How I Added Drawers to Builder-Grade Cabinets (and Upgraded to Soft-Close Slides)

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I’ve never been a big fan of open lower cabinets. For the most part, I much prefer drawers, they’re easier to use, easier to organize, and you can actually see what you have. So in this post, I’m going to show you exactly how I installed drawers inside my existing lower cabinets.

One of my very first DIY projects in this kitchen was adding drawers, and that was several years ago. I was still really new to DIY back then, and I definitely do things differently now. I worked with the materials I had and what I could afford at the time and what I was familiar with. But after building my laundry room cabinets out of red oak, I had some leftover wood, enough to build new drawers and finally replace the old common board and particle board ones I made years ago.

If you look closely at the top drawer in the photo below, you’ll notice it isn’t even cut straight. At the time, I went with the mindset of “it functions, so it’s good enough,” but I’ve always hated the way it looked. Luckily, there were cabinet doors hiding most of my terrible work.

So I emptied out the drawers and removed them. I could have taken the easy route and built new drawers the same size, reusing the drawer slides I installed a few years ago. But instead, I decided to make things a little more difficult and swap those out for soft-close drawer slides. It was an added cost, but it was 100% worth it!

This is how the drawer slides were installed. The cabinet was completely open, so I used a 2×4 to give myself something solid to mount the slides to in the middle. I added pocket holes on both ends of the board and screwed it into the front face frame and the back of the cabinet, as shown below. Sorry it’s dark, this was a screen shot from a video.

On the other side, I also used a 3/4-inch 1×4 common board. But because there was still a slight lip on the face frame, I added a piece of 1/8-inch plywood under the drawer slide as a spacer to bring it out just a bit.

Side note: I also plan on replacing all of my builder-grade drawer slides with these same soft-close slides. They’re my go-to, and I’ll share more on that a little later.

I also had those small add-on pieces you can install to make cabinets soft-close without replacing the hinges. They were pretty inexpensive, but after a couple of years, they just didn’t work very well. They were made of plastic, so what should I have expected? In my next blog post, I’ll show you how I’m replacing them with true soft-close hinges and repainting my cabinets after five years. They’ve actually held up really well overall, they just need a little touch-up. I also never added a clear coat, so I’ll be doing that this time around. You can see some wear and tear in the picture below with some of our most used cabinets.

I started by cutting down my leftover red oak plywood to size for the drawer bottoms and solid 1×3 red oak for the drawer sides. For this part, I used my miter saw and table saw. To determine the drawer bottom width, I measure the distance between the boards where the drawer slides will be mounted. For example, if that measurement is 14 inches, I subtract 1 inch for the drawer slides (they’re 1/2 inch thick on each side) and another 1.5 inches for the drawer sides since I’m using 3/4-inch oak. That gives me the final width for the drawer bottom.

I always err on the side of making the drawer slightly smaller, about 1/16 inch, rather than too wide. You can always add a spacer behind a drawer slide to bring it out if needed, but if the drawer is too wide, you’re stuck rebuilding the entire drawer box. Obviously, the perfect width is ideal though.

The drawer length is a more forgiving. I usually measure from the back of the face frame to the back of the cabinet and subtract about an inch for wiggle room, plus the thickness of the drawer front and back. So if that measurement is 24 inches, I’ll subtract 1.5 inches total for the front and back (3/4 inch each), plus another inch for clearance. Also, for a 24in depth, I’d go with 22in drawer slides.

Once everything is cut down to size, I sand all of the pieces using 220-grit sandpaper and my orbital sander.

I like to stain the wood before assembling the drawers. That way, I’m not trying to work stain into tight corners, and I can fully coat the ends so they don’t show once everything is put together. I’m using the color Spice Brown by DuraSeal, I’ve used this color in several area’s of my home now and I’m obsessed!

Side note: always make sure your stain rags are laid out to dry and never left sitting in a pile while they’re still wet, they can spontaneously combust. I usually lay mine out on top of the garage trash can or over a bucket, like you see here.

Once the stain is dry, I glue everything together and brad nail the drawer boxes. The glue is really what matters here, it’s the key to long-lasting drawers. I just shoot brad nails in from the sides, with no screws needed. For 3/4in thick wood, I typically use 1.5in brad nails. This method has been more than strong enough for every drawer I’ve built over the past few years.

I let the stain cure for a few days and then applied a clear coat. I’m using a spar urethane in a gloss because it’s durable and holds up really well. I typically don’t use gloss, but this time I am because I really feel like it makes this oak pop, and it doesn’t dry extremely glossy! This stuff took a while to dry, it was tackier way longer than the instructions said, but it may have been humid in my garage.

I had to pause to say “hello!” to my neighbor who was wondering what I was up to. Side note: these painting triangles are awesome to raise something you are painting up off the counter.

Now it’s time to replace the drawer slides inside the cabinet with the soft-close ones. I use spacers all the time, and this is one of those situations where they make the job so much easier. Here, I’m using a scrap 1×4 laid flat under where the drawer slide will sit to get the correct height on all the drawer slides. It’s way easier than measuring, holding the slide in place, hoping it doesn’t shift, and trying to grab those tiny screws with one hand at the same time. I just let the slide rest on the spacer and screw it in, much easier and way more accurate.

For the drawer above that one, I cut down another scrap piece and used it as a spacer as well, this time standing it on its end to get the correct height.

