My kitchen projects

9 years ago

We're living in a rental until we design and build a house, and space is much tighter than I'm used to.

The kitchen drawers were just a mess--and now they're not.

This project took about 2 hours (not including shopping--we had already bought the supplies) We do have a compound mitre saw and that made it really easy to cut the wood. It'd take a bit longer if you were cutting by hand or with a circular saw.

Below is the knife drawer (and some extras). We pruned the knives (there were too many in the drawer) and the peelers (I didn't need 4 out) and moved all the baking items to a plastic tub to keep in a cabinet--I don't have enough drawer space to keep them that accessible.

What I am really thrilled with for this drawer is the space to loosely (but corralled) store my measuring spoons. I can't prune down below two readily accessible measuring cup and spoon sets. I have additional ones with the baking supplies for when I do a bunch of baking, but these are enough for regular use, bread machine use, etc.

I have a crock of utensils on my counter (since I don't have drawer space for them), and a plastic basket of utensils in the pantry cabinet. I put everything in there that I don't use regularly and if I find I am using it, it'll have to find a more accessible spot!

Pantry cabinet

My pantry cabinet was one of my sewing cabinets in our previous house, but I haven't sent up a sewing area here yet.

I didn't take before pictures, but trust me, this was a mess. I can know put away and find things reliably!

And finally, our spice rack, which we built :-).

Featured Answer

talley_sue_nyc

9 years ago

ooh, fun in the workshop! And you have decent clamps!

I too really like the idea of loosely corraling stuff like measuring spoons. Trying to corral things too tightly is a bad idea.

I'm currently utilizing drawer-organizer boxes from Rubbermaid and other folks. But I like your setup!

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Comments (7)

User
9 years ago
Very, Very nice!

Do you have plans for the spice rack? Or a link to the plans?
quasifish
9 years ago
That looks great! I too love the spice rack- that looks amazing.

I had a kitchen drawer that fell apart a few years ago and when DH rebuilt the box, I had him put a divider in the middle. That's my favorite drawer in the kitchen, it stays so organized. Wish some of the other ones would fall apart ;^)
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Beth
Original Author
9 years ago
Hi quasifish--these drawer dividers are really easy--and they're cheap. Check out kevinandamanda.com. It only took us 2 hours to do two drawers--only supplies were a saw (we have a compound miter saw but other saws would do), a square, and glue. Perhaps your husband would be willing to do a few more so you can love all your drawers?

I'm sure we'll do the drawers in our new house, too--and I'm considering whether I want to do some of my dresser drawers. I probably won't, but only because that dresser won't be in our bedroom in the new house. I'll save those for the closet drawers we're planning on (although I may just keep using my wipee boxes!

Hi lazy_gardens, we basically made the plan up and didn't write it down in any organized way. There are several versions out there on the web that all pretty straightforward--held together by nails or screws. We went a bit overboard and routed dadoes for the shelves, which required a router as well as a really cool jig to keep things lined up. The project grew like crazy ;-) including the purchase of a table saw and router. OTH, we had a lot of fun and we're prepared for some bigger projects down the road!

This was my inspiration. I intend to make another one for our new kitchen--a wider one that will fit on the back of the pantry door.
talley_sue_nyc
9 years ago
ont he drawer dividers--are those just butt joints w/ glue?
quasifish
9 years ago
Thanks for the heads up, I will have to check that out :^)

I've got a few things organized by way of dollar store baskets and boxes, which work pretty well, but those permanent dividers are great, especially when you've reduced things enough that they fit loosely- as Talley Sue said. Still working on that task in some spots...
Beth
Original Author
9 years ago
Yes, talley_sue--they are just butt joints with glue. It looks like I didn't include the tutorial link. It's here at kevinandamanda.com It really was easy--and so worth it.

I bought the wood at Lowe's and the glue at Lowe's as well. I couldn't find the clear Loctite they refer to but I bought a tube of the Loctite Power Grab and it worked perfectly.