We all kitchen-freaks feel like our kitchens are our favorite places to be and are convenient to use except the point when it comes to the store utensils in our base cabinets.
So first, let me ask you a simple question. Do you ever forget about items you have in the kitchen because they’ve been buried in one of your cabinets for a long time? If yes, you’ve landed on the right page.
Deep base cabinets are pretty useful for the storage of large pans, pots and less-frequently used things. But items often get pushed to the back and left there to avoid having to bend down and dig them out.
We’ve to practically get down on our knees even to peer inside (and that’s where the annoying part comes). And most of the time, if you want something from the back of your big storage cabinet, it means first unloading what’s up front.
The Ultimate Solution: Pull-Out Cabinet Drawers!
It is not just the hype, but adding pull out drawers for cabinets to your kitchen cabinets can be life-savior. Here’s what to expect when you add rollout cabinets for your kitchen:
- Little kids (5-12 years old) will have complete access to everything they need. From cereals to Nutella and other snacks that you can keep in the lower cabinets.
- You don’t have to bend down to get the heavy pans. And that’s a relief for the people who often suffer from knee sores and backaches. You’ll no longer have to regularly stoop to find things in the base cabinets.
- Meal preparations go a lot faster now because you’re no longer hunting for pot lids and baking pans piled on top of one another on jumbled, dusty, and dark shelves.
- You get a fair opportunity of saving money because you know what you have in your kitchen kingdom. You’ll stop buying things that you already have (but that had been lost in the recesses of cabinets).
- Rollout drawers are very easy to use. Slide and see! That’s pretty much it. You can pull shelves into the light and see everything, including the rancid oils and three boxes of cornstarch you bought last year.
- Your kitchen will eventually feel more extensive and organized. The pull-out cabinet drawers maximize every cubic inch of storage space. So, you can store rarely used appliances in the cabinets instead of on your kitchen counters.
Here you’re done with the necessary research. Let’s now build our pull-out cabinet drawers!
THINGS NEEDED TO BUILD PULL-OUT CABINET DRAWERS
- Drywall screw gun
- Plywood – About one sheet of plywood for every four drawers
- 1×4 boards
- Pocket hole jig and screws
- Clamps
- Sandpaper
- Chop saw
- Wood glue
- 30 Inch Undermount drawer slides (two for each shelf)
- Wood stain to match cabinet shade
Among the tools that need to be prepared, the drywall screw gun is a must-have and here’s why:
- The drywall screw gun aims for a more comfortable and quicker installation of the interior drywall.
- The gun does all the heavy work for you and moves faster when compared to handheld screwdrivers.
- It maximizes effort and time, making it a preferred choice among professionals and DIYers alike.
- The design and structure remove the need to twist your wrist to dig or remove screws in the wall.
- It gives accurate and consistent results by adjusting with the depth each screw needs to drive through the drywall.
- The drywall screw gun is durable and long-lasting.
DIRECTIONS TO BUILD DIY PULL-OUT SHELVES FOR KITCHENS
- Fit the drawer slides in the cabinet
Always install the drawer slides first and then pull them out slightly and measure the distance between them to get the exact, finished drawer width. Installing the drawer slides at the earliest takes all of the guesswork out of the process.
- Cut plywood for the bottom of the shelf
After successfully installing the bottom drawer slides and taking the right measurements, you need the bottom shelf. Cut a piece of 1/2-inch plywood for the shelf bottom and measure how high the shelf sides you need to allow enough clearance for your things to fit in the cabinets.
- Arrange wood and tools
Separate the different sizes of nails and other shelf components you need to create the pull-out shelves for cabinets. You will require a pocket hole jig and a drywall screw gun to make the holes to build the drawers.
- Make the pocket holes
Use a pocket hole jig and screw gun to create pocket holes around the border of the shelf base to connect it securely to the shelf sides and ends. Repeat the same steps to drill the pocket holes on the shelf bases on the shelf sides.
- Clamp sides & assemble shelf frame
Attach the shelf sides to the shelf ends with a clamp and use a drill to insert the pocket screws into the pre-drilled pocket holes.
- Smoothen the surface
Use the sandpaper to smooth and finish the surface of the shelves. It will be the most challenging part of the project if you are building a large number of shelves.
- Attach drawer slides to the bottom of the shelf and cabinet interior
Depending on the weight you anticipate loading on them, be sure to choose a set of drawer slides that are rated to support that weight. The plywood boards fit inside the cabinet bottom and the slides attached to these scrap boards connect to the slides on the base of the shelf.
- You are all ready to fill cabinets
After installing the new pull-out cabinet shelves, fill in your cabinets with the pots and pans. Try putting the most massive pots in the back of the sliding cabinet shelving so that their weight would be supported by the base cabinet when the drawer is fully extended.
We hope you find this article a complete guide to DIY pull-out cabinet drawers. This whole project is worth the effort to achieve increased accessibility in your kitchen. The added function from the pull-out cabinet shelves makes your life easier and helps you make better use of all of the kitchen equipment. Good Luck!
