Hi Everyone! Today I will be showing you how I went from having a messy miscellaneous utensils drawer to a tidy organized kitchen drawer by making a quick and easy DIY wooden drawer dividers!
We all have that drawer in our kitchen filled with utensils. Chances are it's cluttered, and you sometimes have trouble finding the tool you want. Luckily, there's a way to make that space as organized as your silverware.
Drawer organizers are dividers that you place in an empty drawer to help establish a system for your utensils. Though they're usually for kitchens, you can also use them to organize hardware tools, office supplies, and much more. No two organizers are alike; the dividers can vary in size and order.
How Much Does it Cost to Make Your Own Kitchen Drawer Organizer?
You can buy this item, but making it could help you save money. You would be able to make the organizer any way you want without being worried that it's too big or too small for your drawer. Besides, it can be a fun project to keep you busy.
Ever since I started re-organizing my kitchen, I've been shopping around for wooden drawer dividers for quite some while but they all retail anywhere from $20-$30, depending on the design or amount in each set. Sure $20 isn't much but if I want to do this to all my drawers (which I eventually do), it would add up very quickly. I have 9 drawers in my kitchen so that would be at least $180! Yeah....that price just doesn't make me do the happy dance.
Do you want to know what it cost me for the dividers you see in the above picture? Of course you do! I'm proud to say that making your own kitchen drawer organizers would cost under $10! Now, that price makes me do the happy dance! Especially since it left me with scraps just big enough to make some for the bathroom...eventually.
Types of Drawer Organizers
Other than for kitchen drawers, you can make diy drawer dividers for bathroom, office, dresser-, and junk drawers. There isn't too much of a difference between them other than the size. Kitchen drawers might be more sizable than your typical junk drawer.
A lot of times, people already have organizers for their silverware. However, these are usually smaller than the drawer and won't help with the rest of the clutter. DIY drawer organizers use up all of the drawer space in an efficient way.
There are multiple types of drawer organizer out there beyond the examples mentioned. You can have a drawer for specific items, like items you regularly use for crafting and sewing. It's significant to know this to help you determine a foundation for your system of organization.
How to Make Drawer Dividers Organizers
Arranging your things can vary on the items in the drawer and what specific elements are in there. These steps will give you a broad sense of how to make an organizer. That way, you'll know how to make one for any kind. There may be some exceptions, which is what this article will go over after the instructions.
Required Tools & Materials
Step-by-Step Instructions to Make DIY Drawer Dividers
- Start by clearing away your drawer. Determine how you're going to organize your things by separating them into groups. Remove the entire drawer. Then, mark the inside of it with a pencil to display where the dividers will go. You could also put temporary dividers, like a line of clothespins, string, or anything else you got lying around somewhere.
- Measure the drawer's length, width, and depth. Do the same with the areas you've marked for where the dividers will go. Write down the measurements. You could even use grid paper to draw out the sizes to scale.
- Take your poplar wood and mark the measurements of the proper size needed for the dividers. Don't forget that you may need multiple pieces that are of the same size.
- Use the circular saw to cut the pieces. Make sure the saw is extra sharp, as this is essential when working with poplar wood. Don't forget to put on your safety glasses or goggles.
- Sand the ends where you cut with the saw. Keep your protective eyewear on while doing this.
- Mark the areas on the pieces of poplar where the other parts will be attached.
- Put screw holes in those marked areas using drill bits. Doing this will make it easier for you to screw the pieces together.
- Glue the pieces of poplar together where those marked areas are. Wait a few minutes for the glue to dry.
- Screw those exact areas for an additional layer of security.
- Place the dividers into your empty drawer. If it fits as well as you want it to, then you can start organizing your things.
Things to Consider When Making Wooden Drawer Organizer
I bought three 2 ft Alder hobby boards from Home Depot (each board was under $3) and we already had this glue on hand. But the good old Gorilla Wood Glue would work just as fab! I just wanted to use up what we already had.
The first thing you want to do (that I didn't photograph) is measure the width and length of your drawers, decide on the board placement that will best suit your needs and measure your boards according to the board placement (design) you came up with.
I went with one board going horizontally and 2 boards going vertically on top of the first board. This gave me 4 compartments to organize my utensils in. Also take into consideration the sizes of your utensils. You don't want to have everything all glued in only to find out something doesn't fit in any of the compartments.
Okay, I am going to be honest here. The measurements and designing is pretty much all this gal did. I left the sawing and gluing to my hubby. I am in desperate need of learning how to be more hands on with the tools!
