You can extra your kitchen storage as long as there’s enough space underneath to fit your countertop appliances. You can easily to tidy your Coffee pods, knives, utensils, spices. Idea from FamilyHandyman
Tools: Basic hand tools, jigsaw or circular saw, drill, 18-gauge nailer (a miter saw and a table saw will speed things up and give you better results)
Two boards and 1/4-in. plywood
This under-cabinet drawer really is a simple project.
Use poplar for all the parts because the exposed parts will be painted to match the cabinets.
Side-mount drawer slides made easy
Ordinarily, installing drawers with side-mount slides is very challenging. But with this technique, everything is built around the drawer, making it very easy.
Most upper cabinets are 12 in. deep. So we suggest you can choose our soft close drawer slides or push to open drawer slides for this project.
The cavity defines the drawer sizes
Peek under your cabinets and you’ll see the cavities. You can put several drawers under a row of cabinets if you wish, but each cabinet needs a separate drawer. If you’re putting in adjoining drawers, hold off on cutting the drawer fronts until all the drawers are installed so you can cut them to fit with even gaps between them.
For single cabinet drawers, go ahead and cut the fronts the same length as the cabinet drawers face. You won’t need any drawer pulls. Because the drawer front drops about an inch below the drawer, you’ll have a built-in lip on the underside for a finger pull.
- Size the drawer
Measure the cavity under the cabinet and cut a piece of 1/4-in. plywood 2-1/2 in. narrower and 1/4 in. shallower than those dimensions.
- Build the drawer frame
Cut 1×3 frame parts to match the plywood dimensions, then glue and nail them together with 1-1/2-in. 18-gauge brads.
- Add the drawer bottom
Glue and nail the plywood to the frame using the plywood to square up the frame as you fasten it.
- Attach the drawer slide
Cut two 1x4s to the same length as the drawer sides, then attach the slides to the drawer supports, holding them flush with the bottom and the end. Use a self-centering drill bit in the round slide mounting holes before sinking the 1/2-in. screws.
- Join the slide to the drawer
Pull out the slide on each drawer support a few inches to expose the mounting holes, then predrill and screw the slides to the drawer sides flush with the front.
- Finish attaching the drawer slide
Pull the slide out the rest of the way to mount the slide to the back end of the drawer.
- Stick the assembly to the cabinet
Use double-face tape to temporarily stick the assembly to the underside of the cabinet. (Center it in the opening.)
- Screw the drawer supports to the cabinet bottom
Drill two 1/8-in. pilot holes through the cabinet bottom, then screw into the drawer supports.
- Stick on the drawer front
Cut the 1×4 drawer front exactly the same length as the cabinet face frame. Use two nickels to space it from the cabinet frame while you attach it with double-face tape.
- Attach the drawer front
Drill, then permanently attach the drawer front to the drawer frame from the inside with 1-1/4-in. screws.
- Clamp and screw the side trim into place
Drill pilot holes above the drawer slide and attach the side trim with 1-1/4-in. screws.
Before you adhere and screw the assembly onto the cabinet, have someone help you hold it in place to make sure the drawer clears the cabinet face frame. If it doesn’t, rip 3/4-in. strips of 1/4-in. plywood for spacers (as many as needed) and nail them to the drawer support before mounting the assembly.