Reader Laura sent us a wonderful easy and cheap kitchen project she just completed: A custom knife block for a kitchen drawer. The IKEA model she wanted was discontinued, and others were too expensive for her budget. She realized that she could easily make one herself, and the results are pretty awesome.
Laura realized that she could make her ultimate knife drawer insert herself — and it would fit better than any off-the-rack model.
She decided to build it out of inexpensive wood, mounted to an IKEA rubber mat drawer liner. She started by measuring her knife blades and handles, and then she drew a diagram of how she wanted it to lay out. She bought some cheap wood at the lumber store, and her husband cut it into small pieces. (Although, she does point out that most hardware stores will cut wood for you if you ask.)
The rest of the process was extremely easy, as she says here:
While constructing the insert, I stumbled on a very easy shortcut. Originally, I was just planning to anchor the wood down onto the drawer liner with glue until I could reinforce each piece with screws. Well... I was using IKEA's rubber drawer liners and a hot-glue gun and the heat from the glue completely fused the rubber liner to the wood. The hold was very strong and it was completely unnecessary to add screws for reinforcement!
It worked so well that Laura decided to make cutlery and kitchen tools drawers in the same way. (See photos above!)
For more detailed instructions and photos, go take a look at Laura's blog.
• Read more: Kitchen drawers and knife tray at Lapsus Humanus
This is just a very inspiring project for us; it's so inexpensive and easily customizable!
More reader tips for organization:
• How To Make a Wall-Mounted Magnetic Spice Rack
• Small Space Storage: Build a Spice Rack With a Ruler!
• How To Build a Spice Rack: Susy's White and Minimal
• Small Space Solution: How To Make a Vertical Pot Rack
• Go Vertical! Vertical Pot Rack Built with IKEA Parts
(Images: Laura of Lapsus Humanus)
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epic win.
Thank you so much for sharing my drawers with your readers! If anyone is interested in even MORE organizing, I just published:
showing off my cabinets and... more drawers!
http://lapsushumanus.blogspot.com/2010/06/showing-off-my-cabinets-and-more.html
Happy organizing!
i love this idea! i've been trying to figure out a way to store all our knives without a knife block or those metal wall strips. this is perfect! thanks for sharing!
Just a note on getting home improvement store staff to cut your wood for you: the big giant stores we all have and have all heard of will do this for you (but sometimes they start to charge after the 1st or second cut), and additionally, they will not guarantee accuracy. And as much as I really appreciate the associates at these stores, the accuracy can be really awful. And being off by a fraction of an inch matters a lot any time you're building something, but it will certainly be noticeable in a small scale project like this if your cuts are off by 1/2"!
Better to just buy a small miter box and saw set. It'll take you minutes to cut through this wood.
Great stuff! Wood blocks are definitely a great way to store kitchen knives, but I always love the ingenuity and satisfaction that comes from making something yourself. You never know what you can do until you try!
As a word of caution it is better to store fine kitchen knives with the edge not resting upon a wooden surface. Most knife blocks are constructed from hardwood and many of the more exotic hardwoods contain oils that may be corrosive to the steel as it reacts with moisture and oxygen. "Regular" hardwoods indeed trap moisture which can cause microscopic pitting and deterioration along the edge. The constant abrasion against a hardwood surface can also cause the edge to dull more rapidly. Stainless steels are more resistant to these types of wear but are certainly not immune.