Adding Pull Out Trays To A Pantry Or Any Cabinet

These have already proven to be super functional!

This is where I started.... don't judge! 😂 I had added these plastic drawer units to help with storage but they just don't function very well. Time to upgrade!

I started by clearing out the shelves and deciding on my measurements. I took into consideration the products I would be storing in here most often and their heights. I decided on 3 pull out trays taking up about 2/3 of my shelf leaving me some tall open storage on the side.

While there are several good ways to build a drawer or tray, this is what I went with. My dad is a cabinet maker and helped me draw everything up. You can use whatever method that suits your needs and skill level. I know one popular way is to just build simple boxes using a Craig jig and nailing the bottoms on.

In this photo, you can see how I cut the groves into the drawer fronts using a table saw.

I glued and nailed the fronts and sides together making sure the groves for the drawer bottom lined up nicely. Next, I slid in the drawer bottoms and then nailed and glued the back piece on. I filled and sanded any nail holes and then gave all of my drawers a clear coat.

I installed a partition in my cabinet to affix the drawer guides to and used scrap wood cut to size to ensure that it was perfectly in place for my trays. If you're wanting to add pull out trays to a regular kitchen cabinet, you most likely won't need to do this step but you might need to add spacer strips of wood to "bump out" the drawer guides a bit depending on how your cabinet doors open. This is very important to prevent your drawers and guides from hitting or scraping against your cabinet door. If you add strips, make sure you consider those when calculating your drawer measurements. You also need to consider your drawer guides. Most guides come with detailed instructions to help you determine drawer size etc.

Here is my first tray installed!

I use spacers cut to size to set my drawer guides on before screwing them in. In this case, I used 16 inch full extension guides.

I left a little bit of room under my bottom drawer for clearance.

These make organizing so much easier!!

Thanks for following along with my project and I hope this inspires you to add some pull out trays to your kitchen, or any cabinet for that matter!