#Organize Kitchen Storage With Kitchen Cabinet Rollouts

Wastebasket rollout

Wastebasket rollouts are basically standard rollout drawers hung upside down, with cutouts for baskets.

Base cabinets have the least convenient storage space in the entire kitchen. To access it, you have to stoop way over or even get down on your knees and then sort through all the stuff in front to find that particular omelet pan or storage container. What a pain. Rollouts solve that problem. They make organizing and accessing your cabinet contents back-friendly and frustration free.

If you're stuck with cabinets without rollouts, don't despair. In this article, we'll show you how to retrofit nearly any base cabinet with rollouts that'll work as well as or better than any factory-built units.

It's really very easy. Once you take measurements, you can build the rollout drawer (Photos 2 – 6), its “carrier” (Photos 7 – 9), and attach the drawer slides (Photos 6 and 7), all in your shop. Mounting the unit in the cabinet is simple (Photos 10 – 13). We'll also show you how to construct a special rollout for recycling or trash (Photos 14 – 16).

The project will go faster if you have a table and a miter saw to cut out all the pieces. A circular saw and cutting guide will work too; it'll just take a little longer. You can build a pair of rollouts in a Saturday morning.

What wood products to buy

Our rollout drawers are entirely made of 1/2-in. Baltic birch plywood. Baltic birch is favored by cabinetmakers because it's “void free,” meaning that the thin veneers of the plywood core are solid wood. Therefore sanded edges will look smooth and attractive. If your home center doesn't stock Baltic birch, you can find it at any hardwood specialty store (search online or look under “Hardwood Suppliers” in the yellow pages to find a source). Baltic birch may only come in 5 x 5-ft. sheets, so don't expect to fit it in your minivan. But home centers often carry smaller pieces. Baltic birch plywood may not even be labeled as such at the home center. But it's easy to recognize by comparing it with other hardwood plywood in the racks. Baltic birch will have more and thinner laminations in the plywood core.

If you choose, you can make the sides of the rollout drawers from any 1x4 solid wood that matches your cabinets and then finish to match (use plywood for the bases). But if you use 3/4-in. material for the sides, subtract 3 in. from the opening to size the rollout (not 2-1/2 in. as we describe in Photo 2).

The drawer carriers (Figure A) are made from pine 1x4s for the sides (Photo 7) and 1/4-in. MDF (medium density fiberboard) for the bases (Photo 9). The MDF keeps the drawer base spaced properly while you shim and attach it to the cabinet sides. It can be removed and reused for other carriers after installation. If MDF isn't available, substitute any other 1/4-in. hardboard or plywood you wish.

Side-mounted slides are the best choice among drawer slide options. Their ballbearing mechanisms and precise fit make for smooth-operating drawers that hold 90 lbs. or more. We used 22-in. full-extension side-mount drawer slides that have a 90-lb. weight rating. That means they'll be sturdy enough even for a drawer full of canned goods. Full-extension slides allow the rollout to extend completely past the cabinet front so you can access all the contents. Slides are available at any home center or well-stocked hardware store.

Rollout Construction Details

Use these basic plans to construct any width of rollout. Construction is similar for the standard and wastebasket rollouts—the wastebasket rollout is just a standard rollout flipped over.