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Sawdust Girl®

Sawdust Girl®

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Add Vertical Storage Drawers to Existing Cabinets

All Posts, Drawers, Workshop (My), Workshop Storage and Organization

My workshop organization efforts continue as I add some vertical storage drawers to the existing cabinets I built 4 years ago.  I needed somewhere to put tools away as I unpacked boxes so I quickly built the open shelve cabinets. Though not terribly convenient for organizing small items, they were better than nothing.

I don’t like moving 15 boxes of screws and nails around before I find the right size or hunting for a specific roll or tape, etc.  I like to see all my choices at once.  I almost always prefer drawers over shelves for storage. When storing a ton of small items, narrow “pantry style” drawers are the best.  I call them, vertical storage drawers.  They are narrow so nothing is stored behind anything else.  You can see everything in the drawer, all at once, at quick glance, without moving anything out of the way first. Add Vertical Storage Drawers to Existing CabinetsBefore building any drawers, you have to figure out how much space you have in your cabinet.  Then decide what you want to store IN your drawers and come up with the best configuration. I built each drawer specifically for the items I wanted to store in them.  You can really customize everything when you build it yourself.

Add Vertical Storage Drawers to Existing Cabinets

Vertical Storage Drawers

I have a whole tutorial for building vertical drawers with all the details for each and every drawer I built for my personal workshop. Check that out for details.  This post focuses on how to install drawers vertically. Specifically, putting a pair of drawer slides one a single side of a cabinet drawer.  Rather than installing one on each side of a drawer.

Vertical Storage Drawers

Install slides on drawers

After building each drawer, I installed the drawer slides. First, make sure you know which side of the drawer is the bottom and which end is the front.Then install your drawer slides accordingly.

I installed the bottom slides flush with the bottom of my drawers using a scrap of wood to make sure it was flush.   Vertical Storage Drawers for SPAX Fasters

Using a spacer between slides is a great way to ensure the drawer slides are installed in the same place on both the drawer and the cabinet. A block of wood keeps the slide flush with the front of the drawer.Vertical Storage Drawers for SPAX Fasters

After installing the slides on the drawer parts, you can disconnect the cabinet part of the slides so you can attach them to your dividers.
How to Install Vertical Storage Drawers

Install drawer slides on cabinet dividers

For the first vertical drawer, I blocked out behind the faceframe and added the slide directly to that. I used the same spacer board to install the cabinet part of my drawer slides. So they’d match up to my drawers without having to measure and mark for each one.)How to Install Vertical Storage Drawers

I had to add dividers to my cabinet opening for the rest of my drawers. I drilled pocket holes in the top and bottom of every divider/cleat. There won’t be enough room inside the cabinet to install the drawer slides after the dividers are in. So I installed the drawer slides to the dividers first.

*It is important to install the drawer slides on the opposite side as the pocket holes!
How to Install Vertical Storage Drawers

After flipping the cleats over so the pocket holes are facing the table, I installed the bottom drawer slide first at a set position. Then I used the spacer to install the top slide.  How to Install Vertical Storage Drawers

With the drawer slides on, I installed the dividers. I started with the left divider to give myself as much room as possible for the first couple dividers.

How to Install Vertical Storage Drawers

How to Install Vertical Storage Drawers

The consecutive dividers got more tight, awkward and uncomfortable.How to Install Vertical Storage DrawersBut I got it done.
How to Install Vertical Storage Drawers

Add Vertical Storage Drawers to Existing Cabinets

At this point the drawers slide right into the cabinet and the organization can begin!How to Install Vertical Storage Drawers

How to Install Vertical Storage Drawers

Check out all the details on each of the 5 vertical storage drawers I built and installed!

December 7, 2015 · 12 Comments

« Drawer Storage Organizer
Vertical Drawers for Organized Workshop Storage »

Comments

  1. Cindy says

    December 7, 2015 at 11:22 am

    Thank you for this! I can’t believe how great your timing is on this as I have been looking, without success, for some sort of plan on vertical storage drawers for awhile now. I have been kind of obsessed with the antique vertical library drawers but not the insane amount of money they seem to be worth these days. I’d given up only to find your project in today’s email like an early Christmas present. My plan was to have a single drawer runner centered below each drawer (maybe even a wooden runner in a dado) but I like your plan much more.
    By the way, I am loving my “Build Like a Girl” sweatshirt! Except my 80 yr-old mother recently asked why I was wearing a shirt advertising I am “built” like a girl! : )

    Reply
    • Sandra says

      December 9, 2015 at 3:11 am

      Oh my! I laughed out loud when I read about your mother asking about your shirt! LOL Glad I could shed some light on a possible avenue for your project. Wood center slides sound like a good option. If you go with metal slides, just be sure to purchase center mount slides because they are made to provide stability while mounted flat/horizontally. Traditional slides (like what I used in this post) will bend easily with pressure while laying flat. They are strong when mounted vertically. I’d love to see this project when you finish! Sounds really cool

      Reply
      • Cindy says

        December 9, 2015 at 12:49 pm

        Thanks for the info on the center slides! I have this illogical fear of installing metal drawer slides and hinges- probably due to my history of installing hardware upside down, unevenly and backwards. I am so confident and precise when using my power tools (bandsaw is my fav!) yet it is these little details that get in my way of finishing projects. You are an inspiration Sandra! So glad I found your site.

        Reply
  2. Lori says

    December 7, 2015 at 11:23 am

    Oh my goodness, of all the things you’ve built, this could be my very favorite! Super clever and super organized!

    Reply
    • Sandra says

      December 9, 2015 at 3:13 am

      Oh wow! Thank. Out of everything this project is your favorite? Honestly it might be mine too because it’s so nice not to waste time searching in bottomless pits of large drawers and piles of junk on shelves. I love organization! LOL

      Reply
  3. Heather says

    December 7, 2015 at 12:57 pm

    What is that red tool you are using in the last photo?

    Reply
    • Sandra says

      December 9, 2015 at 3:13 am

      That is a Bessey 90º angle clamp and it is awesome!

      Reply
  4. HEATHER says

    December 9, 2015 at 8:35 am

    I love your blog! This is exactly what I want to do in my own garage. I absolutly love your pantry too. Amazing!

    Reply
  5. TRacy says

    February 4, 2018 at 5:12 pm

    What type and brand of slides did you use in this project?

    Reply
  6. Richard Lavallee says

    January 12, 2019 at 12:27 pm

    Great Ideas you have. Thanks for all the great suggestions you have. I now know exactly how to design my new new cabinets in the garage using vertical slides.

    Reply
  7. Dick Clark says

    April 1, 2019 at 11:55 pm

    Ever have one of those ah ha! moments? That was my thought when I was looking for a way to hide/relocate my cube storage trays off the wall and saw your article. Going to get some hardware tomorrow! Now I have to get a shirt that says “build like a girl!”

    Reply
    • Sandra says

      April 2, 2019 at 8:43 am

      Yeah. Glad to help. Rock that Build like a Girl t-shirt!

      Reply

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