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Use the Right Slides

There are a dozen kinds of drawer slides out there, but if you want to keep shopping and installation simple, stick to these two types:

Roller slides glide on plastic wheels. They’re inexpensive, a cinch to install (it takes about two minutes) and nearly impossible to mess up. You’ll find them at home centers under various names including side mount, under mount and bottom mount. Most are rated to carry 35 to 100 lbs. For heavy-duty pull-out cabinet organizers holding items such as canned goods, use slides rated for at least 100 lbs. The big disadvantage: Most roller slides extend only three-quarters of their length — the back of the drawer stays in the cabinet.

Ball-bearing slides glide on tiny bearings. The big advantage of these slides is that they extend fully, giving you complete access to everything in the drawer. They’re about three times the cost of roller slides, and they’re usually rated to carry 75 to 100 lbs., but you can get 200-lb. versions for about $40 a pair. Home centers carry ball-bearing slides, but you’ll find a wider variety at woodworkershardware.com. The big disadvantage: They’re fussy to install. If your drawer is a hair too big or small, these slides won’t glide.

Tip: Make drawer boxes about 1/32 in. smaller than you need. It’s easy to shim behind a slide with layers of masking tape to make up for a too-small drawer. It’s a lot harder to deal with a drawer that’s too wide.

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Pull-Out Cabinet Organizers for Skinny Spaces

In a small kitchen with little storage space, you can make even narrow filler spaces work harder by installing a vertical pegboard rollout. Kitchen designer Mary Jane Pappas typically recommends 18- to 30-in.-wide rollout drawers for cabinets: ‘Any larger and they’re too clumsy. Any smaller and too much of the space is used by the rollouts themselves.’

But there is one type of rollout that makes good use of narrow spaces, even those only 3 to 6 in. wide. Pappas says that pullout pantries– single tall, narrow drawers with long, shelves, drawers, baskets or even pegboard – can be an efficient way to put skinny spaces to work.

Shown is the 434 Series 6-in. Base Filler with stainless steel panel from Rev-a-Shelf, the perfect pull out drawers for cabinets.

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Start With Lower Pull-Out Cabinet Organizers

The most useful rollout shelves and drawers are the ones closest to the floor since these eliminate the most awkward bending and crouching. If want to limit your time and money investment, you’ll get the most bang for your buck by retrofitting these areas first with slide out cabinet shelves. You can even build under-cabinet drawers for your base cabinets.

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