How to Make Simple Custom DIY Drawer Dividers

18 January, 2024

Simple yet effective ideas to transform your kitchen drawers with custom wood DIY drawer dividers.

Tired of rummaging through cluttered drawers in search of utensils or spices?

I definitely am!

Over the years I’ve tried to implement organization into my kitchen drawers using standard drawer organizers.

And it just wasn’t working for me.

In my builder’s grade kitchen I have a bank of drawers by the fridge, a narrow set of drawers next to the sink and two large drawers that flank the range.

None of them are ideal for utensil storage.

I’ve had my mom help me from time to time, but what works in her kitchen doesn’t work in mine.

If you’re looking for a way to create custom DIY drawer dividers, you’ve come to the right place.

Our step by step guide is here to transform your kitchen chaos into personalized order for your kitchen drawers, or any drawer for that matter.

In fact, a couple of years ago when we gave my mom’s laundry room a makeover, we transformed her junk drawer with custom wood DIY drawer dividers.

So say goodbye to the mess and hello to a beautifully organized kitchen – let’s dive into this project!

If you’re a more visual learner you can always take a look at our video tutorial.

In this post . . .

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Let’s Take a Look at the Problem

Let’s open the drawer to reality and take a candid look at the chaos in my kitchen drawers.

Kitchen utensil drawer with store bought organizers that are inefficient and waste space. Eating utensils, whisks, can opener, slicer, potato masher, ladels, grater, scoops, straws, spatulas and tongs

Utensils jumbled, the daily struggle to find what I need is real.

And with a house full of kids, who unload the dishwasher and put utensils anywhere and everywhere, it’s high time I make some changes!

Kitchen drawer before building custom drawer dividers. Spices slide around, knives are all piled into a small plastic bin, measuring cups, hot pads and trivets.

Then in the drawer on the other side of the range it’s really no better, the spices are always in disarray, knives are all crammed into a cheap organizer and odds and ends are placed wherever I can get them to fit.

If it’s a familiar scene, and if your drawers resonate with this chaos, you’re not alone.

The need for organization is clear, and that’s where our journey begins.

Join us as we create an organized system for each of these drawers with DIY drawer dividers.

Materials to Create DIY Drawer Dividers

First let’s take a look at the materials and tools we used to build our DIY drawer dividers.

The wood we chose is 1/4″ x 3″ x 4′ poplar boards, often known as hobby boards.

This is a hardwood, without knots and they have a smooth finish.

You can find the boards at Home Depot or Lowes.

You’ll also need wood glue, masking tape, sandpaper, tape measure and some sort of saw.

We used our chop saw, but a hand saw will work too.

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Make A Plan

Before diving into this project, the first step to making our DIY drawer divider is crafting a functional plan.

First assess the contents of your drawers and envision the ideal organization.

Purge items that are worn or you never use.

Consider the dimensions of utensils, the variety of spices, and the layout that best suits your needs.

Various kitchen utensils in drawer, using straws as divider to plan out how to organize drawer. Woman's hand with tape measure finds distance for section.

Using straws as proposed drawer divider placement, we began making a dedicated spot for the eating and cooking utensils in this drawer.

We found that the backside of gift wrap paper has 1″ grids, so we used this to draft our plan.

With a clear vision in mind, sketch a simple plan that outlines the placement and size of each divider.

Paper is used to create a plan for kitchen drawer organization, cooking utensils on paper with penciled in marks for wood placement for DIY drawer dividers.

First we cut the paper to fit the drawer, then measured each section and marked it on our paper.

Using a quilting ruler is also helpful in marking the 1/4″ thickness for each board.

Drawer organizer plan on paper placed in the drawer.

This blueprint will serve as your roadmap throughout the crafting process, ensuring that each section of your DIY drawer dividers are precise.

This process was repeated for the second drawer that will hold spices, knives, hot pads, and measuring spoons and cups.

Cut Wood

With our plan in place for both drawers, we’re ready to cut the wood.

Wood for custom wood DIY drawer dividers is cut into correct sized for each section.

On our sketch for our drawer dividers, each section is labeled and we also wrote the measurements for each piece of wood to cut.

This made making our cuts a breeze.

To cut our boards we used our chop saw, but really any saw will work as long as you make the cuts straight.

Begin by carefully measuring and cutting the poplar boards to the dimensions specified in your plan.

Precision is key to achieving a good fit for each divider.

Once they’re all cut sand any rough edges with sandpaper.

If you’re new here, welcome! We’re so glad you’re here.

Let us introduce ourselves, we’re Michelle and Steph, a mom and daughter team who love to DIY and decorate our homes.

Not only are we passionate about making our homes warm, comfortable and unique, but it’s our mission to help you create that same feeling in your own home.

You’ll find ideas for repurposing, creating, decorating and making your home truly yours, while always mindful of a tight budget.

Undoubtedly we love finding ways to make your home look high-end on a small budget.

Plus you’ll also find a recipe or two as we share our family favorites with you.

We’d love it if you’d join our community of doers so you won’t miss any inspiration for your home.

We love new friends.

Assemble DIY Drawer Dividers

It’s now time to assemble our DIY drawer dividers.

To make this as easy as possible, we kept our sketch inside the drawer and also placed a little masking tape where joints would come in contact with the sides of the drawer.

Our plan is to have our drawer divider removable once it’s assembled.

Then when it’s time to deep clean the drawer you simply lift it out, wipe and return.

Apply glue to one end of wood drawer divider.

First place all your pieces in the drawer and do a dry fit, making any necessary additional cuts as needed.

Then apply wood glue to the end of the board, place it on the drawing and secure it in place with a little tape if necessary.

Woman places piece of wood with glue to adjoining piece forming a section for the DIY drawer dividers.

You’ll notice in our drawer there’s a little bit of wiggle room on the sides so it can easily be removed to clean.

You may find it helpful to use clamps for some of the joints until the glue dries.

We had a couple of spots that required clamps for a bit.

Custom wood DIY drawer dividers in drawer on paper plan, glued together.

We did not place boards around the entire perimeter, only where absolutely necessary, like the long sections, or where we felt it needed a little more support.

Custom wood DIY drawer dividers glued together in the drawer with the paper plan under sections.

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Reveal Drawer Dividers

After the labor of love in crafting and assembling our DIY drawer dividers, the moment of revelation arrives – opening those drawers to a newfound sense of order and functionality.

The pure satisfaction as each utensil has its designated space, spices neatly aligned, and the once chaotic drawer transformed into beautiful organization.

I’m ready to savor the joy of drawers staying neat and tidy, easily accessing what I need, exactly where it belongs, and relish a beautifully organized space!

Custom wood DIY drawer dividers for eating and cooking utensils in a kitchen drawer.

Custom wood DIY drawer dividers in kitchen spices alphabetized, knives, measuring spoons and cups, funnels, slicer, scissors, hot pads neatly organized in kitchen drawer.

To make this drawer function better, we purchased new glass spice jars.

Looking to make better use of this space we searched for jars that were square and a bit taller, taking up less space.

Custom wood DIY drawer dividers in kitchen spices, alphabetized.

I’m so excited to cook now with my spices alphabetized and with every item
precisely in it’s place.

If you’re tight on space, measure your drawer and optimize the space!

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