PUBLISHED: Tuesday, August 30, 2011 by Donna Cook

Well, I have completed organizing two cabinets and now I'm inspired. The next cabinet is a small one, but is as equally a mess as the first two I knocked out. I stared at my newly decked out, double door cabinet and basked in my "happy cabinets" as I like to refer to them. I have been showing them off to my family and friends. Then I would open the door beside them and my head would hang in shame. Poor sad little cabinet. It was going to be a very inexpensive, simple and practical organization project. Three 12" Tray Dividers 597-12-52 was all it was going to take. They come with everything you need for installation (Trays, clips and screws).  The tray dividers are sold individually and only run around $7.00-$14.00 each depending on the size you purchase. My cabinet is a face frame cabinet with a 12" door opening. The cabinet inside is 13-1/2" in width. Once again it housed a tiny little useless excuse for a shelf that took up just enough room to keep the door from closing when I put my baking sheets inside. On top of the baking sheets, I balanced my pitchers and the occasional cutting board. Empty Cabinet, Start by Emptying the Cabinet

 Start to Finish Steps:

  1. Empty all the baking sheets, pitchers, pan splatter guards, cutting boards, wire cooling racks and the long missing store savings card (So that's where that thing went) from the cabinet.
  2. Jigsaw out that pesky shelf and vacuum up the sawdust.
  3. Put the fixing clips on the Tray Dividers and determine/measure for the spacing and screw them into place. (Tip: Putting the clips on the dividers makes it easier to stand the trays up for a visual of how you want them spaced in the cabinet. You can remove the clips or leave them on to screw them into the base and back wall of the cabinet.) I measured 3" in from either side then split the difference for the center divider. There is no "right or wrong" way as to the distance between trays. It's all up to you!
  4. I'm going to be perfectly honest...I did not build the new shelf in the cabinet. My handy dandy-did I mention handy husband built me a wonderful new (to my specifications and then some) shelf for the cabinet. I did install it with (4) 2" angle braces which attach to the sides of the cabinet. The new shelf is 13-1/2" wide x 16" deep. My tallest baking sheet is 12" so I put the new shelf 1" higher than the baking sheet.
  5. The last step was to put all the stuff back into the cabinet and admire the results.
The only complaint I can see from this project is, if you have wide shoulders, access to the inside of the cabinet could be tricky. I'm only 5'1" tall and still had a little trouble getting the screws to start through the wood. As with my  previous project, I used a Power Drill with a Phillips Head Bit.  I don't think I could have gotten all the screws to go in as easy if I had used a regular screw driver. It would have been easier if the bit was magnetized and held the screws in place while I positioned the drill. I am learning as I go and will pass what I learn along to those who follow my blog. Let me know if you try this project yourself. Share your tips and frustrations with us and others may avoid chasing the screws around the inside of the cabinet! I'd love to hear your comments.

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