DIY Kitchen Drawer Dividers

Valerie Burge
by Valerie Burge
6 Materials
$20
4 Hours
Easy

I wanted to add dividers to my kitchen drawers, to help control the chaos! And also to help curb the colourful language that mealtime can sometimes elicit from me. I wouldn’t say I’m savvy in the kitchen, but I know enough that when things start to cook (burn), finding the utensil I need is time sensitive!


I saw a few tutorials online, where they built inserts using ¾” or 1” wood, and simply dropped them into the drawer. And while they seemed easy enough to duplicate and looked really great, I couldn’t help but think that all that thick wood was using up a lot of valuable space in the drawers. So I decided to try something a little different.


My first step was to lay all the drawer contents out on the countertop, into groups. Once I had a clear view of what I had, I purged many items. Seriously, four soup ladles, who was I trying to kid?

So much stuff

After purging, I laid what was left back in the drawers, to get a rough idea of how I should set up my dividers. 

Rough idea

Once I determined the layout of each drawer, I wrote down all my measurements and headed out to the garage.


I had a piece of hardboard that came off the back of an old bookcase in my scrap pile and decided this would make great dividers - not too thick and not too thin (kind of like me). 

Hardboard

The depth of the drawer boxes is 2.5”, so I started by cutting out strips from the hardboard at that width. Then I cut those strips to the length I needed for each divider. I used a jigsaw to make the cuts using the smallest blade I have, which was 2 ¾”. 

Cutting out my dividers

Then I had to decide how to keep the dividers standing upright inside the drawers. They were obviously not thick enough to screw together. I pondered a few different options (to the point they actually infiltrated my dreams), but ended up using a piece of outside corner trim to create brackets. 

8 foot outside trim piece

I cut the 8 foot trim into 2.5” pieces (the same height as the dividers). Then I brought all my pieces inside to finish the project.

Building materials

I had a roll of contact paper that I had bought at a thrift store a couple years ago and decided to cover the hardboard with that. I was concerned it wouldn’t stick to the porous side of the boards. And I was right, after a few minutes it started to peel off. Bugger!

Contact paper, not contacting

I used my heat gun to see if that would help it seal…and that worked out fantastic! I could clearly see the vinyl paper shrink and suction right onto the boards. Heat gun for the win! 


Although as an aside, due to my excitement at seeing how well it worked, I turned off the gun and stupidly laid it down on the rug. So yeah, now I have a scorch mark on my rug. (Tip: never place a hot heat gun on your rug!)

Heat gun

The last step was to glue the brackets into place, to hold up the dividers. I used a tube of PL Premium Construction Adhesive and glued the wood trim to the edges of the drawers and to each other, depending on their layout. In some cases, where I felt extra strength was needed (like with the flatware) I used two pieces of wood, one on each side of the divider to ‘sandwich’ them in place. On the pieces that seemed sturdy enough, I just used one corner piece to glue the dividers in place. 


The glue was slippery until it dried (like snot on a doorknob, as my mamma used to say), so I had to use the measuring tape and adjust them a few times to make sure they were perfectly spaced out and straight. But they were easy to slide around and I simply wiped off any glue trails with a paper towel before it dried. 

Gluing in my DIY brackets

Once everything was set up the way I wanted it, I placed the drawers under the ceiling fan to let the glue fully dry overnight.

Flatware drawer
Regularly used utensil drawer
Occasional drawer

The following morning, I gave the dividers a few good tugs to make sure they would hold up to wear and tear and they were nice and strong!


Then I placed all my stuff back inside. A great way to keep kitchen cabinets organized

Flatware drawer
Regularly used utensil drawer


Occasional drawer

This was a very easy and inexpensive solution to a common issue I’ve dealt with since I was old enough to have my own kitchen (which is far longer than I’d like to admit to myself).


So other than the scorch mark on my rug, I’m calling this project a success!


PS If anyone is wondering why we have soooo much flatware, it’s because I asked my mom for an extra set for Christmas a couple years ago. I explained to her that sometimes we only have enough dirty dishes to run the dishwasher every other day and often ran out of clean flatware by the second day. 


But what my mom actually heard was…they need enough flatware to avoid running the dishwasher for a week! Why waste hydro and water, if you don't have to! My mom is so sweet and practical. I’ll probably use my left over project materials to make some drawer dividers for her too. icon

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  • Laura Laura on Nov 04, 2022

    You had me at “snot on the doorknob “ 😅😂😘

    Great job!!! Thank you for sharing!

  • Mary Russell Mary Russell on Nov 04, 2022

    Your photo only shows 'teaspoons',don't you also have tablespoons,and soupspoons?Our drawer has space for each.It's in one of the old kitchen sink/cabinet /drawer combinations that we would not part with when our kitchen was upgraded.The sink/cabinet combo is the one that has the double sink,with drain boards on each end.Now,thats real farm house,ha!

  • Shelly Moore Shelly Moore on Nov 11, 2022

    Love this solution! I only have Two usable drawers!!!! 😧☹️ I bought a nice bamboo divider, it lasted about three years. I put a plastic divider in one drawer, but there's still a Lot of wasted space! Will try this! Then I can purge again. I was like you, bought an extra set for Thanksgiving. I just recently took half my extra silverware and put it in my China Hutch drawers, so we don't have so many extras for just three people. Now where can I put my tablecloths and napkins???? Lol! Also I put my most often used utensils in a big vase that looks decorative. Great Job!!! Girl Power!!!

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  • Dru63445645 Dru63445645 on Dec 14, 2023

    I understand. We have a small dog but his hair used to be a big problem until we finally broke down and gave him an army style haircut. One of the best decisions we ever made. It’s amazing how much hair used to come off that little body. Another benefit is the fleas don’t bother him near as much as they did before.

    • Valerie Burge Valerie Burge on Dec 14, 2023

      Good call! I used to keep our dog well groomed like that. Now we have a ragdoll cat a and a small bird in a large cage. LOL I swear the bird is the messiest pet we've ever had.

  • Mona Plunkett Mona Plunkett on Jan 09, 2024

    I did this recently and it is really much nicer. I used wooden yardsticks for my dividers though. I cut them to length, glued them in place. I really like it.

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