How to add drawers to a kitchen cabinet

[EricL]

Difficulty: Intermediate

Drawers are a great way to organise items and maximise storage in your kitchen.

Here is a guide to building a pull-out drawer and installing it in a kitchen cabinet using drawer runners. You can customise this project based on your specific needs. Once you have built your drawer, you can also add drawer dividers to help you find what you need more easily.

As this project involves power tools, please follow all safety guidelines provided by manufacturers and use the recommended protective gear, including safety glasses and gloves.

Steps

Step 1

Measure and cut panels.

Measure the size of your cabinet’s opening and determine the size of your drawer. Ensure your drawer’s width and depth allow enough space for the drawer runners to fit comfortably within the cabinet.

This drawer is designed to fit an opening in my cabinet that is 760mm in length and 560mm in depth.

Now measure and mark the 16mm MDF panel according to the following:

• One piece measuring 662 x 250mm for the drawer’s back panel
• One piece measuring 662 x 100mm for the drawer’s front panel
• Two pieces measuring 560 x 250mm for the drawer’s sides
• One piece measuring 662 x 528mm for the drawer’s base.

You will also need to cut two strips of wood measuring 470 x 40mm for the drawer runner spacers. These will be used to prevent the drawer runner from hitting the cabinet door once the drawer has been installed.

Clamp the MDF panels securely to your workbench and use a circular saw to cut your drawer panels accordingly. Don't forget to wear personal protective equipment (PPE) while cutting.

    

Step 2

Assemble and paint the drawer.

Sand the cut edges of the panels to ensure they are smooth.

Use a corner clamp to hold the drawer’s base and back panel together. Pre-drill and countersink holes along the join and then secure the two sections together with screws.

Repeat this process to secure the drawer’s left panel onto the base and back panel. Now turn the cabinet over and secure the drawer’s right panel.

Screw the front panel of the drawer box to the drawer’s sides and base.

You should now have an assembled drawer.

Paint the drawer and drawer runner spacers in a colour of your choice. Ensure the paint is dry before proceeding.

              

Step 3

Pre-drill holes for the drawer runners.

Place the drawer on a flat surface. Now place the drawer runners along both sides of the box.

Mark the points for the mounting screws and pre-drill holes.

Step 4

Install the drawer guides on the drawer.

Fully extend the drawer runners and split them by pushing down on the release clip. This will allow you to remove the drawer guide from the drawer runner. The drawer guide is the rail part of the drawer runner without the ball bearings. The drawer guide will be installed on the drawer while the drawer runner will be installed in the cabinet.

Line up the drawer guide with the bottom and front edges of the drawer. Screw the drawer guide into place. Then do the same on the opposite side of the drawer.

Check out the Bunnings guide How to install drawer runners for more handy tips.

    

Step 5

Install the drawer runners in the cabinet.

Place a 9mm MDF panel on top of the cabinet shelf. This will be used to provide a gap under the drawer runner spacer.

Place the spacer on top of the panel and screw it to the cabinet wall.

Now install the drawer runner against the spacer on both sides of the drawer. Remove the 9mm MDF panel from the bottom.

      

Step 6

Install the drawer in your cabinet.

Line up the drawer with the drawer runners inside the cabinet. Slide the drawer guides into the drawer runners. Gently push the drawer past the plastic catch in the runners, ensuring it is running smoothly.

You have now successfully built and installed a drawer in your cabinet.

    

Materials

• 9mm MDF panel 300 x 200mm
• 16mm MDF panel 2400 x 1200mm
• 8G x 30mm screws 50 pack
• One set of drawer runners, like Goliath Standard Drawer Slide Pair - 450mm
• Paint.

Tools

• Tape measure 

• Pencil 

• Corner clamp 

• 180-grit sandpaper 

• Circular saw 

• Cordless drill 

• Drill bit set 

• Safety gear, including face mask, gloves and safety glasses.

Images

                                            

[Jason]

Bunnings Workshop community members looking for a great example of the benefits of kitchen drawers should check out member @pete_brig's popular project changing kitchen cupboards to drawers.

More inspiring projects can be found in our collection of kitchen storage solutions.

Jason

[Dave-1]

Good Morning @EricL 

Well I just learnt something new Your Step 5 shows taht when you mount your rails taht you have a spacer behind them so the drawer can open between the doors I had half thought of the issue but put it in the too hard bucket to caculate the distance in and how to work it. Makes sense now.

Dave

[Belinda55]

Wow, very nice. It's such fantastic work.
I was in Bunnings the other day, and I saw some pull-out baskets. They are flat-pack and come in different sizes. If your cupboard shelves match the available sizes, the flat-packs are ideal. All you need is to install the runners.

[MitchellMc]

Thanks for the tip, and welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @Belinda55!

Have you got a kitchen refresh in the work? If so, we'd love to hear all about it, and you might like to check out these other fabulous Kitchen storage solutions.

I can't wait to hear all about your projects and plans around the house and garden. Please reach out anytime you need assistance or have something to share with the community.

Mitchell

[amelia2]

Could you make these drawers to fit the cabinet without the spacers and then replace the doors with drawer fronts? I want to turn the cupboards in my island bench into drawers with drawer fronts to match my other cabinets (no doors on the front). The two base units that make up the island aren’t standard sizes so won’t fit any of the flat packs. 

