One day I will share all my theories for great kitchen design, but for brevity, here are a few distilled thoughts. Cooking is like woodworking. There is a routine to the production of work, whether it is omelets or ogees. A kitchen, like a woodshop, should be arranged, equipped and organized to perform the tasks essential to produce the desired work.
This article is about organization- specifically the efficient and effective organization of kitchen drawers by making custom drawer dividers. My kitchen drawers are well-organized now, including that one drawer that plays the role of the schizophrenic dump site for all odds and ends including a tape measure, box cutter, screwdriver, keys and more. It may seem silly, but getting my drawers sorted out has had a big impact on how much I enjoy working in the kitchen.
My drawer dividers are special. The plexiglass drawer bottom affords the extra benefit of protecting my painted wood drawer bottoms from scratches and moisture (like when my wife gets a little eager to put things away before they are completely dry). But I’ve gotten ahead of myself…
Step One is to plan carefully. Determine what goes in which drawer. Don’t under-think this as so many do. Be logical. Spatulas and other cooking tools go near the stove. Silverware and serving utensils go near the dishes, which ought to be near the dishwasher. Cutlery, if stored in a drawer, is near where food is prepped for cooking.
You may find, as I did, that you have more crap than you need to do the job of preparing food. You may own 4 ladles, like me, but you shouldn’t let what you own determine how your precious drawer space is used. Ladles, for example, are space vampires. I kept my two best ladles in the kitchen and put the others in a box, with dozens of other duplicate and misfit tools and accessories that were rarely, if ever, used. What’s left has been thoughtfully vetted, resulting in a food preparation tool kit that has everything I need and nothing I don’t. It’s like a big, spread out Anarchist’s Toolchest.
Once the inventory of each drawer is determined, you can experiment with divider designs. Here’s where the fun begins. You can do ANYTHING! You are not constrained by the limitations of commercially available divider systems. You can make an individual compartment for every device in a drawer if you want, although that’s not a great idea.
Design in some flexibility. You will acquire new things and replace old ones over time and you’ll be unhappy if you discover that your awesome dividers preclude the easy storage of some new or replacement tool. Drawers that contain a wildly diverse inventory are best divided into large, undefined spaces. Sort contents based on criteria like “more frequently used” and “less frequently used” and situate them front to back in the drawer accordingly. The best solution is to simply keep the less-used items from fraternizing with the oft-used items.
Silverware is another matter. In a silverware drawer, there should be a space for each type of frequently-used utensil. Depending on your drawer, you may combine silver with serving ware and other devices closely related thereto. I ended up with an empty compartment in my silverware drawer, which suits me just fine.
My design process involved cutting a piece of poster board or heavy paper the size of each drawer and arranging the drawer contents on it until I was happy. I then noted on the cardboard the location of every divider component, using a scrap of wood the width I intended to make my dividers (5/16”). Keep joinery in mind. You can’t have two dados directly across from one another in stock this thin. You can use bridal joints as an alternative if you absolutely must have two dividers cross one another perpendicularly.
Eventually I ended up with a template for each drawer. I was able to build my dividers with confidence that when they were fitted into the drawer, all the contents would fit too. The more accurate you make the poster board template, including accurately fitting into the drawer, the less drama you will have when it’s time to put dividers into drawers. The drawer may not be perfectly square, so mark your template’s orientation to the drawer!
It’s finally time to do some woodworking! Mill lots of straight stock the width and thickness you want for your dividers. My stock is 5/16” thick, which is plenty strong when secured to the plexiglass base, and I varied the width (which ends up being the height) based on what the divider was dividing. I made my dividers 2” tall in drawers with large compartments and 1 ½” tall in the silverware drawer because the silverware compartments are small and would be hard to get down into if the dividers were taller. I finish-sanded all my stock before cutting joinery so that I could be assured tight joints, as they are highly visible.
Set up a dado stack and test it on scrap stock to sneak up on snug dados about 1/3 the depth of the thickness of your stock. Use stop blocks to keep dados aligned where your design calls for it. Note that you needn’t bother to cut the dividers to their final length yet, which may make cutting the joinery easier. I left my dividers unfinished, but if you intend to apply finish you should do that now, before you do any assembly. Dry fit your dividers together per your design, which may involve lots of little sub-assemblies that won’t come together until they are screwed to the plexiglass base. Set them aside.
Use your poster board templates to cut 1/8” thick plexiglass to fit your drawer bottoms as accurately as you can. I do not recommend testing the fit in the drawer before you have the dividers in place because you can lose the plastic in the bottom of the drawer with no easy way to pull it back out. If you cannot resist test fitting the plexiglass, string some dental floss across the drawer before letting the plastic drop into place. Hopefully you will be able to use the floss to lift out the panel.
Carefully set out your dry-fit drawer dividers on the poster board template, then situate the plexiglass on top of the dividers. If your dividers have a top and bottom, they should be top down. Mark the ends of your dividers at the edge of the plexiglass with a knife tick, then disassemble your divider assemblies and cut the divider components to final length. Reassemble the components and glue them together this time.
Reposition your glued divider assemblies on your templates and position the plexiglass drawer bottom over the dividers. To attach the plastic bottoms to the divider assemblies, drill and countersink holes for #4 X ½” wood screws centered on the drawer dividers. Make sure to secure the unsupported ends of any divider assembly and to secure any jointed intersections to the plastic. I didn’t use any adhesive, but if you want to add a super thin smear of silicon between the plastic and wood for good measure, feel free!
The penultimate step is to check the drawer divider assembly for fit. If things ended up a little tight, a few strokes along on edge with a sanding block should to the trick.
Lastly, fill up your newly organized drawer with kitchen tools and enjoy years of efficient, convenient access to all the knicks, knacks and paddy whacks that make up your kitchen tool kit.
Postscript- I bought a few extra sheets of plexiglass to line drawers that are subject to special punishment. I opted for large drawers instead of cabinets in my kitchen, so pots and pans live in drawers. My drawer bottoms are painted, and the thought of cast iron skillets and stock pots marring my beautiful paint work was too much to bear. I dropped a snug-fitting layer of plexiglass into the bottom of these punishment-prone drawers. I have to look closely to see the plastic down there, and it takes a tremendous amount of abuse while keeping the insides of my drawers looking like new!
