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THE KITCHEN ISSUE 5 practical solutions for taming the mess around your kitchen sink

BY JURA KONCIUS not looking shabby. Cavin-Win- frey prefers to keep her Thresh- t’s easy to ignore the clutter old bamboo rack from Target around the kitchen sink as ($19.99) folded and stored until I you’re rinsing kale or scrub- she needs it. Food52’s steel Ya- bing a frying pan. mazaki Home Double Decker But if you stop to take a critical Dish Rack ($78) has two levels of eye to your sink and the counters storage and a small footprint, around it, you might get a bit of a making it especially useful for jolt. These spaces often become small spaces where cabinet and repositories of drippy bottles, counter space are limited. A grungy sponges and assorted spout moves water into the sink. junk. This can be especially true “It’s minimalist and functional,” if your kitchen is small and Themistocles says. lacking counter space or storage. Christopher Peacock, presi- “Simplicity is what you want dent and chief executive of the around your sink,” says Hen- high-end kitchen company that hurst’s Phyllis Trevor Higgerson, bears his name, integrates a New England designer and dish drying into some of his photo stylist. “As a workspace, custom kitchens from the start: you want it to be functional.” In “Sometimes we take a piece of her own small kitchen, she uses a marble or wood next to the sink Simon Pearce dinner plate sink- and cut grooves in it — sort of side to keep her products neat: a like the draining board is inte- wooden dish brush in a bowl, grated into the countertop, and it refillable Italian glass bottles drains directly into the sink.” holding soap and hand lotion Then there’s no need for a dish and a white crock of eucalyptus. rack. Dishwasher tabs are stashed in a Give yourself a green focal stoneware canister from T.J. point. Peacock always tries to Maxx. She will sometimes light a install a kitchen sink below a candle when she’s doing dishes. window, “looking out onto some- “It’s important to elevate the thing green and pretty,” he says. things and places we use every Eric Roth If you don’t have a great view day,” she says. “It doesn’t have to from the kitchen sink, a house- be a stage set, but why not use plant can help. beautiful things?” “I’m not really a houseplant We checked in with some person, but in the kitchen, you design pros to get some tricks on don’t forget to water plants, as how to make our kitchen sink they are right in front of you,” she areas more functional, organized says. Caan likes to put a potted and attractive. topiary (she’s fond of Terrain’s Master your bottles. Dish rosemary topiary, $68) or herbs soap, hand soap, hand lotion: in little vases next to the sink. How many of these bulky plastic Do a frequent clutter check. bottles do you really need at your Make it a habit to sweep every- sink? “If you can possibly limit thing off the area around your the distractions and focus on Shazalynn Cavin-Winfrey sink and wipe it all down, and what you need to do, it will make just keep out the things you use the job go faster,” says designer daily. Arrange bins under your Betsy Barmat Stires of Frog Hill sink to store dishwasher deter- Designs in Alexandria. “Piles of gent, counter sprays and scour- kitchen cleaning supplies are not Phyllis Trevor Higgerson ing pads. If you are lucky

2020 what I like to see.” She often CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: A Liz Caan-designed kitchen with a bit enough to have a windowsill, , ,

5 installs built-in soap pumps into of green; Shazalynn Cavin-Winfrey likes a small dish near her don’t let it become a dumping

her counters, but if that’s not an kitchen sink for rings and watches; Food 52’s Yamazaki Home ground for business cards and option, a popular idea is to Double Decker Dish Rack and Zone Dishwashing Set With Squeeze old coupons, Cavin-Winfrey decant soap into smaller, more Bottle; Phyllis Trevor Higgerson uses a Simon Pearce dinner plate says, and the same goes for piles march

, , attractive containers that pump to corral items near her sink. of mail on center islands. Be or pour. vigilant about weeding out Food52’s sleek Zone Danish based in Newton, Mass., recom- en, she says, and it’s nice if it’s scary-looking old sponges and silicone Zone Dishwashing Set mends glass bottles . Shazalynn ceramic so you can pop it into Rocky Luten/Food52 ratty towels. With Squeeze Bottle is intended Cavin-Winfrey of SCW Interiors your dishwasher. If you want to “When your kitchen sink area

thursday for this purpose: “It looks better in Alexandria has sourced pump go a little fancier, West Elm offers looks nice and tidy, you won’t . than the Dawn bottle and is great bottles of all styles and budgets, several small trays in marble, dread spending time there,” Hig- from the sustainability angle,” from an embossed silver-gray such as the Foundations Tray gerson says. “It makes a chore says Peter Themistocles, glass and metal pump from Tar- ($29-$49) or Marble Vanity Tray almost less of a chore and be- Food52’s cookware, kitchen and get ($12.99) to Pigeon and Poo- ($34). She likes to have a small comes part of a nice routine of pantry buyer. It’s more planet- dle’s Dalton woven rattan pump dish near the sink for rings and caring for your home and caring friendly to buy larger bottles and at Belle and June ($90). watches; a simple dip or sauce for yourself.” refill your smaller ones, he says. Corral the products you use bowl in olivewood, brass or blue- [email protected] (Method’s dish soap refill pouch- the most. Cavin-Winfrey likes to and-white china are nice choices, es are sold at Target; Cleancult’s use a small tray or platter that she says.  At Home newsletter Go to the shippable refills in paper-based can hold dish soap, a sponge and Rethink your dish-drying Home & Garden page to subscribe cartons are recyclable.) a brush. You often already have method. If you keep a dish rack to our email newsletter, delivered Ty Mecham/Food52 the washington post post washington the Liz Caan, an interior designer something like this in your kitch- out all the time, make sure it’s every Thursday.