Sliding shelves are becoming a must-have feature in any modern kitchen, but the prices keep many people away. In this post, I’ll show you how to make your own slide-out shelves for your kitchen cabinets for a fraction of the cost of buying them.
On October 31, 2013, we moved into this home. Shafts of autumn sun pierced through the windows that day, illuminating the kitchen. Granite counters gleamed in the soft golden light. The kitchen was empty but full of promise. The polished rock whispered of wine glasses and fruit bowls, of orchids and hors d’oeuvres. Fast forward a few years and listen. You’ll hear the granite whisper no more. Instead you’ll hear it bitch about spilled milk and dried paint and bread crumbs in the corners so old, they’ve petrified. You’ll hear it groan from the burden it bears, as appliances piled up and cluttered its mottled slab. You’ll hear the granite whine about its dull visage as it reminisces about “The Shiny Years.”
My granite may no longer be the belle of the ball, but she shouldn’t have to suffer the indignities I’ve put her through these past few years. I decided to restore her to her former glory. There was only one problem: where would I put all the appliances in order to reveal her bare and simple self? I couldn’t put them in the cabinets – they were all full of crap. Full of crap….hmmmm. I squatted down, knees popping in protest. I opened the cabinet doors and looked into their depths. My suspicions were confirmed. They were full of crap! I took a quick inventory of the biggest double cabinet and realized that I’d only been using maybe 3% of its space – just a little corner in the front where I kept my barbecue thermometer and muslin bags for straining yogurt. The rest of the space was filed with piles and piles of crap that I hadn’t touched in two years. I even found two packages of ice cream cones that I’m pretty sure I bought before we moved in. It was time for action.
There’s a meat grinder in there…and a panini maker! All the junk on the floor and in boxes used to be in that cabinet.
There’s granite under there, somewhere…
Yes that’s laundry in the background. “Before” pictures are supposed to be cluttered! Of course I would *never* have laundry lying around any other time. *cough cough*
And over by the stove…
Fresh baked bread, a blowtorch and Febreze. So what? What’s on your counter?
The problem with most lower cabinets in the kitchen is that they are just too deep, and we chefs are just too old. Stuff gets pushed to the back and forgotten, because the effort involved in excavating and mining kitchen paraphernalia from the depths of lower cabinetry far outweighs the reward. So we push, we pile, and we forget. This leads not only to wasted space but also to duplicate purchases, as we keep buying things we already have, simply because we can’t reach them, or we’ve forgotten we ever owned them in the first place.
The easiest way to reach the nether regions of a cabinet is not for you to go to the nether region, but for the nether region to come to you. Enter slide-out shelves. When I first lit upon the idea, I went online to see how much they would cost. That resulted in popped eyeballs and chest pains. Home Depot sells the following for $90:
$90. For one. I gagged and sputtered. At least it comes with a quality slide mechanism. But seriously. $90. For one. I needed eleven of them. Obviously I wouldn’t be buying them (but honestly folks, was that ever really an option?). It was time to break out my notepad and start designing.
I wanted to start with the double cabinet pictured above. I wanted two big drawers, spanning the whole space. That would require knocking out that center support column. Good, I love breaking stuff!
This left some pieces on the top and bottom that needed to be chiseled out.
I then filled the hole in the bottom with drywall filler. There was no need to be fancy, as I would be covering this part later with adhesive melamine edging.
Don’t worry! That silly support was not load-bearing. The granite is fully supported by the other three sides of the carcass, and the drawer above is supported on the sides. However, just to be safe, I reinforced the crossbar below the drawer with a piece of 3/4″ plywood (not pictured).
That shelf was not removable, at least not without destroying the sides of the cabinet. I left it in place and used it as a handy guide for placing the slides. I opted for quality ball-bearing drawer slides. They hold a hell of a lot more weight than the cheap ones with the wheels. They look better and feel better, too. For 22″ slides, they run about $16 for a pair at Home Depot. If you don’t have a Home Depot or Lowes in your area, Amazon carries them for about a dollar less than the Big Box stores (click here). Before I could install the slides, I had to install some gap-filler plywood strips on which to mount the slides. You can see that the face frame around the cabinet is not flush with the inner cabinet walls. The gap was 13/16″, so I filled it with strips of 3/4″ plywood and three washers at each of the three screws used to secure each strip. Now the mounting strips were flush with the edges of the frame. This was necessary so the slides could function unimpeded.
