DIY Slide-Out Cabinet Shelves for UNDER $50!
We moved into our city nest a little over two years ago and pretty much started from scratch when it came to kitchen utensils, appliances, accessories – you name it. It was extremely bare for quite some time, but now that we are fully stocked we have felt like we were losing more and more counter space (see our Kitchen Tour for before more views). Becoming increasingly tired of seeing our unattractive microwave, G remembered that there was an unused outlet behind our refrigerator and we both instantly couldn’t believe it had taken this long to come up with the answer to all of our problems…a sliding shelf!
Sliding shelves are seemingly a must-have feature in any new or remodeled kitchens but are the first to be removed from the wishlist due to costs. But, we’ll show you how to do it yourself for under $50 (if you already have tools) and only a few hours of your time!
What You’ll Need:
- Drawer Slides – We used 18in but many sizes available & cheaper than any hardware store
- Interior Wood Screws
- Wood Glue
- Screws – length depending on the width of your wood & cabinets
- Spray Paint
- Power Drill
- Nail Gun
- Wood Clamps
Build Your Shelves:
STEP 1:
You’ll first want to take everything out of the cabinet space and take measurements of the depth (front-back) and the width (left to right). You’ll also want to account for the cabinet trim and slide pieces when determining the width of your shelves, to ensure that it clears the sides and indeed pulls out.
Note: If you have a vertical dividing support piece of wood you can easily remove yourself (a little demo day fun!) and fill any rough areas with DAP Plastic Wood or DAP DryDex Filler depending on your material.
STEP 2:
Once you’ve purchased your supplies listed above, head to the local hardware store and have your pieces of wood cut. You’ll need two pieces for the gap filler, two pieces for the shelf sides and one large piece for the base of the shelf. You can also do a front trim piece but we wanted to keep it open with the microwave. We used Pine wood and got it all for under $30.
STEPS 3 & 4:
Once you’ve got your wood, you can either spray paint or stain them to match your cabinetry and let them sit out to dry for about a day.
In the meantime, you can go ahead and start installing the slides. Drill in the two wood pieces – one on the left and one on the right side as your gap filler to give room for the shelf to slide out. Then, install the slider pieces by screwing them into the wood.
STEP 5:
You’re almost there! Now that the slides are in, and your wood pieces are dry, build your shelf by assembling all sides together with wood glue and a nail gun. Be sure to clamp the pieces and let it sit for about 30 minutes.
STEP 6:
Last step! Screw in the remaining slider pieces to the sides of the shelf, and slide it in to complete the project – it really is that simple! We grabbed an extension cord, cut a hole in the back corner of our cabinet and ran it up to behind the fridge for power.
Not only were we able to get our microwave off of our countertop to give us more prep space & room for decor, we were able to fully maximize the depth of our shelves and get MORE items in there due to the arrangement.
This is our first DIY and we are working through how to properly document to make it as easy as possible for you – so, please comment below with any questions and we will get right back to you. Check out the results below!
