How to Organize a Bathroom Cabinet: Measure and Fit

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Links marked “Affiliate link” may earn us a commission at no extra cost to you. Learn more.

Empty the cabinet, sort what you own, measure the free space around the pipes, and only then buy organizers. The mistake most people make is the reverse: they buy a bin that looks right and find it does not clear the drain. Three things decide fit: free width on each side of the pipe, free depth to the back wall and free height under the sink bowl. Measure the inside of the cabinet, not the outside, and compare the organizer’s assembled size in the same order: width, depth, height.

Quick compare: the products in this guide

Sizes come from the Amazon listings as we read them; check the product page for the current details before you buy.

In the worked example below, the same cabinet takes two of the three organizers we read on Amazon on 2026-10-01 and rules out the third on width. We have not tested any of them. Every figure comes from the listings.

Step 1: Empty it and sort into four groups

Take everything out and wipe the cabinet. Sort into four piles:

1. Daily: things you use every morning. They go at the front or on the top tier.
2. Weekly or occasional: extra toiletries, hair tools, cleaning products.
3. Backup stock: spare soap, toilet paper, razors. They can go at the back or on a low shelf.
4. Throw out: empty bottles, expired products, things you do not use.

Medicines need their own decision. The Up & Away campaign says to pick a place your children cannot reach or see, and to keep medicines, vitamins and supplements up and away even between doses; it says about 35,000 young children are brought to the emergency room each year after getting into medicines left within reach. An under-sink drawer is low, so if children live in or visit the home, store medicines somewhere higher. Follow the storage instructions on each label.

Step 2: Measure the cabinet

Measure the inside, not the outside. You need five numbers:

1. Interior width at the front opening, door to door.
2. Interior depth from the door frame to the back wall.
3. Height from the floor of the cabinet to the underside of the sink bowl.
4. Pipe zone: how wide the drain and the trap are, and where they run.
5. Door swing: whether the doors open 90 degrees or are limited by the frame.

Write down the clear width on each side of the pipe. That is the number that limits a single stack.

Step 3: Read the organizer’s size honestly

Listings give assembled size and, sometimes, the minimum cabinet it needs. Compare in the same order: width, depth, height. Read these three carefully.

Watch for mixed labels. The REALINN bullet says 14.2 in W x 10.6 in D x 11 in H, but its table reads “14.2 D x 10.6 W,” so the two are swapped. We use the bullet because it matches the minimum cabinet it names, which is wider than deep. The Vtopmart listing writes its size as “11.8 L x 7.5 W x 10 H,” so length is the depth. The Delamu listing gives two sizes, small (8.27 x 13.19 x 9.06 in) and large (8.27 x 13.19 x 10.63 in), and a table “capacity” of 500 ml that does not describe a drawer; we ignore it. Its maximum weight of 30.06 kg is about 66 pounds.

A worked example: a 24 inch vanity with a drain pipe

Say your cabinet interior is 24 inches wide, 18 inches deep and 21 inches high under the bowl, and the drain and trap take a 6 inch wide column through the middle at the back. These are our planning numbers; measure yours.

• Clear width each side of the pipe: (24 − 6) ÷ 2 = 9 inches.
• Vtopmart (7.5 wide, 11.8 deep, 10 high). 7.5 fits in 9 inches with 1.5 to spare, and 11.8 fits in 18 inches. Two units stacked are 20 inches high, which fits in 21 with 1 inch to spare. Two stacked units give four tiers on one side, if no pipe branch gets in the way.
• Delamu (8.27 wide, 13.19 deep, 10.63 high). 8.27 fits in 9 inches. Two stacked are 2 × 10.63 = 21.26 inches, which is 0.26 inches too tall for a 21 inch cabinet. The listing says you can stack three; in this cabinet you can stack one.
• REALINN (14.2 wide, 10.6 deep, 11 high). 14.2 does not fit in a 9 inch side. The L-shaped design is meant to put a narrow top basket on one side of the pipe and a wide lower basket underneath. The listing says it needs an interior of at least 11 x 15 x 16 inches, and our 24 x 18 x 21 cabinet meets that.

Load check: a 15 pound top-drawer limit, as on the Vtopmart, is the number to respect. A bottle of liquid cleaner may weigh 2 to 4 pounds, so five such bottles in a drawer could reach the limit.

Step 4: Place things by how often you reach for them

• Eye level and front: daily items.
• Top tier of a pull-out: small items, jars and brushes.
• Bottom tier or floor: heavy bottles and backup stock.
• Inside the door: hooks or a narrow rack, if the door has clear space. Do not hang anything that stops the door from closing.
• Away from the pipe: nothing that leaks should sit under a joint.

Step 5: Keep it that way

Group like with like, label bins if you share the cabinet, and reset it once a month. A wire mesh basket like the REALINN’s lets water drain through instead of pooling, which the listing lists as a feature. A clear PET drawer, like the Vtopmart’s and Delamu’s, lets you see the contents but can scratch and does not carry as much weight.

Materials and damp: what the listings say

A cabinet under a sink is damp from time to time, so material matters. The REALINN listing describes an all-metal frame with a baked-on coating that resists moisture and cleaning spray, and an open wire mesh that lets water and debris fall through. The Vtopmart and Delamu listings describe PET drawers on tubes: stainless steel on the Vtopmart, aluminum alloy on the Delamu, both described as rust-proof. A leak is the real test, so keep nothing precious on the cabinet floor, and check after any plumbing repair. Non-slip silicone pads, which the REALINN and Delamu list, keep the unit from sliding when you pull a drawer, but they do not stop it moving if the floor is wet.

A quick checklist before you buy

1. Interior width, depth and height written down, plus the clear width on each side of the pipe.
2. The organizer’s assembled size in the same order, with any swapped labels resolved.
3. The stated load, and a rough weight of what will go in each drawer.
4. Whether it needs tools; the REALINN and Vtopmart listings say none, and the Delamu says to connect the base to the drawers with 4 rods.
5. A place for medicines that is not the bottom tier.

Mistakes to avoid

• Buying before measuring. The 0.26 inch miss above shows how little room there is.
• Ignoring the pipe zone. A single wide organizer may not fit around a trap and a disposal.
• Overloading a plastic drawer. Keep to the stated limit.
• Storing medicines low. See the Up & Away advice above.

For bigger bathroom storage that does not use the under-sink space, see over-the-toilet storage cabinets and bathroom bookshelves.

Frequently asked questions

What is the first step to organize a bathroom cabinet?

Empty it, sort into daily, occasional, backup and throw-out piles, and measure the interior before buying anything.

Where should I store medicines?

Up and away from children, out of sight, according to the Up & Away campaign. An under-sink drawer is within a child’s reach.

How do I fit an organizer around the pipes?

Measure the clear width on each side of the drain. In our example it is 9 inches, so a 7.5 or 8.27 inch wide unit fits and a 14.2 inch one needs its L-shaped design.

How much can an under-sink organizer hold?

The listings state 50 pounds total for the metal REALINN, 15 pounds on the top drawer for the Vtopmart, and 30.06 kilograms (about 66 pounds) for the Delamu.

Do clear plastic organizers hold up in a damp cabinet?

The Vtopmart listing says its stainless steel tubes will not rust under a sink. We have no test data for the PET drawers.

Products worth checking

We have not tested these products. Sizes and features come from the Amazon listings as we read them; where a listing does not say, we say so.

Sources checked

• Put your Medicines Up and Away and Out of Sight of Children

Specifications come from the Amazon listings as we read them for this guide. Product details and availability can change, so confirm on the product page before you buy.

How we research our guides