How to Make Sliding Shelves

Whenever your kitchen is beginning to become a little bit too crowded, sliding shelves may be the way to go. A lot of the time, you will fill your cabinets up to the point where you will have to get up on your toes or down on your hands and knees and completely empty out the cabinets to find one thing. With sliding shelves, you will be able to simply use your cabinets like a drawer. There are kits available to do this or you can simply make it all yourself.

Step 1 – Prepare

Remove the cabinet doors and any shelves that are there so that you can have plenty of work space. Measure the area inside of the cabinets to prepare for your new shelves and the hardware that will be needed. You will then need to measure the slide rail and the shelf together so that you can figure out how much space will be needed on either side of your shelves. You will need to cut the shelves or purchase them in the correct size so that they will comfortably fit between each of the slides. They will need to sit about 1/2 inch from the front.

Step 2 – Shelf Standards

You will need to get 2 shelf standards installed on either side of the cabinet. Screw them firmly into place. Use your level to ensure that they are completely vertical. These shelf standards are needed so that you will have the ability to install movable shelves that will be able to be adjusted to fit at different heights.

Step 3 – Drawer Slides

The drawer slides will now need to be snapped onto the shelf standards. You will find that the slides will have 2 metal clips that are small in size. They will be able to fit into the openings of your shelf standards. You will do this on both sides, be sure that the sides that are installed at the exact same height.

Step 4 – Sliding Rail

You are now ready to get the edge of the shelf and the sliding rail attached. The rail should be screwed securely into place. You will do this on the other side of your shelf, be sure that the rails that are on both sides are in the exact same place and are also completely flat.

Step 5 – Shelf Clip

Go to the end of all of the sliding rails and attach a shelf clip to them. This will prevent the shelf from pulling completely out of the cabinet whenever it is being extended. Take note that metal shelf clips are very sturdy in comparison to the plastic ones. If you need them to hold on to a lot of weight, then get the metal clips.

Step 6 – Finish

The sliding rail should be aligned with the cabinet sides, once it is, push it in. As long as it slides easily with no issues then you will be finished.