After installing all of the mounting strips, I installed the slides.
I finished prepping this cabinet.
The only other cabinet that needed modification was the one under the stove. This is where I keep dog food and where I kept a few pots and pans (removed in the following picture). The plan here was to have one shelf on the right side to hold the big dog food container and two shelves on the left to hold the bread machine and some other stuff. Because of the stove’s power supply, I had to use 18″ slides on the lower left instead of the 22″ slides I used everywhere else.
That center support was a big waste of space, so I took it out and built a smaller one out of 3/4″ plywood. I secured it in place with glue and pocket screws. I needed a center support here because I would be installing an upper shelf on the left, and the slide’s support strip needed to be secured in the front and back. I’m not sure why I didn’t get a picture of that support strip, but this picture shows the bottom one.
Crawling around in these cabinets was difficult for a lumpy old turd like me.
The other three cabinets were singles, and just needed to be emptied before I installed the slides. I didn’t take pictures of the process, because it was repetitive, and images of a large middle-aged man squirming around in narrow cabinets shouting profanities might be upsetting to some. Here are the “before” shots of the remaining three cabinets.
Some of my homemade sauce, jarred back in the summer. Wait till you see where I put them! (That’s the next post in the Space Hacker series)
The toaster came with the house. Only one side works. Sadly, it didn’t make the cut. It now lives in the garage.
My baking cabinet. Also, my plastic bag storage. Yeesh.
Okay, with the slides installed, now it was time to build the shelves based on my notebook scribblings. I’ll give dimensions as they relate to the width and depth of the cabinet, in case you are interested in building a few.
Just so we’re all on the same page, width (W), is the distance across the face frame of the cabinet (NOT the distance from inner wall to inner wall). The depth is the distance from the back wall to the inner part of the face frame.
I used drawer slides that are each 1/2″ thick, so together that makes one inch. Here are my dimensions:
W-1 accounts for the width of the drawer slides
I used 1/2″ birch plywood. It is important to use high-quality plywood for a project like this. I drilled pocket holes around three sides of the base and on the short ends of the back piece using my Kreg Jig. This has been one of my most loved and used tools, and it is essential for any DiY cabinetry. Click here to find it on Amazon.
Click on ‘Page 2 of 3’ below to continue.
Christina in FL says
Oh Handan and Greg, I can hear Angels singing!! What a GORGEOUS job you did! I LOVE the sliding shelves and your details are completely phenomenal. Seriously. I imagine there are drawer slides rated for different loads. Your end result is …. goose-bumpy good! 😉
Greg says
Thank you, Christina! 🙂
Ray says
Pretty cool!
Greg says
Thanks, Uncle Ray!
c says
Crawling around in these cabinets was difficult for a lumpy old turd like me, lmao but so worth huh, greg and i bet handan loved it too nice nice job way above my pay grade xx
Greg says
Thank you, Chris! Yes, we are all loving the liberated counter space. Though truth be told, it has gotten a bit cluttered these past few days with hydrangeas as we await the season’s last snow tonight.
chris aka monkey says
i think it is so funny hometalk removed my remark about you being a he lmao xx
Greg says
Oh no! I didn’t see that, lol!
Jackie says
Great job! Plus explaining all of your work as you progressed! You are a very talented person!! Looks fab!
Greg says
Thank you, Jackie!
Christine says
Oh my gosh. I so need this, hope I can talk my guy into these. Just remodeled kitchen a few years ago and I’m having these same problems. So much in cupboards and “getting ” to it. Thank you so much.
Greg says
Thank you, Christine! Here’s what you do: dump all the stuff from your cupboards on the floor, and tell him that it won’t be picked up until you have some nice slide-out shelves to put it back on!
🙂
G
REBECCA SWIFT says
A chef and a wood-worker? Wow. I would love to make some sliding shelves too but I don’t have the tools or experience necessary. Nice job, though.
I didn’t see any final cost listing for materials used. How much do you think the initial double wide sliding shelf cost you to make?
