Wednesday, September 6, 2017

How To Make A Wood Drawer Organizer

Unorganized drawers drive me CRAZY.  


I hate highly dislike when you need a pen or pencil and you have to rummage through a pile of supplies until you find what you need. 

Maybe it's just me.

I love perusing The Container Store's website  dreaming of having perfectly organized drawers and closets.

Maybe it's just me.

The problem is...
Drawer organizers  don't always fit your needs perfectly and can be expensive!
I'm going to show you how we made a custom drawer organizer easily and how you can to- even if you don't use power tools. All you have to know how to do is how to use a hammer and pound in a nail!
drawer organizer, diy, build it yourself, cottage, cottage style, farmhouse, farmhouse style, diydesignfanatic.com



Let's start at the beginning...We needed a place to put our mail and writing supplies and several months ago, I found this great table for $139 on Hobby Lobbies website. It was perfect, but it would work a lot better if one of the drawers was organized for scissors, pens, pencils and Post It Notes.
drawer organizer, diy, build it yourself, cottage, cottage style, farmhouse, farmhouse style, diydesignfanatic.com

That's where Mr. DIY comes in...
Last week when we were up at the Mountain Cottage doing projects, Mr. DIY had a little time to build my drawer organizer. He had already bought the supplies and even brought the drawer up with us so he could make it perfectly.

He purchased a few of these (he'll be making more drawer organizers) for the sides and purchased one 1/4" x 6" (it's actually 5 1/2")  poplar board for the bottom.



drawer organizer, diy, build it yourself, cottage, cottage style, farmhouse, farmhouse style, diydesignfanatic.com


Mr. DIY cut the sides first. If you  don't like to use power tools, you can either cut them by hand or have Lowe's or Home Depot cut them for you. Just measure the size that of the box, remembering to allow for the thickness of the board on the corner where you put one board over the other. 
drawer organizer, diy, build it yourself, cottage, cottage style, farmhouse, farmhouse style, diydesignfanatic.com


After that, cut the bottom to size. Since it's a small drawer, he'll have 2 boards across, with a seam. If you don't want a seam, cut it to size out of a larger piece of wood.
drawer organizer, diy, build it yourself, cottage, cottage style, farmhouse, farmhouse style, diydesignfanatic.com

The inside of the drawer is 11 3/8" wide x 10 3/4" deep.
Mr. DIY Built the sides of the box to size with the 2 1/2" pieces like this:
drawer organizer, diy, build it yourself, cottage, cottage style, farmhouse, farmhouse style, diydesignfanatic.com







...then nailed the 5 1/2" pieces to the bottom.
drawer organizer, diy, build it yourself, cottage, cottage style, farmhouse, farmhouse style, diydesignfanatic.com

(He glued, then nailed all the boards with 3/4" brads and his Bostich brad nailer.) A hammer can be used with 3/4" brads if you don't have a nail gun.
drawer organizer, diy, build it yourself, cottage, cottage style, farmhouse, farmhouse style, diydesignfanatic.com

drawer organizer, diy, build it yourself, cottage, cottage style, farmhouse, farmhouse style, diydesignfanatic.com


He then cut the boards for the inserts and nailed them in
drawer organizer, diy, build it yourself, cottage, cottage style, farmhouse, farmhouse style, diydesignfanatic.com


Fits perfectly!
drawer organizer, diy, build it yourself, cottage, cottage style, farmhouse, farmhouse style, diydesignfanatic.com

drawer organizer, diy, build it yourself, cottage, cottage style, farmhouse, farmhouse style, diydesignfanatic.com


Here's how it looks in the drawer. 
drawer organizer, diy, build it yourself, cottage, cottage style, farmhouse, farmhouse style, diydesignfanatic.com



drawer organizer, diy, build it yourself, cottage, cottage style, farmhouse, farmhouse style, diydesignfanatic.com

Here's how the cost breaks down.

2 - 1/4" x 3"  board = $7.76
1 - 1/2" x 6" board =  $8.33
                 TOTAL =$16.09


Not much less expensive than a pre-made drawer organizer, but it's custom and fits my drawer perfectly and doesn't waste any space. Plus, we have a few boards left over to make another drawer organizer. 

One down, 3 more (in the kitchen) to go!

Pam



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8 comments:

  1. Very nice! I just posted about a drawer organizer but it's not this nice!! :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow this looks awesome! we have a few drawers that is just one giant open space and this is perfect for me to try and organize my drawers!

    ReplyDelete
  3. This is exactly the drawer i am looking for my room. It seem more durable and perfect in design.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I do try to keep my drawers organized and our "junk" drawer has a big plastic unit that I've made work. It's not customized like yours but I could probably get Dan to make one. Thanks for the tutorial!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We've done that in our kitchen, but the few drawers we have need help.
      Our knife drawer is next!

      Delete
  5. The drawer shared here looks very good and very attractive. I followed the above given procedure and I really enjoyed making it.
    Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete

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