DIY Drawer Organizers using Metal C-Channel

diy drawer dividers
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Get those drawers organized with the best drawer divider hack ever!  Using off the shelf C-Channel and hobby boards, it's easy to customize and create high end looking drawer dividers with limited budget.  Free tutorial by Ana-White.com

See Also: Stick-On Drawer Organizers

 

 

 

Collections

Making your own drawer dividers doesn't have to be complicated or expensive.  And you don't have to use bulky wood or commit with nails and glue.  In this tutorial, I'll show you how to build your own drawer dividers for about $5 (for the drawer shown).  It's easy, fast, and I'd say foolproof!

1. The Hardware

diy drawer divider channel

Aluminum C-Channel is available at all the hardware stores in different lengths.  It's inexpensive, about 10 cents per inch - so per divider, you are looking at right at 50 cents in c-channel (I round up to 60 when counting screws).  It's also easy to cut with a jigsaw and a metal blade, since aluminum is such a soft metal.  I am using this 1/2" C-Channel.

diy drawer divider hardware

Per divider, cut two pieces of C-Channel slightly less than the overall height of your drawer dividers, using a jigsaw with a metal blade.  Make sure the C-Channel is well clamped and wear safety glasses and hearing protection.  

diy drawer divider drilling holes

Then drill two holes in each cut piece with a multipurpose or metal drill bit.  The holes should be just slightly smaller than your screw heads.

diy drawer divider attaching hardware

Attach the C-Channel pieces to the inside of your drawer using 1/2" wood screws (similar to ones you might use for attaching hinges on a cabinet). I used screws like these.

diy drawer divider hardware attached

You'll need two per divider, on each side.

 

The Wood Dividers

For the dividers, I used (and recommend) 1/2" thick hobby boards.  I choose a 2-1/2" width for this drawer, but you can use other widths.  Just make sure you don't create a super tight cavity that is hard to reach into.

diy drawer divider material

Simply measure in between your c-channel pieces, subtract a little to allow for the screws, and cut the wood piece to fit.

diy drawer divider cutting the wood

The wood piece will slide into the c-channels and stay secure.

diy drawer divider inserting

You can also add dividers to dividers (as shown below) in the same method.

diy drawer divider adding more dividers

This gives you infinite possibilities to customize your drawers with dividers.

diy drawer divider finished

DIY Drawer Divider Video Tutorial

Want to see this project done in a video?  We also created a video tutorial:

Thank you for using our tutorials.  We hope this works out awesome for you and helps you improve your home.  Please share a photo of your completed project as a brag post or you can tag me @anawhitediy or #anawhite on Instagram.

 

See Also - Stick On Drawer Organizer Tutorial

Love this idea, but want an even EASIER version?  Check out this method using stick on c-channel!

Cheap drawer organizers

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DIY Drawer Divider

Comments

Drspear98

Tue, 01/26/2021 - 07:02

This tutorial came at just the perfect time. I repurposed my old kitchen cabinets into cabinets for my garage and last week I was trying to figure out the best way to make drawer dividers for all my hand tools. I have a lot of material left over from my kitchen remodel which would be perfect for this project. I’m going to head down to Home Depot to get the c channel. Thank you so much!

mandyolivar

Wed, 01/27/2021 - 05:08

I am wondering if instead of screwing these directly into the drawers if you could put some kind of a rubber grip on the C Channel and connect them to the wood divider itself? I feel something like this would be a way for people to make them who maybe don't want to or can't drill into their drawers. Any thoughts on this?

diyprojectsbydave

Fri, 02/05/2021 - 09:08

This is a wonderful idea! Sometimes I am reluctant to make "permanent" changes out of fear of not knowing is I will like to later. However, thinking too much is also silly. Maybe we should try a couple of drawers and I think we will love it. Thank you again! By the way, how long does this take?