Greg says
Hi Rebecca,
I estimate the total cost for all 11 shelves to be about $300. That includes 2 sheets of plywood, 11 pairs of slides, 2 sheets of polywall and washers. I already had enough scraps of 3/4″ plywood, so I didn’t have to buy that. I also had all of the screws and glue and Danish Oil. I would estimate that it would cost about $100 just to make the two big ones, assuming you had to buy one sheet of 1/2″ plywood ($40), one sheet of Polywall ($20), 2 sets of slides ($32) and a pint of Danish Oil ($8). This doesn’t include the cost of glue and screws.
But this is the cost if you were to only make those two big slides. When factored into the larger project, the cost is much less since the leftover material would be used to make additional shelves.
G
Graffiti53 says
What did you do about the space left between the doors where you took out the center support column?
Greg says
I glued a strip of Polywall to the inside of the left door, so that about an inch or so was sticking out. When the doors are closed, left first, then right, the Polywall strip fills the gap. There are pictures of it above in the post.
Archie says
I did the same except I used the center piece I cut out and glued/screwed it to one door for the filler.
Greg says
That’s a great idea!
Jean Holt says
Thanks so much for these detailed instructions. I absolutely will be making these for my pantry and base cabinets as soon as possible!
Greg says
Awesome! Send us some pics of the result!
Val says
What a great idea, I am going to use it for my kitchen. What is the benefit of covering the bottom with Polywall vs. leaving it as it is?
Thanks for the tutorial!
Greg says
Hi Val, the polywall just serves to protect the bottom and make it easier to slide things around without scratching wood or paint. It is especially useful in the drawer with the pots and pans, as I keep my cast iron oiled. Much easier to clean a piece of plastic than wood! I also like the contrast between the stained wood and the white polywall.
Nell802 says
Is anyone else shocked at the lack of common sense? I’m completely devastated that some of these people are also operating power tools!!! Great job!!! I appreciate the lengths you go to build, and protect the shelves so thoughtfully….. It would’ve been great to see you come up with a more “polished” way to “camouflage” the center gap in the cupboard doors….. I await a surprise!
Feral Turtle says
That turned out fantastic Greg. I am going to have to look for the “Polywall” I have never seen it here in Canada. Is it 1/4 inch melamine or something different? I used melamine paint but it took forever to dry when I redid my baking cupboard. This would have been so much quicker. Again you did an amazing job! Cheers.
Feral Turtle says
I just Googled it. Wow pretty cool product. I learned something new today. Thank you!
Greg says
You’re very welcome! Thank you for reading!
Greg
Evi Wiley says
Thanks for posting. Great idea.
Greg says
Thank you, Evi!
barbara says
Stove? You mean a person could cook food on that thing? I thought it was a seed-warmer!! (LOVED your instructional)
Greg says
Ouch! Guess I need to upgrade to gas! 🙂
That will happen sooner or later…
Handan says
I get the hint, I get the hint! 🙂
Robin says
Can’t wait to show this to my husband. we were just looking at them on line and I was complaing about the cost. Thanks
Greg says
Hi Robin, it’s a bit of work, but so worth it when finished!
Greg
Pam says
Nice work!
Greg says
Thank you, Pam!
Lisa House says
Beautiful job! Are you the chef as well as the handyman? I love a man who cooks! However, as my mother would have said about spaces she couldn’t reach…that’s what I had kids for! I remember standing on the counters to get things off the top shelf of cabinets (mom was 5’3″ and dad built the cabinets up to the ceiling) and crawling into the lower cabinets to retrieve what mom needed. Keep up the good work, your tutorial was fabulous!
Greg says
Thank you, Lisa! I am the chef, as well 🙂
Sara says
Great post – and I love the tip about the Polywall. I’ll have to look for that!
Greg says
Thank you, Sara! Polywall is great stuff for cabinets, shelves and drawers!
Debrashoppeno5 says
This is a wonderful tutorial. Pinning for later.
Greg says
Thank you, Debra!
Carol says
I love all your photos and great tutorial on this. Our cupboards have sliders on the top shelving, but nothing on the bottom and those bottom ones are hard to reach back into. I’ve been wanting these since we moved here 3 years ago.
Greg says
Thank you, Carol! They have made my life sooooo much easier!
kathleen says
Wow, you guys make a great team! Ironically my husband just installed premade slider shelves under two of our cabinets. One for pots and pans and one for tupperware-like stuff. Don’t they make life so much easier? Thanks for sharing at Vinatge Charm! xoKathleen
Greg says
Thank you, Kathleen! Yes, I can’t imagine life without them now…such a great improvement!