After that, I measured and installed the drawer slide pieces that attach to the drawer boxes. I usually measure and mark a line on the side so I know exactly where to place the screws, but the stain on these was so dark, and the grain so busy, that it was hard to see any lines. I still made it work, it just took a little longer.

My neighbor stopped by and took the old drawer slides off my hands, so they didn’t go to waste. I was happy to see them go to a good home. He’s always making appearances in my content!

Once everything was installed, I was so excited. They look so much better than the first set of drawers I made years ago.

Now it’s time to show you how I’m installing soft-close drawer slides in place of the builder-grade ones. As you can see in the photos below, these builder particle-board drawers aren’t holding up very well, so I’m going to reinforce them with wood glue and brad nails before reinstalling them, I’ll use 1in brad nails.

I just needed to unscrew the front of the drawer slide where it was attached to the face frame, but I had a little trouble figuring out how to remove the back of it.

Luckily, my husband stepped in and muscled it out of the bracket. You just have to pop it upward and out of the clip, it doesn’t slide out easily. Using something like a hammer to gently tap it up helps break it free.

Then I removed the slide pieces from the drawers themselves, which were held in with just a few screws.

I started by installing the drawer slides onto the wood pieces I was using as spacers to bring the slides out flush with the face frame. I’m using scrap 3/4in plywood here but still ended up needed an additional 1/8in spacer (not pictured), I just put these behind the drawer slides

To install the drawer slides inside the cabinet, I had to remove our metal dog food storage drawer in the cabinet below and crawl inside so I could get better leverage. I added wood glue to the back of the plywood and used my brad nailer to tack it in place, then followed up with 1-inch screws to secure everything really well. You can see again, I’m using spacers so all my drawer slides in all my cabinets will be the same height.

Then I measured to figure out where to install the drawer slides on the drawers themselves. If the center of the in-cabinet slide was 1 inch up from the top of the face frame, I installed the center of the drawer slide .75 inch up from the bottom of the drawer. That leaves about a 1/4-inch gap between the bottom of the drawer slide and the face frame.

And it worked!!!!

From there, I installed the rest of the drawer slides using the same method.

Side note: these drawer organizers in my large silverware drawer are amazing. I have one for silverware and one for knives, and we love them. I added small rubber feet (they’re actually cabinet door bumpers) to the bottom so they don’t slide around.

Next up was the larger cabinet with two drawers, two doors, and a face frame running through the middle. I started by installing the left and right slides using the same method as the others.

For the middle section, I started by measuring the width of the drawer opening and cutting a scrap piece of wood to that size to use as a spacer from left to right. Then I measured from the inside of the face frame to the back of the cabinet and cut another piece of wood to length using 3/4-inch plywood. I added two pocket holes on each end of that piece.

Using the spacer, I held the new board tight against the side plywood I had already installed and screwed the middle piece in place, back first, then the front, using the spacer to determine the correct placement. I also checked everything with a level to make sure it stayed perfectly straight.

To determine how high to install the drawer slide, I stacked a piece of the brown board on the face frame and rested the drawer slide on top of them. This gave me a consistent height and made the install much easier. You can see that in the photos below.

I got the drawers put back in place and they work perfect!!

I have to brag about another one of my organizers. This pan lid organizer is a total game changer, it keeps the lids stored upright instead of stacked on top of each other.

Now to address my husband’s grilling cabinet. He keeps all of his grilling supplies stored in here, and everything was just stacked on top of each other. So I’m adding drawers to this cabinet as well. I originally planned to add drawers to the pan lid cabinet too, but I don’t think the left door opens far enough to allow a drawer to clear it.

I started by clearing out this cabinet.

Then I built the two larger drawers, stained them, and sealed them. I’m so glad this cabinet doesn’t have a face frame running down the middle, it allowed me to add two large drawers instead of four smaller ones.

Once the sealer had cured for a day, I added the drawer slides to the drawers and went to install them. That’s when I realized I had made the drawers just a bit too narrow. Drawers can be hard! But I have a fix!

To fix it, I loosened the drawer slide inside the cabinet and slipped a couple popsicle sticks underneath it (thankfully I had one on hand in my craft closet), then tightened the screws back down. Spacers don’t have to be anything fancy, no one will ever see them unless the drawers are removed. That little adjustment created the perfect width for both drawers, and I was able to get them installed after that. Aren’t they SOOO pretty?! And they match my island and my laundry room cabinets!

Then it was time to organize. I got everything put back in the cabinet, and it’s so much more functional now!

Tell me, are you more of a fan of an open lower cabinet or drawers below??

For me. Drawers. All day. No contest 😄

Open lower cabinets look nice in photos, but in real life they turn into deep black holes where things get stacked, forgotten, and buried. Drawers are just more functional, you can actually see everything, access it easily, and stay organized without pulling half the cabinet out to find one item.

That said, I do think open lower cabinets can make sense in very specific situations (like a styled pantry area or something rarely used). But for everyday kitchens, bathrooms, or storage-heavy spaces? Drawers win every time.

I also found some ready-made drawers on Amazon that fit a variety of cabinet sizes and have great reviews. If building your own drawers isn’t your thing, these, these, these, and these are a great option to still get the functionality without the extra work.

Next up, I’ll be repainting the lower cabinets and adding a side paneling in the next post. It’s been about five to six years, and while they’ve held up really well, they’re definitely ready for a few touch-ups.

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