How Martha Stewart Maximizes Under-Sink Storage With A Clever Sliding Solution

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After battling the tangle of pipes, disposals, sink basins, tubes, switches, and who knows what else, the chaos of kitchen sink plumbing sure makes implementing practical cabinet storage solutions complicated. What works for one person may not for another, so it's often tough to know how to really maximize this deep cabinet to the fullest. But if we could trust one person to have a simple and practical universal fix, it would be interiors expert and lifestyle guru Martha Stewart, who shared (via YouTube) a straightforward and effective sink base cabinet storage addition: a shallow wood pull-out tray at the bottom.

Because Stewart's tray spans the entire cabinet cavity from side to side and front to back, it essentially creates a movable floor with optimal storage efficiency. "A nice pull-out tray makes it easy to get cleaning products. They'll be right at your fingertips," she explained. That means no more crawling into the cabinet to retrieve cleaning products that fell behind the drain pipe way in the back. Stewart's tray is on full-extension cabinet glides. The tray can be pulled all the way out (not just partially) for freer and more universal access. Since the shallow tray is only a few inches high, it should easily fit underneath most drain pipe P-traps without issue, allowing the tray to span as much floor space as possible.

Martha Stewart's under-the-sink pull-out interior cabinet organizer upgrade is simultaneously wonderfully simple and exceptionally functional. Many sink base cabinets come in a range of standard sizes, so unless your cabinet boxes are custom, finding a pull-out to fit the opening could be pretty straightforward. Measure the interior opening width at the narrowest point (the inner cabinet frame opening for framed cabinets) and depth to ensure you're purchasing the right size for a full-width setup.

The easiest way to incorporate your own pull-out tray is to buy and install a pre-made kit such as the WelFurGeer Soft-Close Pull-Out Drawer, which comes with all parts required. For those handy types, you can also build your own shallow roll-out tray to organize your deep cabinet better. Construct a simple tray to fit your cabinet's dimensions (shaping it to fit around any pipes coming up through the base), and install it on heavy-duty, full-extension under-mount or side-mount glides that are appropriate for the weight and size of the pull-out. Though it requires some basic woodworking skills, this DIY method would be particularly helpful for anyone trying to maximize the storage shelf dimensions to fit a custom-sized sink base.

For renters who can't make permanent modifications or homeowners who don't want to drill into their cabinet, there are lighter-duty adhesive pull-out trays like the Kitstorack Cabinet Organizer that are fully removable. Because the adhesive isn't as strong as permanently installed alternatives, these temporary trays may be weaker and smaller (meaning they may not be full-depth and it could take multiple to fill the sink base width), but they could make a decent backup option in a pinch.