Christine at Must Love Home says
I Loved your project!!You have been Pinned, Tweeted and Posted to facebook! Your amazing post will be featured this week at the Friday Favorites Link Party. The party goes LIVE on Thursdays at 7PM at mustlovehome.com I hope to see your there! Hugs – Christine at Must Love Home
Greg says
Hi Christine, thank you so much for the feature!
Emily says
Awesome DIY! Sliding shelves are so useful; I’d love to add some to our bathroom cabinets. Thanks for linking up with Merry Monday.
Greg says
Thank you, Emily!
Melissa says
Wow, I need to do this asap! My tupperware cupboard drives me crazy, this would help in organization so much. I wasn’t sure how to deal with the middle bar in my cupboards, so thanks for the ideas.
Greg says
Thank you, Melissa, and good luck!
Victoria says
Fabulous! I’ve been dreaming of these for a long time. I think it’s time to finally break down and build them! I’ve got about 350+ full canning jars that need a place to live, so I need to check out your canning post too! Thanks for sharing!
Greg says
Thank you, Victoria! Wow, that’s a lot of jars! You’ll need a better solution than my dinky little jar caddy!
Laurie says
So nicely done! Thanks for sharing! Pinned 🙂
Greg says
Thank you, Laurie! 🙂
creativejewishmom/sara says
wow, how wonderful to be so handy…..draws are truly the best use of space in kitchen cabinets. I did that on most of my cabinets when I designed the kitchen 10 years ago, and that one cabinet that isn’t with drawers is just a huge hole for disaster! Thanks for sharing those before photos which shows me you are busy creating not just cleaning all the time, and for sharing on craft schooling Sunday!
Greg says
Thank you so much, Sara! These are one of the few things I’ve made where I can honestly say my life is considerably better having built them! 🙂 a good week to you!
Allie hunter says
I want these so badly! And in my pantry too. Thanks for great step by step instructions. I’d love to save this on Pinterest.
Greg says
Thank you, Allie!
Debbie says
Hi Greg, I LOVE what you did. It’s so functional. I have the same issue. Our kitchen has the “basic builder cabinets” – which is what I call them. They are the medium oak cabinets that look like they are from the ’80s. When we moved into this home 14 years ago, we had visions of gutting the kitchen. Well, as you can guess, that never happened. Because our cabinets are low-end, they have that vertical bar in the centre, which you had, and which you eliminated. I have a question. How do I know that the bar is not load bearing? And, although you included so many helpful pics, I would have loved to have seen the doors closed after you had glued on the Polywal, to see the finished effect. I hate the middle bar in my cabinets — both upper and lower. I thought I was stuck with that awful middle bar of wood. You have supplied me with an option to get around it. Thank you!
Greg says
Hi Debbie. I’m on vacation this week, but when I’m back home next week, I’ll send you a picture of the closed doors (please remind me!)
Does your cabinet have a drawer over it? If so, the center spar won’t be load-bearing, except maybe for the drawer. If the drawer has an under mount slide, then the spar might be holding the weight of the drawer. If the drawer has side mounted slides, then the cabinet frame would be supporting the drawer, and the center spar would be cosmetic.
Greg says
I remembered!
Jo fink says
The timing was perfect to find your blog on diy kitchen shelves. Just bought a home with a new kitchen but no pull out shelves. I felt my heart sink as its back breaking to get those big heavy pots out of the back of a cabinet. Thank you for the solution to make life better & less expensive.
Greg says
Thank you, Jo, and good luck!
Deirdre says
I love what you did great talent I thought I would have liked the tin tile to be more of a brownish, color to compliment the counter though.
Greg says
Thank you, Dierdre. The tin came with the house. One of these days, we’ll get around to replacing it.
Linda Warner says
Your house looks like mine except I don’t have a cooperative husband!!??. He put in the sliding drawers for me several years ago but boy! did I ever have to nag to get them done. He’s not a carpenter, he was an auto body repairman ( thus the grey spot of primer on the back of my otherwise blue van). He had no imagination for what I wanted and I still have stuff on my countertop. Caaba wait to see where u put the stuff that was IN the cabonets!
