Happy Friday!
If you are looking for another fun weekend, organization project – look no further than this blog post. Especially if you have kitchen drawers that look like this…
Uh-huh. Would you believe me if I said those drawers belong to me? Yes, this little organizer was hiding a big secret in her kitchen. Hard to believe right?…
The drawer dividers you see in those messy drawers? Do you recognize those? I’m sure we all have something similar and they don’t fit. Well, they fit, but typically only one. Maybe two. And when you have that organizer in the drawer, it’s not a custom fit so your contents slide around all over the place when you open and close the drawer. Right?
Annoying!
Not to mention, most of the large utensils don’t fit inside the openings. Which means while some items may be inside the organizer, others are out of the organizer and free to slide all around.
While shopping in the Container Store for a client, I discovered these custom drawer organizer strips that are customizable for any drawer…
Says “Easy Do-It-Yourself”. Oh rrrrreeeeeallly?! Now you’ve piqued my interest…and challenged me. Because you know I’m all about a good, easy, DIY project.
Turns out not only were they easy to install, but I LOVE the end result!
First, I started by emptying the contents of my kitchen drawers…
I sorted through the various items to purge a few that were either duplicates or not being used. Then I cleaned out my drawers with a damp cloth and lined each with contact paper. I found this pretty pattern at Target…
Once the drawer was lined, I created a pattern by putting the items back into the drawer the way I ultimately wanted them to be…and then created the custom dividers around that pattern.
After measuring each length I needed for each section, I scored the divider using a box cutter…
Then placed the divider on the edge of the counter and snapped it in half…
I continued the process until my drawers looked like this…
And after playing around a bit with the adhesive holders that firmly secure the dividers in place, finally the drawer looked like this…
It really was easy! The measuring took some time because I’m a perfectionist and wanted a great looking outcome. But otherwise, it was simple!
Now, here are my newly customized kitchen drawers…
But guess what? I’m sure you may have some questions or want to see exactly how I scored and snapped those dividers. Right? Well, I actually went out of my comfort zone again and made a video for you guys. Oh yes I did! I’ll be editing it this weekend to share with you on Monday (unless of course I finish it sooner – then it might be up this weekend). I left one drawer just like this for the video…
If you’re looking for an easy weekend organization project and you have messy drawers in the house, consider this product / idea. It’s super easy! And also great for renter’s or as a temporary (or permanent) solution.
Back soon with the video!
I love this. I have never been able to find an organizer that can hold the big utensils. I am always in that drawer straightening them. It drives me crazy. We don't have a Container store close by. I think the closest one is in San Diego. I wish we would get one. I would go crazy in it!! I will be ordering some of these. Thanks.
I really hope they work for you if / when you order them! Sorry to hear you don't have a Container Store nearby….but then again, this could be good on your pocketbook! 🙂
xo
Great idea, thanks for sharing!
you're welcome!
Those look wonderful. I love the versatility of them. Were they really expensive?
They were about $20 per package…not too bad. I think I used 3-4 packages for all of the drawers in my kitchen. They are very versatile…and they are holding up very well with the kids opening and closing the drawers with a lot of force 🙂
xo
LOVE this organizer system! I have one large drawer in my kitchen with my utensils and gadgets and it needs serious help! I love that unlike full tray organizers that take up extra space in and of themselves, these are so minimalist! Might even replace my standard flatware organizers while I'm at it! You did a great job on your kitchen!
Thank you!!!
These are WONDERFUL! Thanks so much for sharing! Going to measure my drawers right now! 🙂
Yay! Let me know how it works out!!
would these be easy to move around or remove when you need to change things up?
They are definitely easy to move around, but they would be custom fit once you cut them. So, you'd have that issue. Obviously, you could make the pieces smaller…but not bigger. Know what I mean?
This looks amazing, but you cannot move them around easily after you install, because you actually cut/snap them into the correct lengths and then you peel off paper from the connector to expose the sticky surface and secure it into your drawer.
I have teeny tiny little drawers that don't fit ANY standard organizing products, so I was excited to try these, but they just did not work for me. I thought they were really difficult to score and cut, but even after all the effort (and wasted broken pieces), they would not stay stuck to the bottom of the drawer. My drawers are that white melamine stuff on the bottom… maybe the trick is to stick down the paper first. I have already done something else in mine, but for others, take note!!!
I am sorry to hear you had difficulty scoring and snapping…I shared a video as to how I did that in my kitchen. I didn't have once issue with broken pieces or anything. I made sure to score them very deeply with a box cutter…and then they snapped easily. As far as the adhesive, if you're having issues with that, maybe consider adding some double sided tape? Or thin command adhesive strips to make it extra sturdy?? Just try to think of ideas for you.
What was the other option you went with?
Sorry again to hear that it didn't work for you…but it's working so well in my old kitchen drawers. Even with the kids banging the drawers open and closed – ha!
xo,
Sam
I did this for my kitchen. I have large very awkward drawers and these were WONDERFUL. They lasted maybe 2 years. They won’t stick to the drawer any more and fell apart. I tried super glue…same result. I am now looking for a more permanent result. I loved having the compartments and now am spoiled.
Hope yours last longer than mine. They are fantastic while they last!R
I totally hear you! They are wonderful but don’t last forever. I’m seeking something permanent, as well, but think that will come by way of a kitchen renovation. My kitchen was built in 1960 and hasn’t been updated at all. At some point when the budget is there, this entire kitchen will be made over – complete with permanent drawer dividers! Only other option I can suggest is a company that recently reached out to me about reviewing their product. The site is called organizemydrawer.com – check them out! I haven’t tried the product yet but it looks promising!
xo,
Sam
Just went to the organizemydrawer.com site and built an organizer for my drawer…nice thing, it gives you the price as you’re creating and the product reviews are good. Bad news, a drawer that is 15″x16-3/4″ x 3-3/4′ deep with 3 dividers to give a total of 4 compartments was $104. Had seen the dividers you mentioned at the container store…container store carries 2″ and 4″ deep….we had bought some, then went to the company’s web site and discovered they also carry 3″ deep…found your web site today when trying to figure out again the actual mfg of the strips and thanks to the feedback on only lasting about 2 years, we are going back to my handy man husband customizing them….he did it last summer in our new RV and was hoping for a quick fix on the new kitchen…oh well.