How to Make DIY Drawer Dividers

Well friends, it is slowly starting to warm up a bit in Wisconsin!  Finally!  Sun is shining longer and I have been braving flat shoes and light weight jackets!  With the warmer weather, I have gotten this huge desire to finish up about 101 itty bitty nagging projects around the house.  So hang with me over the next few weeks because although it may seem like I have organizational attention disorder, I have a lot of half finished projects waiting to be finished before we can take on anything on a grander scale.

One thing we really love about our lower level is that we had the space to put in a dressing room.  Initially it was a dark corner in the lower level that could never be considered a bedroom due to the lack of windows, so it was turned into a giant closet instead.  The room holds two armoire closets, a vanity, a dresser and our treadmill.  Overall, it has functioned really well for us, but for the last few years there have been a few things on our list that never were addressed.

Boots, belts, scarves, handbags and general accessory storage.  Typically these items were tossed into baskets and drawers, draped on our treadmill or stacked in piles on our ottomans. 

We recently added in a few extra shelves and drawers to hold all of these miscellaneous items {more on those in an upcoming post}, and those drawers needed a few dividers to make them function even more.

Knowing the odds of finding the perfect drawer dividers to fit our demands and drawer size were slim, we set out to DIY some of our own.

We wanted them to be inexpensive yet functional, so we started with some 3/16" x 4" oak mullion moulding.

• We started by measuring the length and width of the interior of the drawer.  We marked our boards with those specific measurements.

• Next, we cut the boards to our drawer length and width.  Because we were looking to add 9 total compartments within each drawer {3x3}, we cut two total boards to the length of the drawer and another two to the width of the drawer. 

• To divide the boards into thirds, we measured and marked at 1/3 of the board and 2/3 of the board.  Then we branched out and marked approximately another 1/8" on each side of the mark, halfway up the board.  The goal was to create an interlocking set of dividers, so these marks had to be slightly wider than the 3/16" wood thickness.

• Two boards of the same length were clamped together and the marked areas were cut out with the jigsaw.

• The same steps were repeated for the other two boards, leaving us with four interlocking pieces.

• Drawer check!

• This is the celebration period, whoop!
• To make them even more custom to the drawer, I gave them a few coats of white paint.

 

•  And then lined the drawers with scented drawer liners of course!

I used my drawer for my scarves {which I rolled} and belts.

And my Mr. now stashes his ties and belts in his.

The dividers are floating within the drawers as we opted not to affix them.  Because they were built to fit, they don't move around at all within the drawers, and I prefer the option to remove them someday should our storage needs ever change.  We are smitten!