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Drawer inserts...

12 years ago

I am now ready to start organizing my kitchen and need to place inserts in my drawers. They are all bare inside because I opted to wait until after cabinet/kitchen installation to decide how best to organize my space. Looking online at various options and have some questions regarding the drop-ins and trimmable ones that are available. I know that for some drawers, I may be fine and happy with the ones sold at local Target, BBB, etc (such as those bamboo ones). I do not like the expandable ones that they sell, I've used plenty of those, both plastic and wooden, in my pre-dream-kitchen days.

My questions:

Are trimmable inserts easily DIY for someone who owns only basic tools or would I need a wood-cutting machine to trim pieces down?

Any recommendations for basic drawer organization? In particular, those sets where you can configure the slots yourself? For some reason, the photos seem complicated. Even better, if you have one, would you mind posting a photo?

For deeper drawers (mine are ~9.5" deep), suggestions for dividing the space aside from peg system? I have dedicated drawers for all the plastic cups/bowls/bottles for my little ones and after a day, they all tumble about in the drawer into one huge mix. Same goes for drawer with Tupperware. Are baskets the only solution? They take forever to find because I'm having difficult time finding baskets in the right depth.

Any other thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated. As of right now, the only drawers that are properly organized are 2 that I'm using for serving ware and dishes!

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Comments (7)

beaglesdoitbetter1
12 years ago
I ordered a set of inserts from Wood Hollow Cabinets (the routed out OXO drawer inserts). They have a bunch of great options on their site and they accommodated my drawer size for me. I'd check them out, even if you do not order from them, you might get some good ideas. They have a cool tupperware organizer drawer, for instance:

Here is a link that might be useful: Wood Hollow Cabinets Accessories Link
lalithar
12 years ago
Have you seen the lee valley ones.. You can customize easily.

Here is a link that might be useful: Lee valley drawer inserts
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After reading about and seeing pictures here, I ordered inserts from Wood Hallow for 4 drawers in our new build kitchen. This was one of the last things left unfinished, so I was thrilled when they arrived today. In our former house, our contractor built the inserts to my specs for two drawers. DH certainly got use to them as he was the one that pushed me to do something. I had drawn out exactly what I wanted for the 4 drawers and emailed the drawings with measurements to them. They arrived just as I had drawn, less a small amount, perhaps 1/8" which allowed for easy inserting into my drawers. The one thing that I was not expecting, however, was that the dividers were mounted on a board that sits in the drawer. As a result, a few of my measuring cups and stacked cookie cutters do not fit in the drawer as I had planned. I was able to turn the cutters sideways and now they clear. The measuring cup handles hit when opening the drawer, but it's something I can deal with. DH won't frequent that particular drawer (I hope) so grumbling will be kept to a minimum. As marcojohnson said in a previous post, this is why I love this place. Never would have found Wood Hallow had it not been for GW. Thank you! Silverware and mostly serving pieces. I had ask for them to keep all the tops straight, which they did. :) The drawer where the measuring cup handles hit. The knife block is from Williams Sonoma. Smaller drawer in my baking zone. Does anyone still use Tupperware measuring cups and spoons? Mine must be 30 years old.
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Well I haven't moved on to the kitchen yet, but between Ana and Shanty2Chic, I have furniture for my new house. Next project is a platform bed. But I will tuck this little tidbit away on Pinterest. This post was edited by terri_pacnw on Fri, Jul 25, 14 at 21:03
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What dulls a knife is using it against a hard surface. Always use a cutting board when using a knife, don't put them in the dishwasher and don't let them bang against anything. They should stay sharp for home use with just an occasional use of a steel. If the cutting edge rests against wood or plastic, it should be fine in a drawer. It's not sitting there that dulls it. It's banging on metal or a china plate or something like that (and of course, using it). For my slicing knife, I wrap the blade in a towel and put it in the front of the drawer. There are also knife shields that you can get at the restaurant supply. I have one called edgeguard. You just slip your knife in it, and it protects the edge. (I'm a chef, so keeping sharp knives is important to me.) bk
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I know this is the kitchen forum but it is the place to go for cabinet information, so I thought this question fits here. Does anyone know of a good source for inserts or trays for use in bathroom vanity drawers? I'm thinking to divide make up, combs, hair bands, etc. Thanks!
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breezygirl
12 years ago
I'm planning on using the Lee Valley clips and wood strips. Bob_cville, Lowspark, and Loves2cookfor6 over the years have posted their organized drawers using this system. A quick google lead me to this thread, but there are many others with more pics and instructions if you look around. They take a little work as its not a pre-formed tray you plop in, but looks well worth the effort. Now if only I could find the right way to spring it on DH that he'll need to spend hours helping me with this project.... :)

Here is a link that might be useful: Some pics of organized drawers with Lee Valley system
dragonfly08
Original Author
12 years ago
Beagles, they do have wonderful ideas. Wished there was a way to order just inserts... I'll look into it, but afraid that even if they'd do it for me, it'd cost quite a bit!

Lalitha and breezy... Didn't think of looking at Lee Valley (looked thru their catalogs for hardware)! Thanks!
beaglesdoitbetter1
12 years ago
dragonfly08 you can just order the inserts from them. They have spice inserts for sale on ebay, that was how I found them at first. For my OXO thing including all utensils, it was like $200. The spice inserts on ebay cut to fit the drawer were only like $25 so I think they may be reasonable. Worth contacting them at least...
a2gemini
12 years ago
Hope this stays near the top as I will be looking for inserts in a couple weeks!
SadieV
12 years ago
My question on the Lee Valley divider system ... how do you clean the crumbs out of the drawers? Do the dividers come out for cleaning?

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