We’ve all been there: you open up a drawer only to find this. A giant mess. Not only is it
disorganized but there’s actually a lot of wasted vertical space. So today I’m getting organized
and building these simple drawer dividers with an upper-level sliding tray for extra storage.
I’ll start by removing the drawer - and BTW I have a video showing how I built and
installed these - and empty it all out. My goal here is really to make it easier to
find things and to capitalize on the vertical space rather than have everything just piled up
on the bottom of the drawer. And while I’m at it, I’ll clean up some of this junk.
[LIVE NARRATION] So it looks like I have three size categories
here, 7 inch in the middle, under 5 inches on the left and about 12 inches on the right.
[LIVE NARRATION] As for these screwdrivers,
I have something else planned for them. I picked up this magnetic tool holder at Princess Auto.
It’s super powerful and can hold screwdrivers, squares, rules or any other metal objects.
So now I’ll have my screwdrivers out in the open whenever I need one.
Alright so back to the drawer now. Since I’m making 2 levels,
each level will be half the depth of the drawer. My drawer is only 4 inches deep,
so I’m cutting up a bunch of 2 inch strips that I’ll use to make the dividers. I’m using quarter
inch plywood because I have some on hand, but quarter inch MDF would work just as well.
I’ll need to cut notches into these strips so to make sure they are consistent, I’ll grab
4 strips and tape them together. These pieces will be parallel to the drawer sides.
I’ll do the same with another 3 strips that will be perpendicular to the sides.
At this point I’ll measure the drawer length and cut the strips to length .
I first squared up one end, then measured and cut the other end. I find it’s best to sneak up on the
cut. So if it doesn’t fit on the first try, just trim a little more off until it fits just right.
I’ll repeat the same process for the perpendicular strips and ensure they
fit before moving onto cutting the notches. Here I’m just roughly measuring where I’ll cut
the notches, making sure to account for the thickness of the notches.
Afterwards I can come back with a scrap piece of the same plywood and mark out the notches.
These really don’t have to be that precise, so I’m comfortable using this less-than-scientific
method. If you want, you can even mark the top of the notches which should be just a
hair more than half the width of the strip. With all the notches marked out, I can head over
to my table saw and set the blade height, again aiming for just a hair above the halfway mark,
in my case just over 1 inch. You can use a fancy aftermarket
miter gauge to cut the notches, or just attach a sacrificial fence to your saw’s miter gauge.
This will help support the board and allow you to clamp the strips in place while you cut. I’ll
start by lining up the blade just inside the left marking and make the first cut. I can then move it
over ever so slightly, and line it up inside the marking on the right, then make the cut.
Then repeat this for every notch. Again, I’m not aiming for perfection here,
as long as the notch is wide enough to fit the matting piece, it should be fine.
The pieces that will be perpendicular to the sides will get notches on the ends of the boards,
and this is where having a long sacrificial support board really comes in handy.
With all the notches cut, I can take the tape off and get these installed.
I’m not going to glue or nail anything down, so these dividers will be completely removable
if I change my mind or want to change the layout. Getting the first ones in is probably
the hardest piece of the puzzle, but after that everything should drop into place fairly easily.
Once the grid is installed, it’s really solid even without any fasteners.
Okay, next I want to build an upper tray similar to this one that will slide back and forth.
I’ve already got the bottom piece cut that’s cut just one eighth shy of the width of the drawer.
As you can see, I made sure to lay out the bottom dividers so that the
center divider is exactly in the middle. That way you can still fully access the
cubbies - both at the front and at the back - depending on how you slide the tray.
Just as before, I started by grouping and cutting all my parts to size.
Then laid out the notches... And made the cuts using my miter gauge. To assemble the
tray I’ll use a little glue and some brad nails. The material is so thin which makes
it a little challenging, so I’ll first secure the corners with tape, then drive the nails.
A little more glue, then drop on the bottom and attach it with some more short brads.
I’ll wipe off the glue squeeze out on the outside and use a straw trick to clean up the inside.
This is just a straw cut on a 45 degree angle and works great on inner corners.
Ok, now I can just drop in the dividers and voilà.
You know, for some reason, a lot of people find the way I say drawers to be amusing.
Not sure why that is. Why, do you say draws or droors? Draw-er, that’s the word,
right? Eh, must be a French Canadian thing. Anyway, time to load this drawer up!
The funny thing is that even though the drawer has as much stuff in it as it had before,
it seems much more spacious and I can easily see where everything is.
And there’s even room left to add in a little more.
Until next time, thanks for watching, see you soon!