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How to Make a DIY drawer

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Building a DIY drawer is an easy project that anyone can do but it can be very intimidating. These instructions show how to build drawers that will fit your specific space and be more functional than pre-made versions.
Category DIY & Craft, Woodworking
Topic furniture
Keyword diy drawer, how to make a diy drawer, how to make a drawer
Prep Time 25 minutes
Crafting Time 3 hours
Drying time 3 hours
Total Time 6 hours 25 minutes
Pieces 1 Piece
Author Camila Rojas

Equipment

  • Drill
  • Kreg Jig Pocket wholes kit
  • Hammer
  • *Awesome if you have a miter saw, circular saw, brad nailer for your convenience.

Ingredients

These are the boards I used but you might use the one that best fit your ptoject.

  • 1 x 5 Sides – 2 @ the size of the drawer depth minus ¾″ of the depth of front piece
  • 1 x 5 Front – 1 @ at the size of the drawer full-width 2½” less than the width of cabinet opening
  • 1 x 5 Back – 1 @ at the size of the drawer minus ¾″ for each of the depth of side pieces
  • 1/8 inch Plywood to make the drawer base – 1 @ the internal measurements of the drawer box
  • Chalk Paint
  • Walnut Wood Stain
  • Wax for Chalk paint sealing
  • Wood Sealer
  • Wood glue
  • Wood screws
  • Pocket screws
  • Brad nails headless nails

Instructions

STEP 1: PREPARING TO BUILD DRAWERS

  • WHAT TO DO FIRST: ORGANIZE AND LAYOUT THE DESIGN
  • It might sound like an obvious step. But it’s an important one. Planning ahead how you are going to approach the drawer building process is crucial to avoid so many issues and missteps.
  • The first thing I did was creating a plan for the drawer. I followed as much as I could the original drawer structure and designed it on paper first so I wouldn’t get measurements and pieces wrong.

STEP 2: MEASURE YOUR SPACE

  • HOW TO MEASURE FOR DIY DRAWERS
  • Before we can start building our drawers, we need to take a few measurements. To make a drawer box, we need to know its height, width, and length.
  • Also, we should decide whether to use overlay drawers or inset drawers. In this case, since I was following the pattern of the existing drawer, it’s an inset drawer without the drawer front and drawer slides, so so the measurement was pretty straightforward.
  • Plan illustration of how I measured and designed the new drawer
  • MEASURE THE OPENING AND THE BACK SPACE TOO.
  • It’s best to measure not only the obvious places but ALL of them. It turned out that the space in the buffet for the drawers had different sizes on the left and right, drawer front and back. Needless to say, I had only measured the width of the front of the drawer opening.

STEP 3: CUT THE PARTS

  • So, since I don’t have big tools, I had my boards cut at the hardware store where I bought the wood. But if you have a miter saw just cut your boards and base of the drawer.
  • STEP 4: BUILD THE DIY DRAWER BOX
  • Set all the pieces in place to make sure everything fits and that there's no piece missing.
  • Put the drawer together in a sample way.
  • Adjust if needed

STEP 5: DRILL THE POCKET HOLES

  • Place the 1×5 sides and back pieces on the work surface. Using a pocket hole jig, drill two pocket holes in one end of both side boards and in each end of the back board.

STEP 6: ASSEMBLE THE SIDES AND FRONT

  • So, apply glue to the end of your side boards that have pocket holes and position on the sides (pocket holes facing outside the drawer box), clamp and attach using 1-¼” pocket screws.

STEP 7: ASSEMBLE THE BACK

  • Use wood glue on both ends of your back boards with pocket holes and position between the sides of your drawer box (pocket holes facing outside the drawer box), clamp and attach using 1-¼” pocket screws.

STEP 8: INSERT THE PLYWOOD BASE

  • Since I don’t have a router or any tool to make the dado for the base, I decided to secure the base with nails, that’s why my base is slightly thicker than usual. 3 brad nails on each side are good enough.
  • I don’t have a brad nailer so I used the good old hammer! Being very careful to not bend the nails and not hit a finger, it got the job done!
  • I did an extra step (not necessarily a must) just because I wanted the front to be slightly higher than the rest of the drawer box. So I added an extra board that would ad 1/8″to the neight.

STEP 9: TEST IF THE DRAWER FITS

  • This step is so important especially if you plan on painting the drawer. I’m glad I did because as I mentioned earlier, the back space for the drawer was narrower than the opening so the drawer wouldn’t go all the way in.
  • We had to sand a lot and even use a wood plane to make it fit. And we did!!!

STEP 10: PAINT YOUR DIY DRAWER

  • Once you make sure your drawers fit perfectly, it’s time to paint them.
  • But firstly, I did 2 very important steps: I filled imperfections, cracks and holes with wood putt.
  • And then I decided where the hardware would be placed, marked the positions of the screws, and drilled the holes.
  • Marking where the hardware scres should be.
  • I gave it a quick sanding to remove excess of wood putty and give the surface a smooth finish.
  • I wiped off the whole drawer box to remove rests of sand, dust, dirt and anything that would mess up the painting process.
  • Then I applied masking tape to the front side so it wouldn’t get stained.
  • I painted the whole drawers outside and inside of the drawers (except the front of the drawer box) with walnut wood stain to match the same style of the buffet.
  • Before moving on to the front, I let the wood stain dry very well.
  • Once the stain was dry, I used the masking tape to cover the stained wood from getting painted with chalk paint.
  • Then painted the front with chalk paint. Following the instructions of the can, I firstly wiped off any dust, dirt, or grease from the wood.
  • Applied 2 coats of chalk paint letting it dry before coats.
  • Finally, I sealed the wood stain with 2 coats of the same waterproof sealer I used for the top of the buffet and the front with wax.
  • I let it all rest overnight.
  • For a detailed tutorial on how to paint with wood stain and chalk paint, visit DIY Vintage Buffet Makeover.

STEP 11: INSTALL THE HARDWARE

  • Once the drawer box was all painted and ready to go, it was time to install the hardware.
  • I tried my best to find some that would be as close as possible to the original but I couldn’t find the same so I chose these that are still back rustic/vintage and so pretty.
  • Mark where you want the hardware to go. Drill the holes first and then install the hardware screws.

STEP 12: INSTALL YOUR BRAND NEW DRAWERS

  • The time is finally here. Time to put the drawers in their place and enjoy the magic!!!