I Found More Storage by Replacing My Double Door Base Cabinet!

by David McIntosh

2 Materials

$100

4 Hours

Medium

The double door base cabinet turned into a giant mess of pots and pans and Tupperware. I need a solution to make it more useable.

This worked so well I did it in another project too.

i found more storage by replacing my double door base cabinet

I removed the 2x doors and the half shelf that was in the back (useless shelf). There also was a pull out box on the bottom, but you had to open both doors to pull it out and items always fell out making it a challenge to get things.

I added some side supports so I could attach the full extension slides. This is to also fill in the space on each side, and bring the wall flush with the face frame.

Here I am adding one of the 22 inch drawer slides.

I will be using drawers so I needed a cross bar. 2x pocket screws on each end hold it in place... along with a tight friction fit.

Here is the drawer box. It is a simple 1/2 inch plywood construction. Cabinet grade Blonde wood plywood.

It is just glued together held together with long staples using my air gun. To add a little strength, I put a few 1 1/4 inch screws just to help hold it together while the glue dried.

After the glue dried... I put on light oak stain/sealant to protect the inside walls and edges. For the base, I put some white contact paper on the bottom.

Here you can see the drawers installed on the glides. They are 9 inch tall drawers in a 10 1/4 inch opening.

Here you can see the fronts I added. The widest board I could buy was 11 1/4" tall, so that determined the size of the drawers and openings I built.

The bottom holds all of our pots and pans with lids. It is a big improvement over what we had before. I may add some dividers one day, but for now... we can see everything easily.

The top is for Tupperware... I wanted the lids to have their own place... so I added a simple runner on each side... allowing me to friction slide the mini shelf forward and backwards. Sliding the top lets us look underneath to get anything in the back.

We love it! Hope it inspires you.

Enjoyed the project?

You can do it! Saved to your projects

Frequently asked questions

Have a question about this project?

Ask a Question

3 of 6 questions

A on May 28, 2017

Where did you get the drawer fronts shown at the end?

4
Nancy Wilson on May 28, 2017

I have one of those corner cabinets that makes it difficult to use. It's an apartment so I can't put in a lazy susan cabinet. I presently store things I rarely use but it's basically empty, while the front half is full. The same thing goes for the upper cabinets in that corner. Do you have a suggestion for a fix on this cabinet problem? I love the drawer solution you've done for my only other below-counter cabinet.

8
Sandra Lauria on May 29, 2017

Is it possible to put in the drawers but leave the outside doors as it would be very hard to replicate mine?

6

Comments

Join the conversation

5 of 75 comments

Liz on Sep 16, 2019

We just tore out our entire kitchen and replaced all cupboards with drawers. Only got rid of a few things and am amazed at how much more room we have. Even though all cupboards were full, we have 2 drawers that are empty. Yeah!!!! Also doing it ourselves (hubby building cabinets and drawers) we saved about $10,000.

4 Reply
- Bernice H on Sep 17, 2019
  
  So happy for you. Our kitchen cost almost half again as much...but drawers..big deep and wide are the way to go!
  
  1
Kelli Cook on Apr 14, 2020

Looks great but your pots drawer needs some organising. Tupperware drawer is perfect!

Like Reply
- See 1 previous
- David McIntosh on Apr 14, 2020
  
  Totally agree... but none of them stack. I plan to buy all new pans that organize better...
  
  Like
- Smith on Feb 05, 2021
  
  There r racks you can purchase to separate lids, other vertically or horizontally, depending which direction gives you enough room for your largest lid. Depending what fits in your drawer, you can even use 2 racks, as there were so many lids.
  Also, there r stacking pot and pan sets these days, if you’re ready for new pot and pans.
  Hope this helps.
  
  Like