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Drawer Tips

Drawers can add a ton of functionality to your projects, and make hard to access spaces convenient.  

There's two types of drawer slides that I use regularly - euro drawer slides (white bottom corner mount) and full extension (silver in color and mount to the sides of the drawers.

Euro Drawer Slides

  • Very easy to install and forgiving
  • Inexpensive and readily available
  • Bottom corner mount, so the drawer slide also supports the bottom of the drawer
  • Not full extension, meaning you can't pull the entire drawer out, usually about 1/4 of the drawer is still inside the cabinet
  • Drawer slide should be one size down than your carcass depth (for example, a 24" carcass depth would use a 22" or shorter drawer slide)
  • In this video, I install the Euro Drawer Slides on a Printer Shelf

Full Extension Drawer Slides

  • Easy to install with a little know how
  • Inexpensive if purchased online in bulk, but expensive if purchased off the shelf
  • Side mount, so does not further support the bottom of the drawer
  • Full extension, so the entire drawer slides out from the cabinet
  • Smooth gliding and quiet 
  • Drawer slide should be one size down than your carcass depth (for example, a 24" carcass depth would use a 22" or shorter drawer slide)
  • In this video, I install the Full Extension Drawer Slides on a Drawer Bench

Inset and Overlay Drawer Faces

  • Drawer faces are added on top of the drawer box to finish it out.
  • If using an inset drawer face (meaning the drawer face front is flush with the front edges of your cabinet) make sure you inset the drawer box by the thickness of your drawer face.
  • If using an overlay drawer face (meaning the drawer face covers the front edges of your cabinet), simply install the drawer box flush to the front edge of the cabinet.

Face Frame Installation

  • If you are installing drawers with a face frame cabinet, you may need to block the inside of the cabinet to match the face frame. You don't need to block the entire inside of the cabinet, just a couple places where screws are needed.
  • If you are using full overlay drawer faces, the drawer slide should be installed at the front to the face frame.
  • Sometimes drawer slides work with a rear mount extension piece attached to the back, reducing the need for any attachment to the sides of the cabinet.  You may need to install blocking at the back of your cabinet though.