Kitchen drawers just come with the kitchen. As a preschool teacher friend of mine says “You get what you get and you don’t throw a fit“. (I really don’t think she was talking about the kitchen but it sure does apply.)
It doesn’t matter where you live, or how old or new your kitchen is if you didn’t design the kitchen you will have some drawer challenges. Some drawers are too shallow, others are too wide, others are in the wrong place and most just don’t work for all the utensils/gadgets that need a home.
Recently, I decided to do some reorganizing of two drawers in my kitchen. The drawers had divider trays and all should have been well, but it wasn’t.
The sides of each divider were too short so the items in one tray spilled over into other trays. Utensils and gadgets were hard to find and the drawers looked very messy.
I was sure I could do something about this pesky mess. I emptied everything out of both drawers. Next I sorted like items together and purged several things I no longer used or wanted. Once I determined what should go together, I measured the items and the drawers and came up with a plan for each drawer and its contents.
I thought I could purchase ready-made dividers and have the job done in no time. Wrong! None of the utensils and gadgets seemed to fit the options that were available to me locally.
I made dividers from 1/4 inch wood boards that were 3 or 4 inches wide. I wanted a home for each group of like items and was able to make divided compartments in each drawer to meet my needs.
I am very pleased with this custom arrangement. Taller sides on the dividers ensure that utensils and gadgets remain in the proper places. I can easily find what I want when I want it. Best of all it is such a pleasure to open these two orderly drawers.
If your kitchen drawers are driving you crazy, try purging unwanted items and sorting utensils and gadgets into groups by use. Make or purchase dividers. Tall spring-loaded dividers are available online and can be placed in various configurations to make the most of those pesky kitchen drawers.
Organize your kitchen drawers now so that . . .
Cluttered places (kitchen drawers) become Unique Spaces where you can find what you need and the drawers open easily.
uniquespacesorganizing.wordpress.com 
Hi. Your drawers look great. That’s especially helpful for those tall kitchen drawers. Finding tall dividers is difficult.
How do you get the plywood boards to stay up? Do they not tend to flop over?
You can use wood glue or very small nails. I also made sure the boards were snug when I put them in. You could try a few dots of hot glue to stabilize them while you put nails in and/or wait for the wood glue to dry.
Let me know how it works when you try it.
Jill, I love the drawer dividers. The deeper areas will help me to arrange my drawers more effectively. I love your ideas, and the simplicity makes it so that even I can understand. Kudos for your creativity! Deb