Expert: Jamie Yocono - 3/6/2008

Question
My home is over 60  years old and came with only one drawer in the cabinets. I want to refinish the cabinets and put a few more drawers in them. Can I do that? If so what is the most cost efficient way to go about this?

Answer
Hi Cerita,

This is going to get a little complicated, but the short answer is... yes, there are ways to add more drawers to your cabinets. The determining factor is how simple or complicated you want it to be! And what is your budget?

First, there are two types of kitchen cabinets, face frame cabinets, and euro style, with no face frame. Because they're older, I'm guessing your cabinets have a 1 x 2 face frame on the front of them, which is where your cabinet doors are mounted. Having a face frame on your cabinets complicates the ability to mount drawers inside the cabinets.

So you have a couple of options - you can add some filler strips inside your cabinets, so that interior of the cabinet is flush with the face frame. Or you can try to locate some drawer glides that adapt for this, but they are somewhat difficult to find. And they're a little more complicated to install.

Even so, once you get the cabinet prepped for drawers, then you need to find someone build new drawers, hang them, and then build and attach new drawer fronts. It's a lot of work, and frankly, probably going to be expensive. It's a lot of detailed work, and I think it's going to be WAY more than anyone would want to spend.

I have another suggestion that will accomplish a couple of things: you won't have to have drawers built, you won't have to change the doors, and you don't have to put a lot of money into prepping the inside of your cabinet. I think it's a much better solution.

Why not look at pull-out units for your cabinets? They usually mount on the inside bottom of your cabinet, and pull out, exactly like drawers do. They generally come in many configurations, so that you can get exactly what you want.  

Where to buy them?  Look here first, to see what's available: www.rev-a-shelf.com.  This company sells MANY different products, everything from tall pantry units that pull out, to small trash cans that pull out. And everything in between. Click on their "storage planner" tab, and you'll be able to search for anything you want. I just did a sample search, and found a 3 tiered storage unit that pulls out from a base kitchen cabinet. The price for this was $23.00, which is really reasonable, considering that you probably couldn't get someone to build a single drawer for that price. Not only that, it looks like you can order these directly from Rev-a-shelf.

I would also check at Lowes and Home Depot for similar products. They sell a different brand, but it's just as good.

Here's another website to look at: http://www.rockler.com/CategoryView.cfm?Cat_ID=66

OK, good luck with finding what you need. If you decide you still want to go with new drawers, write back and I'll give you some specific advice. But remember, it's going to be much easier to go with pull out units, than to have new drawers made and installed. It's all going to depend on your budget and tolerance to having someone working in your kitchen!

Jamie Yocono
www.wooditis.com
Las Vegas, NV