After my honey cut the pieces according to the measurements I gave him, I made sure that it was just perfect. You want it to slide in with a little resistance and not have any space on either side. As you can see ours was perfect! If it wasn't I'm sure I would have blamed his sawing and listening skills and he would have blamed my measuring skills! We were both off the hook!
Simply apply glue to the bottom of your divider and slide it into place. Do the same to all your other boards (dividers).
Here's what it looked like after the first divider was inserted:
DIY Drawer Dividers
And this is what it looked like when it was all done! I thanked and kissed my honey for a job well done and then waited for the glue to dry. The glue packaging says to wait 24 hours...yeah right! Do they know how impatient I am when it comes to these things? I only waited, maybe 2! I figured it was okay since they felt sturdy and I wasn't going to be putting any pressure or weight on them.
Then have fun organizing your former scrambled utensils!
DIY Drawer Dividers
Other Ways to Make a DIY Drawer Organizer
There are multiple ways to make diy drawer dividers. It all depends on certain circumstances, including the size of the drawer, time consumption, and much more. Various details that could make the organizer different include:
The kind with the detailed instructions above allows you to remove it so that you can clean the drawer. Installation is easy. However, the ones on the list have purposes that may fit your needs more.
A Full Drawer
Making a whole drawer is more for those who are planning on building an entire dresser or cabinet. It could also be useful if you want to replace one of your drawers entirely. This method is one of the most challenging ways to make your drawer organizer.
You have to consider many other factors, like the drawer slides. There's also the drawer face, foundation, and handle that will require you to obtain more supplies. If you're planning on selling the whole dresser or cabinet, then having dividers can be tricky if you don't know how the buyer is going to organize their things.
Permanent Organizer
This one isn't difficult to create. Follow the same instructions as above, but finish by gluing and screwing the organizer to the drawer. You could also box the divider itself and then add it permanently to your drawer.
This kind of organizer that's boxed in would be useful for medium-sized drawers. It would take up too much space for smaller drawers. You can make this organizer permanent for bigger drawers, but without the box else it'll be too much work.
Lighter Material
Corrugated cardboard can be an excellent and cheap alternative. Cutting it doesn't require power tools. You would either need some robust scissors or a crafting knife.
For those who don't know, corrugated cardboard has three layers: a top sheet, a bottom sheet, and the middle layer that has the rippled cardboard in between. An organizer that uses this material would be most useful in a smaller drawer or a drawer that contains lighter, non-sharp items. You could also use similar sturdy material, like foam board.
Slight Differences with Other Types of Drawer Organizers
Each type of drawer is unique in its size, how it's used, and the particular contents that reside within. All of these factors will play a significant role in determining how you will divide your items. If a drawer is profound, for example, then you'll probably have fewer dividers.
You can't apply just any drawer organizer you made to any drawer, even if they're the same size. If you consider each type, then you can tweak the adjustments of this DIY project to suit the circumstances better. The types of drawer organizers we'll go over include:
Office and Junk Drawer
These two categories are lumped into one because the items usually overlap. It's not weird to find things like paperclips and scissors in the same drawer as batteries and sunglasses. If anything, an organizer can help you separate these categories while still keeping all of those items in the same place.
The main changes for making a DIY drawer organizer has more, tinier spaces. The drawers are usually thin and contain small everyday items. If it's a little deeper, then you could stack layers of dividers.
Bathroom Drawer
The tricky thing about bathroom drawers is that each one can already have specific categories like one has makeup, and the other has some of your hair care products. There isn't a one-size-fits-all for these spaces. You may have to make more than one.
One major factor to take into consideration is that the dividers may get wet. That may be due to the bathroom having multiple water sources and the humidity after hot showers. Lacquer or a similar agent should coat the wood used to make the bathroom drawer organizers so that it can help make it waterproof.
Dresser-Drawer
There are many fun ways to organize your clothes that can make the morning routine a little faster. With dividers, you can set up outfits for each day of the week. You can organize shirts by color, type, or even brand.
You'll never have trouble finding matching socks, as you can make dividers for each pair. It'll be easier to create a system for your undergarments. You could even make a non-permanent organizer so you can bring it with you when you go to a hotel.
Although individuals usually make wooden drawer organizers for their kitchen cabinets, they could have diverse purposes. It's after you learn the basics of making one that you can customize it for your particular needs. Either way, it's a fun project for organizing your kitchenware, office supplies, and clothes.