Linda
Greg says
Lol, thank you so much, Linda!
Julie M says
This is something I’ve wanted since we moved into our home 4 years ago but like you I found the commercial products far to exspensive. You have inspired me I haven’t done much wood working but we have most of the tools so with your instructions in hand I am going to give it ago. Wish me luck!
Greg says
Awesome! Good luck, Julie! Send us some pics when you finish!
Linda Schultz says
What a great job! Any ideas for that dead space when you have corner cabinets?
Greg says
Linda, I’m so sorry for this incredibly late reply. Somehow a bunch of comments on this post slipped by without my notice. My favorite solution for corner cabinets is the one my sister uses at her house: http://amzn.to/2mCyXun
Another interesting solution that I think might even be better is this one, though I’ve never seen it in person: http://amzn.to/2lg7Ow9
Patricia Helen says
I need you in my kitchen
Greg says
Okay, I’m only a half a year late with this reply, so….do you still need me? I’m free in a couple of months, I think! 😀
Kathy Sanford says
Hey Steve, First I would like to say that your cabinet redo is right up my alley. My kitchen cabinet space is very small. The one issue I have is my upper corner cabinet. There is so much wasted space. I have haunted several sights for ideas that I can make to use this cabinets space better. Have not found anything useful. Have any thoughts or ideas??
Greg says
Kathy, I’m so sorry for this (half a year) late reply! Yes, I do have two recommendations for corner space. The first I’ve seen and used at my sister’s house, and I really like it: http://amzn.to/2l3F3HP
The second one I haven’t seen in person, but it looks like it might even be better than the first: http://amzn.to/2lg7Ow9
Good luck!
Linda Lee Kristbaum says
Definitely love your trays! I so need them! Years back I found 2 wire rack trays, 10″W. with runners on the “bottom” at the thrift store. Perfect, as my cupboards are built “around” this large unmovable shelf. Also, that side of the cupboard is at a right angle to the rest & goes way back into a dark abyss. (Never knew what was back there.) So I can relate to crawling in, except I needed a flashlight & a map! Later I found huge older Rubbermaid turntables made for corners & put them next to those wire racks. I’ll bet it’s possible to create custom turntables too. Anyways, you’ve awoken my creativity and since I never did the rest of the cupboards, I was thinking maybe I can adapt your idea to using “bottom” runners. Though needing some type of reinforcement underneath, I think it would work. Any suggestions or thoughts?
Linda Lee Kristbaum says
Forgot to mention that those were no dinky turntables like for condiments. These are 20″ or so across, with a smaller flat edge (12″ -!4″) on one side. I keep mixing bowls and lots of other stuff on them.
Suzanne says
I’ve been wanting these for awhile now. Thanks for all the info. Also, if you are a chef, why do you store your pots and pans under the sink and not under the stove?
Greg says
Good question! I have no idea why. Can I still be a chef, or does that get me demoted to line cook? 😀
Sharon says
I had pull out drawers put under my cabinets (hubby is an electrician, not finish carpenter). Had the cabinet guy cut the middle piece even with the top and bottom then screw it onto one of the doors. Looks fine!
Theresa Simpson Menzel says
Great writeup on your process. I am just getting ready to do the same thing for my cabinets. You are right, the cost of the pre-made ones is crazy and I have about 14 to do. I love the suggestion on using the polywall and will do that in my project. After I finish my current project of dressing up some old metal file cabinets. And to all you ladies out there waiting for your hubby to do this, don’t. You are perfectly able to do this too 🙂 When you get the plywood, have the store cut it to size for you.
Mary Dorisi says
I ran into this while looking for something else to do in the kitchen and you inspired me to get with it and do something with that wasted space that is causing me problems. Your step by step descriptions really help! I’m almost done with my bedroom project and this just lit a fire under me to wrap it up! Thanks! Cant wait to get started.
Greg says
Hi Mary, I’m so glad my post helped to inspire you! Send us a photo of the finished project!
Wisteria says
Wow…will definitely put these plans to use in our kitchen. We have a very small kitchen and ideas such as yours are a must, thank you so much for sharing your ideas and plans.
Greg says
Thank you, and good luck!
