After reading several inspiring blog posts, I decided to organize my bathroom drawer with some DIY drawer dividers. While it isn’t quite a junk drawer, it sure had accumulated a lot of junk.
Now I am going to share with you a before photo… but be a good friend and don’t let this circulate the globe, n’kay?
Or at least don’t forward it to my dermatologists house.
He would die if he saw me using half the products I put on my face.
And then come back to life and die again when he looked at the expiration dates.
Not kidding.
After a major drawer purge, I had my makeup down to the essentials and got to work. I realized that a store bought insert just wasn’t working for me because it doesn’t utilize all of my drawer space.
Custom made insert to the rescue!
DIY Drawer Dividers Tutorial:
First, I went to my local Home Depot and picked up some wood lathes. These are just thin pieces of wood used in plaster work. They usually come in 48 inch long pieces, and are super cheap.
Just .55 a piece at my local store. Sweet!
Most home improvement stores will cut wood for you at no charge, so I went with my drawer measurements and just had the pieces cut there.
And then I sat on the floor and laid it all out to make sure I had enough pieces for the DIY drawer dividers.
And then had them cut some more.
And more.
They love me at Home Depot.
Then I went to look for wood glue, and the same employee who cut the wood and watched me lay all my pieces all over the floor happened to be in the glue and tape aisle.
And I made him help me find the cheapest wood glue.
That wasn’t awkward.
When I got home I laid the pieces out and glued everything together.
Well, actually I had a Diet Coke first, ’cause chasing my three year old around Home Depot is exhausting.
I know most people would recommend using large clamps to hold drying wood glue in place.
Meh. You don’t really need them for these DIY drawer dividers. Just try to make sure everything is straight.
The reason this project is so renter friendly is that you can make a custom drawer insert, but you don’t have to permanently glue it in. It can easily be removed and taken with you wherever you go. Or, just make a new one next time you move since the wood is so cheap.
After the wood glue dried, I next gave my insert two coats of white paint.
After the paint was dry, it was ready to go in my drawer!
On a side note, you can also easily protect the bottom of your drawer by using a piece of masonite glued to the bottom of your DIY drawer dividers. I decided to just use a drawer liner since I can purchase a roll for just a few dollars, and then cut it to size.
Now my custom insert is ready to go!
Oh my awesomesauce! I totally love how it turned out. Not only did this project force me to purge, but it gave everything it’s own little special place.
Hooray for no more brushing with a toothbrush that taste’s like deodorant!
(Maybe that was too much information.)
Seriously, I love how easy this was. I am totally going to do it in all my bathrooms!
Thank you, thank you, thank you! Just exactly what I need to organize these drawers with their weird measurements.
that is brilliant. thank you for sharing!
This is awesome! So simple and cheap. Exactly what I need!!!
Brilliant!
[…] using. Another great idea is to make your own wooden drawer organizers to fit your needs. The Organized mom has a fabulous tutorial on how to do […]
[…] I am planning on implementing an organization system for junk drawer like this. […]
[…] Messy drawers? Try these inexpensive DIY drawer dividers at Organized Mom. […]
but where did you put all the other stuff from the ‘before’ picture?
[…] […]
[…] DIY Draw Organisers […]
your idea is fantastic and so simple! I am always on the lookout for great storage and organization ideas. I have several drawers I am going to use this on! Thank you so much
Kathy, she wrote in her article it gave her a great chance to purge, so it’s safe to assume not everything went back in the drawer.
I am a consultant for Clever Container. We sell fun organizing items for home, office and auto. We have a drawer saver as well, as great high quality products at very reasonable prices. As well as ideas to help organize. Check out my website.
wwwmycleverbiz.com/clutterrescue
May I inquire about how important the edge pieces are? I was just thinking that without it, you’d have more room for sorting, but maybe it would wiggle around too much…
I’m not only going to do this in my bathrooms, but in my kitchen, and butler’s pantry.
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What a great creative idea! I am going to share this one for sure.
Like the DIY idea very much. Keep up the good work. Would love to try and do a similar one at the garage. Great!
Wouldn’t you need to sand these pieces before painting? My husband pointed out that these are quite rough and one might pick up splinters from them.
[…] 4. Wood Drawer Inserts […]
[…] Mess to clean in literally 10 minutes! And because everything has a home, it will stay clean. I did have to give my family a lecture about “respecting the drawer”. The drawer organizer I bought is available here or you can create your own custom organizer following this tutorial. […]
As a fellow blogger I wanted to tell you that your project was scraped here:
http://www.nx2.com/a/nx2/she-saw-the-pile-of-cheap-wood-and-decided-to-make-this-the-best-part-she-didnt-use-a-single-tool-5891
Oh, this is wonderful 🙂 It will help me a lot …. job for my husband this weekend 😀
[…] Permanent Drawer Dividers Or, if you prefer permanent dividers, all it takes is a few pieces of inexpensive wood, cut to fit, painted, and glued together to become a custom-made drawer insert. You can glue them permanently into the drawer, or not. Easy-to-follow directions are given at OrganizedMom […]
Great info I’m going to try this idea in my junk drawers. Yes I have more than one.
It’s too bad the .55 lathes are no longer available. I went to Home Depot today and they told me they have not had these for years. Ended up having to buy 12″ cedar shims and glue together to make longer to fit the 17″ drawer length.
Hey Katie, I went to Lowes and they had what they call craft wood… I think they were 12 inches as well but when I made mine, I didn’t do an entire frame around the inside. I just cut my horizontal pieces to fit very snug inside and then glued my vertical pieces. It cost me $5 to do both my bathroom drawers. Hope this helps!!
[…] DIY Drawer Organizer: this do-it-yourself drawer organizer allows you to customize your storage to perfectly fit your […]
I can’t thank you enough for posting this!!! I did my drawers and it was beyond amazing!! Plan on doing this in all drawers possible:-)
Wish I had read your post before. I had the same thing done, but it was just
trial and error. The Home Depot employee was really helpful.
He had to walk me through step by step. However, had I read your instructions
before, I would have been more prepared.Lucky for me I had the Home Depot
employee who knew what he was doing, not only cut the wood but helped me
with the wood glue.
[…] via Organized Mom […]
Great DIY. You did a wonderful job. Love this drawer organization tip.