DIY Under-the-Sink Hair Tool Storage

Happy Friday! We are so excited today to introduce you to one of our new contributors, Corey from Sawdust 2 Stitches. After she shared her DIY industrial style shelving, we knew that we just couldn’t live without her, so we asked her to be part of the team! Give her a warm welcome back:

Hey Everyone,  it’s Corey from over at  Sawdust 2 Stitches,  I  have a horrible habit of  never leaving “well enough” alone.

For example: You can easily use  hangers and totes to  create a nice,  organized closet…  BUT  wouldn’t it be AWESOME  if it  had  built in cubbies, custom shoe racks,  mood lighting and secret compartments ?!  My answer is an enthusiastic YES!   That essentially  sums  up my DIY style.

One of my latest of my renovations was the downstairs bathroom.

Allow me preface by saying,  I love my master bathroom, it has a nice big garden tub, two sinks and plenty of cabinet storage. Unfortunately, I think I have  “gotten ready” in the master bathr0om about  3.5 times.  My “me” time starts directly after I pour the kids cereal and ends about six minutes later.  Undoubtedly,  within those six minutes,  there are at least three major catastrophes, rendering the idea of going ALL THE WAY upstairs nearly impossible. So, I stand in the powder room, with mirrors adjusted so that I can keep eyes and ears on the kiddos. For an “organizational enthusiast” (aka OCD nut), this small space drove me crazy.

So,  I present my solution to this completely made up problem.  Enjoy!

Under-the-Sink Hair Tool Storage Tutorial

Tools Suggested:

• Nail gun/Air compressor
• Table Saw or Circular Saw
• Mitre Saw
• Level
• Drill
• Boring/Forstner Bit 35mm (Varies depending on Hinge,  typically  35 mm)
• Screwdriver
• Pliers
• Tape measure

 Materials Needed:

• Concealed Cabinet door hinges  (Sizes and styles will vary depending on cabinet)   Mine are 1/4″ overlay 35 mm
• 1×2″ wood strips
• 1/2″ MDF Paneling
• Primer
• Paint
• Aluminum or Galvanized Pipe

DISCLAIMER:  Please note,  that this is not an idiot proof project. In all actuality even bright minds might screw this up. Please be aware,  all of  the measurements and dimensions  will  vary  depending on the cabinet.  The purpose of this tutorial is to give a step-by-step of what I did,  in hopes that others can adapt it to their own needs.  That being said, lets dive in,  shall we !?

Reinstall the Door

I began by removing the false front door.  Many are installed with a snap-in front., I  simply pried the cabinet face off.  Be aware, they make a loud noise, and it scared the crap out of me!

Once the cabinet door front  was off, I  removed the installation hardware.

Then I removed the hardware on the cabinet face as well.

I’m not going to lie,  I had never installed a  concealed hinge before, and was a little terrified. I am proud to report  that my  mini-anxiety attack was completely unwarranted.  They were simple to install , and  the hinges come with clear instructions;  in the event  you feel a little lost.

I began  by determining where  I  wanted  my  hinges placed;  I settled on  7.5″ inset on either side.   As always measure twice,  cut  /drill once.

     Once I had measured, measured again,  and then marked, it was time to break out the drill.   NOW,  these aren’t  your typical hinges, and  require a specific bit to install.  I needed to use a Fostner/Boring bit.    This  bit will  hollow out a circle for the  hinge to sit it in.  (  I wold suggest securing the hinges to the cabinet panel last, so that it won’t be in the way when installing the shelf.)

    Installing the opposing  side of the hinge  is a little trickier. The opening  of  my  drawer  is quite  small,  which made it nearly  impossible to  pre-drill  where the screws would go.  Seeing as I couldn’t access the top,  I drilled from underneath.  (  I felt so smart when I had that epiphany.  Believe me,  I looked like an idiot trying to drill  from the top at funky angles. )

After  pre-drilling the hole,  I could then install the hinge. Yet, again, I ran into the problem of not having a good angle to drill in the screw.  So, I  opened up our socket wrench set, and used  an adapter, a thing-a-ma-jig, and a do-hicky, and some how came up with a “tool” that would assist me in putting in the screw. I am pretty much a modern day MacGyver.

CONGRATS,  you have now turned your false drawer front into a fully functioning door! Take a breather, grab a diet Coke, and  find something else to distract the kids,  because now it’s time for part two!

