The first time I moved into a vintage apartment building was on the north side of Chicago when I was 23. It was a tiny little place with an exposed brick wall, exposed pipes, and a stunning wood floor. Sure, it was a third floor walk-up and only had about 400 square feet to offer, and… its only windows faced a brick wall, but it was mine and I was in love. Coming from the west coast where the oldest building is from the 1950s – I treated my turn-of-the-century studio like a treasured artifact.
Until I lived there for a few weeks and lamented every time I took bathroom counters for granted.
We had a medicine cabinet, a toilet that was not “ toiletable“– you will read why in a second and a sink in our bathroom. Maybe there was a shelf… But that was not even close to the amount of surface area I wanted, and thus, I found myself in the same position as a lot of young women in confined spaces: on the floor in front of a mirror, sitting cross-legged, flat-ironing my hair.
Had this Smart Sink Tray been invented by Style Pro 31 owner (and ex-NFL player) Bernard Pollard Jr. when I had that vintage apartment with the perfect art deco pedestal sink, my beauty life might’ve been different. I definitely wouldn’t have waited until age 27 to figure out how the hell to do my own brows.
This Batarang-meets-high-chair-accessory is actually a very clever tray that fits over – guessed it – your sink! It adds approximately 244 square inches of completely usable space to your bathroom! Then it folds up so you can store it away, but many like to keep theirs on their sink as counter space since water can flow through the perforated center of the tray. Wetting brushes or washing hands is quick, and you don’t have to remove anything from the actual sink.
Do you realize that this turns those awesome-but-limited pedestal sinks into full-on skincare centers, showgirl vanities, salon stations, etc.? Setting my flatiron down on an surface that is actually convenient for me would have changed my hairstyling game, if this had been an option in 2008!
The Smart Sink Tray is 20″ deep and 24″ wide, fitting most sinks – pedestal or otherwise. I’m pretty sure I would end up taking mine off of the sink after I was done using it, daily. Those small drawer organizers are usually short and narrow enough to fit in a bathroom, and they can hold pretty much everything that I need. These are also awesome for travel!