An ingenious way to organise your drawers: the DIY drawer divider

First, measure the inside of your drawer. The final design of your drawer divider depends on your preferences and requirements. If you want to store a lot of small things, you’ll need a lot of compartments. If you’d rather use it to house larger items, then you’ll need fewer compartments. So it’s up to you how you divide up your drawer.

Whatever you decide, you’ll need two boards for the broad sides and two for the long sides. You can use these four boards to build a stable frame that holds the inside boards together. We have used three long boards for the long side and five short boards for the broad side for the divider in our example.

Transfer the inside measurements of your drawers to the boards and mark the corresponding places. You can use these markings to then cut the boards to the desired length. Secure the boards to your workbench with G-clamps and take precautions, making sure to put on protective googles and gloves and to put in ear plugs before you start sawing.

Alternatively, you can also have the boards cut to the right size at your local DIY store.

Measure the boards. It is up to you how far apart you mark the slots for a cross lap joint. The number of slots you make is determined by the number of compartments you would like. We have gone for four in our example.

A cross lap joint uses an insertion method that sees two pieces of wood inserted into one another at a right angle so that half of each board sticks out. This creates stable compartments in which you can store your things.

Next, measure the height of your boards. Mark the halfway point with your pencil. Use your cordless drill to drill through the marking. This hole defines the width of slot that you are going to cut out for the cross lap joint in the next step with a saw. Put in ear plugs and put on your protective gloves before you start sawing.

Please note: We have used a metal drill bit in our example as 6.5 mm drill bits are only available as metal drill bits, but a wood drill bit would also work just as well.

Use a protractor or a ruler to mark a line to the right and to the left of the hole you drilled in step four. These lines define the edges of the slots. You can use these to insert your boards into one another. Don’t forget to mark the slots on the other side of the board as well. Then, use the jigsaw to saw out the slots. Make sure to wear your gloves and protective goggles and to put in ear plugs.

Sand the boards and smooth the edges. You can use either a sander or a sanding sponge to do this. Make sure to wear your gloves, protective goggles and a mask, and to put in ear plugs.

Now, put the boards together and your DIY project is complete. You now always know where everything is in your drawer.