to the drawer that won’t have it quickly loosen and tear off, 2) there is unused volume above the first layer of stuff. So I have removed that drawer and will build something more suitable.

The prep sink cabinet looks the same but is only 12” wide exterior, 10.5” wide interior. I won’t keep cleaning supplies there, but maybe a bin for compost, maybe cooking/prep stuff.

Yes, this is a W-I-P kitchen. After the holidays I need to figure out what sort of drainboard I want on the dishwasher and what sort of pulls for the drawers.

John it seems like you could build on what you have by adding a sturdy piece or bracket to the front of your drawer; then create either a double shelf option where you access items from the sides:

Or your bottom drawer alone pulls out from the front, and another internal drawer or shelf pulls out separately:

Both of the above are from Rev-a-Shelf if you're looking for something already built.

I have the double drawer / internal drawer on two of the drawers in my kitchen. (Not Rev-a-Shelf; these were built by my cabinet maker.) Not everyone likes using two motions to get to the things in the top part, but I really like mine.

Thanks!

I wish I could have a solution as nice as darbuka’s. Since I only have the one drawer face, either the drawer-within-a-drawer or the two level drawer seem most feasible. I am going to measure the height of things to be stored there, to see how well this might work.

I have regretted not placing the drain and disposal at the rear of the sink, then remembered that decision was to leave enough clearance to work on the P trap and supply hoses. Because plumbing always needs work, eventually. In fact, I have a seeping leak from the inline valve on the hose to the dishwasher that needs to be attended to. I’ve been “monitoring it” (read: procrastinating), since the puddle just sits in the steel drain pan at the bottom of the sink cabinet.

Oh, the refuse - trash and recycling -pullouts will be built into the island, whenever that gets done.

Refuse is getting complicated. There is 1) landfill trash, 2) compostable food waste, 3) deposit-refund cans & glass bottles, 4) non-refundable glass bottles aka glass recycling, and 5) all other recycling (plastic, cans, paper products). 4) has to be separated from 5). 3) can be dumped with 4) and 5), but a bag of thirty-ish refundable containers will get you about $6 which you can take yourself or donate to charity, so it is worth separating 3). You could separate 2) into 2a) stuff we want to compost in our own bun and 2b) stuff we want to send to city compost, but our own compost operation is proving more trouble than it’s worth, so it’s all 2).

In a perfect world my island would have pullouts with color coded and labeled plastic bins for 1) through 5), and Kendrah’s wonderful husband would empty them daily. In the present I have cans scattered all over the kitchen plus some crates and plastic bags spilling out on the back patio . . . it is all very trashy-not-classy looking. We’ll see where on that continum I can get, when we turn to the island project.

I use this kind of thing under my sink. Just a spin brings whatever I need to the front. One of mine has a center space where I keep a bottle sponge.

When we bought our current house, we went from a kitchen we designed (all drawers, of course), to a 1995 kitchen. Even before we moved in I added pullouts (including a trash/recycle) to the base cabinets. They are Rev-A-Shelf; I've seen them at Lowes.

We used these for 2 years, until we did a proper remodel, and the doors remained solid. I did move the knobs to the center of each drawer. The two pullouts are attached to a single frame, which is mounted to the floor of the cabinet, so installation was pretty simple. There are a couple of positions for the top pullout.

Inspired by you all, I shook off the post-Christmas topor and built this from some leftover 1/2” Baltic Birch plywood. It was a quick build - took a few hours - and can be either a prototype or the finished product, depending on how well it works.

I know, it’s not elegant - I can make things square, strong, speedy, but sophisticated is beyond my skills. It should look nicer when the drawer face is attached. There is a trick to cover up the plywood layers on the edges (you dilute wood filler then rub it on) which I may use.

The heights were set so that everything that was originally stored undersink fits in the lower drawer.

Correction: almost everything, some tall spray bottles (for homebrew cleaning solutions) will have to be replaced by shorter ones, and a Costco-sized jug of detergent (that is used to refill the smaller containers we actually use) will be banished to the basement.

The upper drawer only holds small things because of the “C” necessary to clear the disposal. Sponges, scrapers, bottle cleaners, cans of Barkeepers Friend, etc will fit. It might turn into a clutter magnet. I wish it were more useful, but the space just isn’t there.