[MitchellMc]

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @amelia2. It's wonderful to have you join us, and many thanks for your question about installing kitchen drawers.
 

What you have mentioned is entirely possible. No doubt you've worked out that the spacers are purely there so you can keep the existing door, but it's a similar process if you were to replace the door with drawer fronts. The first thing to do would be to check the size of the door to establish whether you can purchase drawer front panels to suit that width.

You should check out member @pete_brig's popular project changing kitchen cupboards to drawers. That's likely more what you're after.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Mitchell

[amelia2]

Thanks @MitchellMc ☺️ I have checked out @pete_brig’s post which is great, thank you. I did also come across the Hafele metal drawer sides with soft close runners which is another option. I will go and check them out in person. 

unfortunately the drawer fronts won’t be standard sizes but I figure I can use melamine either the same as my other doors/drawers or use an accent colour like @pete_brig

on my existing doors and drawers I plan on using 3mm MDF to transform them into shaker style, then paint them, so I could also do that on the drawer fronts and just use standard melamine 😊

[MitchellMc]

That sounds great, @amelia2! We'll be looking forward to seeing your results.

Mitchell

[pete_brig]

Hi @amelia2 . Glad to know my post was helpful. Happy to answer questions if you have any.

Cheers, Peter

[ncoll-builds]

How do I go about calculating the size of drawers after measuring the cupboards.

Based o the above How To, this is what I've gathered so far:

Cupboard size: 760

Back/Front panel: 662

Side panel thickness: 16 x 2 = 32

Spacer thickness: 16 x 2 = 32

Size left = 760 - 662 - 32 - 32 = 34

That is 34 / 2 = 17mm on each side for the drawer slides.

Now I cannot find anyone on the product description of the Goliath Standard Drawer Slide regarding installation or measurements that would line up to this. I assume there would be some product info that explains the space required for them.

Assuming the slides do have instructions, then calculating the size of the drawers would be some like follow:

Cupboard size - Spacer thickness - Drawer slides - Side panel thickness = Back/Front panel.

Could someone please verify I'm calculating this correctly? Is there something I'm missing? Are drawer slides generally a regular size or vary per product. That's the one thing I'm a little confused about on the whole project.

Thank you. 

[EricL]

Hello @ncoll-builds 

Here is an easier way to do it. Place a 10mm spacer at the bottom of the cabinet where you'll be installing the shelf. Now the reason I've placed a side spacer of 42mmx19mm is to prevent the drawer from hitting the door. If the drawer is not near an opening door there is no need for that side spacer. You'll notice on the image that both the side spacer and drawer runner are on the bottom spacer.

Place a duplicate set up on the other side and install the side spacer and drawer runner into place without removing the bottom spacer. Once the drawer runners are installed now you can measure the space between the runners and that will be the size of your drawer. Once the drawer is assembled place it on top of the bottom spacer and mark the position of the drawer runners. Remember to give the drawer a 10mm gap at the back so that it does not push all the way to the back.  

Please note that measurements are estimates only, please adjust them to your needs

To give you a general idea of how the drawer runners are installed here is a handy step-by-step guide: Drawer runners installation

If you need further assistance, please let me know.

Eric

[ncoll-builds]

Thanks @EricL for such a detailed response explaining the steps. The added images were very helpful.

It makes a lot of sense to put the spacers and drawer runners in place first before measuring, that way you get the exact size needed and not relying solely on the math behind it.

Your tip for also keeping 10mm bottom spacer in place to line the drawer up with the runners simplifies everything, removing a lot of room for error.

You've removed my major doubts. Now all I've got to do is buy the materials and borrow the necessary tools from my local tool library.

Thanks for your help.

[MitchellMc]

Keep us updated @ncoll-builds, and please reach out if you get stuck or have questions.

Mitchell

[ncoll-builds]

Actually, I do have another question in mind. Do you have any tips for creating drawers under the sink where there isn't 2 side walls to attach drawer slides to?

I know there are bottom mounted drawer slides, but these seem to cost more and not as readily available.

Theoretically you could still use side mount slides using the spacers. But instead of attaching the spacers to the side of existing cupboard, you could do one of the side, but attach the other to the base of the cupboard using pocket holes. Then the slides attach to that as normal.

Obviously doing it that way, you have to make sure everything is straight and even.

But just wondering if you've got any tips for situations like this?

[MitchellMc]

Could you add a partition to form the second wall @ncoll-builds, or would the sink pipes obstruct it?

Mitchell

[ncoll-builds]

Hi @MitchellMc, there is definitely not enough room for a full partition down the whole cabinet with the pipes due to it being a double sink, that is why I thought you could just use the "spacer" as your other support. I'm trying to make as much useful and usable space possible.

After doing a bit of research, I've found another solution which may work, creating a whole base which includes yours spaces and a divider in the center, as seen in the photos below. I assume this would provide much more support than my original method listed above.

 

Full article: https://www.familyhandyman.com/project/how-to-build-kitchen-sink-storage-trays/

Let me know if you can see any issues in doing this?

[MitchellMc]

Looks like a solid solution @ncoll-builds! I can't see any reason why that wouldn't work.

Mitchell