 Build and Install the Shelf

In the event you have a  large wooden divided  that sits between your cabinet doors,  I might suggest doing this,   it will make your life a whole lot easier!

Using 1″x2″  I  constructed a basic frame  that would accommodate the  plumbing . Obviously, these measurements will vary depending on cabinet, plumbing etc.  Most  important thing when building the frame is to make sure that it is a perfect fit!

Once the frame is constructed, a  paneling will need to be added.  I used the frame as a template  to get the dimensions needed.

Using a saw of your choice cut out the paneling.  (Truth be told mine is cut out in two sections,  just  because I was feeling lazy. )

THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT, double check that  you can fit this frame into your cabinet!  Mine took a lot of tweeking, twisting, reconfiguring, and possibly some lard and  butter.  ( I am saying that this can be tricky getting it in!) In the event you can’t ,  you may need to install the frame piece-by-piece. If you are able to fit your frame in,  consider  yourself lucky, and  secure  the paneling to the top of  the frame.

At this point, I painted the “U” shaped shelf ( Not pictured)

I painted them in the same paint that  I used to paint the exterior of the cabinets. ( You can see my tutorial for refinishing cabinets here.)

While the shelf was drying,  I began installation preparations.   Using a level  and tape measure I marked  where the shelf would go. ( It is so much easier  to mark in advance, than trying to hold the shelf,  shoot it  in place,  and hope it that it is level!)   I made it so my  shelf sat level with the opening.

At this point I would recruit an extra set of hands.  I needed help holding the shelf , while I  nailed it in place.

Theoretically   it should  be looking a little like this…

At this point I would like you to recall that “disclaimer” I mentioned earlier.  Remember this is a cut-to-fit project, blah-blah-blah?

Ok, good, I want that  fresh in your mind when I go into this next part.

Hot Hair Tools Holder

I wanted to  have space for my  hair appliances.  I know that  PVC seems to be a “go to” for hair storage in the DIY  world.  Which works great if you are storing cooled appliances.  I wanted to be able to store my appliances as soon as I unplugged them. ( Remember I am in the main downstairs bath, and there are too many little fingers that  like to grab EVERYTHING!)  PVC melts at approximately 290 degrees F.  My wands  are about 410…. HMMM…  So  I used a different option.  I went with a  galvanized metal,  which can tolerate MUCH higher temperatures.

Below you will see the space I was working with, the space was quite small and the sink bowl sat very low, which required a lot of edits as I went.  To spare you  all the “lessons learned” detours,  I made another mock-up  to demonstrate  the basic idea I used when making mine.

Determine the size and quantity of the appliances you will be storing. For demonstration purposes I am just installing one, but as you can see  you can adapt this to fit more.

Next I  drilled out the hole that would accommodate the pipe.  I would suggest a “Hole Saw Drill Bit”, in the event you don’t have one,   you can use a router, or a jigsaw (take luck).

I needed something to act as a stopper  for the back of my pipe, I decided on  using a piece of 1×3″.

The 1″x3″ act as a stopper, and prevented the pipe from falling in.  However,  I wanted to make sure this sucker wasn’t going anywhere!  (  I kept having these horrible scenarios run through my head that ultimately  lead to my house burning down. ) So,  I took some extra precautions and added 1.5″  pieces of 1″x3″  to act as a stabilizer.  NOW that pipe isn’t going anywhere.

At this point you will need to determine where the “Brake” is going to attach to your bottom support board.  The support board is meant to be  long enough so that it will butt up against the back wall. (Another form of stabilizing).  So there will  probably  be  some dead space  behind where the “brake” sits.  I determined where mine would sit by measuring the length of the curling wands.

Once  you have your measurements you can tack everything together.  Starting with the “brake”.

Then you can attach the front plate.

As long as you have taken  into consideration all of your  measurements,  you should be able to slide this little beauty directly on top of the new shelf!  Ta da!  Look at how pretty!

The last thing it needed was some form of cord storage. I used 6 basic hooks and installed them directly to the  back of the door.  Easy  peasy.

There you have it,  my solution!  I no longer need to run up and down the stairs in between  styling my hair, and serving seconds, then again after curling my lashes and consoling my kids, and  so on and so forth, etc. etc.

And do you know what? It was TOTALLY worth it. Take luck!

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Love this? Need more creative bathroom storage ideas? Try these:

Cabinet Door Storage Bin Building Plans

Built-In Bathroom Storage

Bathroom Organization Ideas + Tutorials