Cathy A says
Hi–This is a great tutorial! The finished drawers look much better than what can be bought. I’m curious about the use of pocket screws…is is stronger to use them instead of just putting a screw along the outside edge? Or did you use the pocket screw because it looks better? Do you think glue and 16 ga nail gun would be sufficient? I’m just thinking it would take longer to do pocket screws, and I have a 10 minke list of projects.
This is the first time I’ve seen your blog, by the way. Looks great!
Thanks!
Cathy
Greg says
Hi Cathy, pocket screws would be stronger than screwing into the edge of a piece. Any time you screw into the end grain (or laminate edge), you’re losing strength, compared to screwing across the grain (or through the laminate plane). Furthermore, in this case, the pocket screws are hidden, so the piece looks more professional. While edge screws and nails would probably be sufficient (as long as you are also using wood glue), my preference would be for pocket screws (again, in addition to wood glue) for the added strength and clean look. Thank you so much for writing, and I’m glad you found us!
Mark W. says
My pantry is about 31” deep. I imagine the shelf would be recessed a couple inches. So a 29” shelf. Could you show me what tracks I need to be purchasing to go on a 29” deep shelf? Options I’m seeing are over $200 per pair.
Greg says
Hi Mark, here’s a 28 inch slide on Amazon for $17.50 + $9 shipping: http://amzn.to/2ygHlbJ
You could also try a 30 inch, but then the price jumps to $42 + $17.50 shipping: http://amzn.to/2kFglOa
Good luck!
K oke says
Great instructions. I am going to try thus on my kitchen. Is there a reason for the curved sides? I was thinking of making uniform 2 inch sides.
Greg says
Thank you! I made the back half taller than the front so nothing would fall off the back – just a little more protection than the small lip in front. the curve is merely ornamental. good luck with yours!
Kedar Oke says
Hi Greg,
Since this was my first time doing a woodwork project from scratch, I ran into some issues, but was able to get my first one done in 2 days (4 – 5 hours total). I picked the wrong cabinet (smallest size opening) as my first guinea pig. This led to a lot of access issues where I could not get in enough to push the back end with ease.
But all in all, worked out well. Tried to attach a picture but didn’t see a way to do that.
Your detailed post helped a great deal in getting me finished with the first one. Plan to do 6 more in the coming days.
Thanks,
Kedar
Greg says
Hi Kedar, Thanks for writing – I’m so happy you tackled this project! Please send me a picture at greg@thenavagepatch.com. Handan and I would love to see your work!
Kedar Oke says
Hi Greg,
Sent you an email with a couple of pictures.
Thanks
Kedar
Ashley says
So thrilled to stumble upon this great post! I’ve been a bit green with envy over my friends brand new kitchen with the slide-out shelves, but those are just not in our budget at the moment (or anytime soon, really). These look simple enough for my husband to make. Thanks for the thorough write-up!
Greg says
Thank you, Ashley! I’m happy to be of service 🙂 Please send us pics if you tackle the project!
Richard says
Did this about three years ago, and wife loved it. Then we sold and moved so now have to do again. Only difference was i brought the curve further forward towards front and raised the sides and back higher to just clear the bottom of shelf above, tjis gave ability to stack bowls higher without falling off back ou sides,
Greg says
That is a good idea, Richard. I picked my heights and curves a bit randomly. A little extra height = a little extra protection.
Judy says
Wow!!! Very inspiring and great detail, you answered a couple questions I had without even asking!! Thank you for sharing. I have I’ll let my husband check this out and see if he gets inspired.
Greg says
Thank you, Judy, and good luck!
stephanie says
that’s awesome, and also why i hate woodworking. it seems like it can never be simple (to me).
we have pull out shelving in our cupboards too, but they came with the house, and they are now a must from here on out when we move. they aren’t as nice as yours, but i love them. they are like slats that pull out, and they don’t have the regular drawer roller slides like you have, but are built in/sandwiched in. they hold all my pots and pans tho, and appliances.
we also have counters similar to yours, lol. BEAUTIFUL. and the same clutter issue i guess. but with plants at the window, not appliances so much, lol.
Greg says
Lol, it’s never simple to me either, Stephanie! Thank you so much for writing! 🙂
Kelly says
Am currently working on my kitchen. Have been pondering the lower cabinet issue. What great timing to see the pull out shelves you made. Made it into my list of improvements. Definitely will be the cherry on top of my cabinet refinishing project. Looking forward to it.