DIY Cabinet Pull Outs

Since we've moved into this house I've been frustrated with the lower cabinets in our kitchen. There is a lot of space, but it is so hard to get to anything. I knew I wanted to install cabinet pullout drawers for two of the lower cabinets so we could better utilize this space. Let's get started!

For this project, you need 1/4 in. plywood, 1x2s, and drawer slides the length and depth of your cabinet. In my case, they were 22 in. drawer slides. To start, I measured the inside of the cabinets and determined how wide and deep each pullout was going to be. Then, I cut four pieces of plywood, one for each pull out. I cut the 1x2s so that they would wrap around the piece of plywood. Now, I have a router table, but if you don't this step will go a little differently. For my project, I ran all of the 1x2s through the router table so there was a notch in each of them. This made it so I could slide the 1/4 in. piece of plywood into it really nicely. After routing and then installing all of the pieces together, I went the extra step and secured the corners with brad nails and wood glue so I was confident they were super secure.

Once all that was done, I installed the drawer slides. In order to do this, I had to put a shim on each side of the cabinet so the drawers could be pulled out and not hit the face frame of the cabinet every time. I put the drawer slides on the pullouts and put them right in. I was so happy to see that everything fit perfectly. After everything was installed, I got to organizing. I had already done some organizing in a couple other places in my house, which freed up enough space to move a few of the things that would've been in this cabinet somewhere else. Things fit in here really nicely.

I repeated this process with the cabinet that holds my pots and pans. The only difference was, with this cabinet I had to measure to see where the next drawer pullout could go based on where my pots and pans would be. After that, I was easily able to install and put everything in. It always takes me a few minutes to figure out the best layout for everything, and once I do, I have a lot more space to play with. This project wasn't hard and would've taken about a day if I had four or five solid hours to work. Realistically, it took me three or four days instead.

I am SO happy with how this project turned out. Now everything is organized, aesthetically pleasing and can be easily accessed. It is so nice to not have to take everything out to get to the things I'm looking for. I can't believe it took me almost three years to do this and now that I've done it in the kitchen, I'm actually thinking about doing it in our bathrooms, at least in the primary bathroom. So stay tuned!

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