Today I’ll make something for the prep sink cabinet. The space there is very limited. The interior width of the cabinet is only 10.5“, subtract 1” for two side-mount slides, 1” for two 1/2” plywood drawer sides, and there will be only 8.5” interior width for the drawer. I could get some 1/4” plywood and use bottom-mount sides, to get 10.0” interior drawer width, but that would be too much like work.

I’m thinking of having a small food waste bin on top, hanging inside the face, like this https://www.amazon.com/LALASTAR-Plastic-Countertop-Mountable-Bathroom/dp/B0B3MPWGNP

and leave the bottom free to hold random small appliances that come in handy during prep, or workbowls, or whatever (small) stuff sneaks its way in there.

P.S. you can see the steel drain pan. I had those made for the sinks and dishwasher, and will have one made for the refrigerator. Couple hundred bucks to your local sheet metal shop is cheap considering the potential damage from a leak. One of these days I’ll fit drain hoses leading to the basement sink.

Nicely done!

John!!! So you posted the question yesterday, and built that by today? !!!

And here I was feeling good about finishing Sudoku and the crossword before breakfast.

PS - looks great! Love how you combined a few of the ideas above.

Sudoku + crossword is more work than I put into the drawer build!

I use 2 Rubbermaid bins under my kitchen sink to hold all my cleaning supplies. Actually tonight I washed the bins and threw away any stuff I no longer use.

Speaking of leak protection: our laundry room is just off the kitchen, and when we replaced laminate flooring with solid hardwood this summer I got a pan to go under the washer, and automatic shutoff valves connected to a water sensor in the pan.

I mentioned it to the plumber, and learned that they have a whole house system, that turn off the main water in the house if any sensor detects water - under the DW, fridge, washer, water heater, sinks. I haven't done it yet (I think the price she threw out was about $800), but I plan to.

I’ve heard of such systems before. Please post if/when you do it. I’m interested.

I know two people who have been flooded out by a plumbing leak. Lost many precious things, lived in motels for months, houses had to be gutted and rebuilt. In both cases they were away on trips. Very worrisome.

@AnnKH, We have the whole house system you speak of. It was installed almost 9 years ago, when we renovated the entire house. There are water sensors at every water source…sink, dishwasher and fridge in the kitchen; washing machine in laundry room; all sinks and toilets in the four bathrooms, and even the water heater in the basement. All are connected to an alarm, and automatic shutoff valve at the source into the house.

The system saved us twice…once with a leaky dishwasher hose, and another time when the washing machine leaked.

I believe the system is by Lutron.

I see there is a Moen "smart" water shutoff, installed inline to the main supply pipe in your house, that "learns" your normal water usage patterns and then turns off the water if it detects something that seem like a leak. I am not sure how reliably it distinguishes between intended and unintended water flow. It can apparently be paired with remote leak sensors. There is an app so you get alerts, can turn water on/off remotes, measure water usage, etc. Main appeal is the price, $500.

John, when our daughter visits, our water usage goes way up! she has hair to her waist, and it takes forever to wash it in the shower. And a system you describe would not notice a small leak.

Amazingly ambitious and talented John, looks like the project is moving along beautifully!

And thanks for the info on the Moen Smart shut off, I'm looking into that!

@AnnKH, I am also wondering.

After looking at the Moen website, it seems mostly designed to alert you that water is running - like, if you're out running errands or away on a trip - and let you remotely shut off water from the app. The website does claim "automatic shutoff" but that isn't played up in the marketing. Meet Flo Smart Water Shut Off | Smart Water Monitor | Moen $500.

Still, combining it with the remote leak detectors might give automatic shutoff? Leak Detector | Smart Home | MOEN Three for $150. I guess I'd need up to ten. two kitchen sinks, dishwasher, fridge, a couple per bathroom, espresso machine. Stuff in the basement I don't so much care about, there is a floor drain, but sure a couple for the laundry washer and sink.

It is interesting. For $1000 plus plumber, possibly some pretty good water leak disaster protection.

I can't find the Lutron system, which is why I'm looking at others.

Finished cleaning up after the NYE party and got this done, except for the wipe-on finish that I’ll get around to. Oh, and the pulls, but the whole kitchen still needs pulls.

No clue what this space is for. Maybe I’ll store potatoes there.