Really though, you don’t have to. Unless you’re into that sort of thing. In which case, please keep it to yourself. Hah. Now that I have your attention, I’ll share our drawer situation. Please note, no drawers, whether pants or the real deal, were dropped in the making of this post. Last weekend, Ben finally built seven drawers! Four are for my office, three for the laundry room. Though, we still need two for the bathroom… Hmmm. For nearly a year, (351 days, but who’s counting) my office has been in need of a drawer stack.
The laundry room has been in need for a few weeks now. Of course, because Ben’s office is the laundry room, drawers were necessary, stat! So, last weekend, Ben built drawers a drawer city. Seriously, it looked like Ben was starting a doll house hobby.
We considered painting the drawers (inside and out) Vermont Cream, the same white used throughout our house. But, we decided against it, for a few reasons. Number one, the drawers are built of cabinet grade plywood, so they’re not totally ugly. Number two, heavy things will most likely do in the drawers, which would probably scuff the paint. Number three, I’m lazy and in a hurry to get things done. (You know the song, sing it! P.S. Can you tell I’m a country music lovin’ gal? Well, country and old rock.) Though, if number one didn’t exist, we would have painted the drawers, scuffing concerns and all. To give the drawers a nice, cleanable finish, we used Varathane polyurethane in a satin finish, which we had left over from refinishing our bookshelf.
Two coats of polyurethane later, we hauled the drawers inside to install.
After the brief intermission, Ben got back to work and installed the remaining three drawers.
You’ll notice the spacing of the second drawer isn’t even. I’m not going to lie, it wasn’t completely intentional, at first. When building, we always leave wiggle room. Turns out, we left wiggle room for our wiggle room. I decided the second drawer should get that extra space. Right now, it’s obvious because the top two drawers are the same size. But when we add drawer fronts, the second will be slightly larger, covering the gap.
But, I’m totally psyched to start filling those drawers to make my space even more functional and organized.
Oddly enough, we still haven’t installed the laundry room drawers. With good reason, not sheer laziness. It’s a long story, so if you don’t care, we’ll see you back here tomorrow. If you do care, I’m sorry, but you must continue reading for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
You see, we will eventually remodel our kitchen. Ben wants to build the cabinets. So, he bought three sets of drawer glides he thought he liked enough to use in the kitchen. You know, try it before you buy it, so to speak. Then, I saw the glides and how much space they would steal from our drawers and put the kibosh on their use. Blum drawer glides (the tester brand we bought) mount to the bottom of the drawer and are 1 1/4 inches tall. Add our 3/4 inch of material for the drawer base and we’re losing 2 inches of usable space. Per drawer. Ouch.
When we design drawers, first we subtract our material dimensions. Then, I design drawers based on the tallest thing to go in each drawer, or the usable space I’d like per drawer. I wanted three drawers in the laundry room. Four, eight and ten inches of usable space inside. Had we used the original drawer glides, we wouldn’t have the top drawer. Long story short, we built the drawers based on the old style glides, (also used in my office) but we have yet to return the Blum ones and buy three more sets. So there you have it. Pot of gold for you.
As we work toward a kitchen remodel, we’re deciding on what stays and goes. Anything you have in your kitchen and love? Or hate but thought would be great? Where do you store your tools?
ourhumbleabodeblog.com 
I L-O-V-E your window treatment! Did you make that? And if so, could you share how?!
Hi Kristi,
Thank you so much! I did make that. It’s actually really simple. First, hem your fabric to the width. Then the bottom. Finally the top, leaving a pocket for the rod. Then, cut two lengths of ribbon (I used a one inch wide grosgrain). Your ribbon should be at least as long as your curtain, but more is better. Fold the ribbon in half over the top of the curtain. Sew along the same line for the rod pocket. Then, roll the fabric up and tie the ribbon. You can singe the ends of the ribbon to prevent fraying. Does that make sense?
Thanks!
Amanda
Storage. Out of sight. Find easily. What’s not to love. Your office is so organized. Thank you for sharing. Enjoyed your curtain/ribbon answer from the previous comment.
– Joy
In our rental home, we’re lucky enough to enjoy a freshly remodeled kitchen. And let me tell you, my fave part is the tower of wide, deep, tall drawers that is built into the island. It is heavenly. Perfect for pots and pans. Not cabinets that you open, which have shelves that slide out – but real drawers. It keeps the pans and lids contained so well. And other stuff, too.
Even better, though, is the fridge/pantry. The kitchen was small, so the contractor knocked a hole in the outside wall. he then built what looks *from the outside* like a shed on the side of the kitchen. it’s basically an addition to the house that is just a fridge space and a pantry, side-by-side. That way they didn’t take up any floor space in the small kitchen. Hard to describe, but genius idea.
Joy, Definitely loveable! One can never have too much storage.
Jane, We’re 90% sure we’ll have most, if not all drawers in the kitchen. Everyone we’ve talked to loves them. And the pantry/fridge area is cool, too.
Erin, I love the pic with V in the drawer, too. He seriously thought it was as cool as a carnival ride 🙂 Ewww to the kitchen carpeting, too.
You have a handy hubby–you two make a good team! And that picture of your little boy in the drawer is priceless. 🙂
We just tore up the wall-to-wall carpeting in our kitchen (ew). (http://his-and-hers-blog.blogspot.com/2011/03/husband-crowbar-and-some-carpet.html)
This is brilliant! Our kitchen only has one drawer, and it is so frustrating! Everything gets piled or containerised in the cupboards instead, but there’s really no good alternative to proper drawers for kitchen things. The cupboards are in pretty decent condition, so if we could spruce them up and install drawers that would make life a lot easier without a whole lot of cost!
Do you think building drawers is something a novice could do?
Hi Chrissie,
I think a novice could do it. It’s mostly measuring. If you (or someone you know) is good at measuring, figure out your dimensions first. We always leave at least 1/2 inch of wiggle room for our drawers, mostly because we’re afraid of the drawers sagging. But, that’s why we use 3/4 inch plywood for all sides of our drawers. It’s overkill compared to other drawers, but they should last forever. Also, we overshoot on our drawer glides, too. We use 100 pound rated ones most often. That way, they’re all the same. Just search around for the best way to build drawers. And when in doubt, go with more strength. You’ll never regret it, but you will regret if you drawers start falling apart. 🙂
Thanks!
Amanda
A girl can never have enough drawers 😉
Great job as always x
That’s right, Michelle 🙂
That makes perfect sense! I can’t wait to try this out! I’ve been looking at all of the DIY shades lately and trying to decide which rooms need which! I think this is going to be my master bathroom! *swoon*
i heart lots of big drawers 🙂
Great job!
TOTALLY AMAZING office! LOVE LOVE LOVE it!
Thanks, Ashley! I love it, too. It’s a big change coming from a small desk. 🙂
What a great project – I love the built-ins (of course!). Thanks for linking up to my party!
that looks fabulous! i love the baby in the drawer, too- it shows how sturdy they are. 😉