Easy Sliding Drawers
By Dr. Ann
@drannhh (15219)
United States
January 4, 2008 1:53am CST
Our local hardware store sent us a $10 off coupon so I decided to tackle a project we had been thinking about for a while--installing pull out shelving units in the kitchen cabinet. When I bought the first one they gave us a second coupon for $10 off on the next and the next until we had managed to milk that for $40. Instead of one I bought four.
So I've been busy. But here is the rub. The store didn't have enough stock on the brand I wanted so we bought a cheaper product for two of the cabinets. OK, I put them in and they are nice, but not as wonderful as the first one, a photo of which is below. There was just a difference in quality that I decided to write it up for my blog. Only I didn't have a blog yet, at least not that kind. So I started one and called it The Empty Cabinets of my Mind just so I could illustrate it with photos of these chrome shelves I installed...and whine a little.
Have you ever started a project like this and then the store ran out of parts. Did you deal well with that, or was that just too infuriating? How often have you bought something and the parts were the wrong size or the wrong part or not enough of them? In the more expensive kit shown in my photo, they included a few extra screws. In the cheaper one, they were 1 screw short and 2 of the screws weren't the right length. No matter, we have lots of extra hardware
Are you handy at this sort of thing? Would you have installed your own or hired somebody to do it?
Would it bother you greatly if the hardware inside the cabinets did not exactly match. Mine is a pretty close match in appearance, actually. But the cheaper brand doesn't pull out all the way so the shelves are not as accessible as they ought to be. Once installed would you leave them there or take them out to use in the garage or somewhere and put better ones in your kitchen?
This worked out pretty well overall, but we've had some do-it-yourself disasters. Haven't you? Please share!
2 people like this
6 responses
@secretbear (19448)
• Philippines
5 Jan 08
hi drannhh!! ^__^
i can understand how frustrating that is! i have also an unfinished project and not because i am lazy to finish it ^__^;; but because i got tired of continuously going back to the store to buy the needed materials because they are always out of stock!
i was cross-stitching a personally made pattern of my favorite anime tv series ^__^ and i needed a lot of threads and some of them were not available in the stores in our local market. cross-stitching had been famous here before but now, the hobby considerably dropped its popularity so there are only a few stores left which are specifically devoted to it. and i had a hard time finding some threads until i gave up. ^__^;;
but i always bring with me the list of thread that i need because i thought once i stumble upon a different store, i would definitely look for those threads and buy it. ^__^
i hope you finish that drawer soon drannhh. good luck! ^__^
1 person likes this
@drannhh (15219)
• United States
5 Jan 08
Thank you Secret! When you finish your cross stitch please upload a photo of it here on myLot so we can all see it! I bought and installed another drawer today, using the last coupon. There are a few left to do, but we'll have to wait until the store replenishes its stock and in that case, we may as well wait for another coupon, too!
The last cross stitch I did was a gift for a married friend. It read like this:
Women's faults are many,
Men have only two:
Everything they say,
and everything they do!
@happythoughts (4109)
• United States
4 Jan 08
It sounds like you worked that coupon pretty well. I love it when I can get the most out of every dollar. We do all the work we can our selves. Why pay someone else unless you are sure you can not do it. We have thought we could do things on our own and found out that we needed help, but we just call one of our dads and they come running. Between the 4 of us we can usualy figure it out.
@girlgonefishing (2174)
• United States
7 Jan 08
I don't think it would bother me one bit that the inside of the cabinets don't match. I would however bother me if they don't function as well as the others. One disaster comes to mind right now. I tried to fence in a small portion of they yard when we first moved here so that I could use it for a dog run. It worked but, it looked horrible.
@drannhh (15219)
• United States
7 Jan 08
I am thinking that the yard might look worse if the fence did not keep the dogs out on their runs. I will probably remove the two cheaper pullouts to use in the garage or somewhere else. I put a comparison of the two kinds of shelves in my new blog with more pictures:
http://drann.typepad.com/the_empty_cabinets_of_my_/
1 person likes this
@girlgonefishing (2174)
• United States
8 Jan 08
I didn't even know you had a blog! I'm going there right this minute. You go girl!
@zigzagbuddha (4601)
• United States
6 Jan 08
When my brother bought this house the lady who he bought it from had the old tenants replacing the cabinets in the kitchen in exchange for their rent. They didn't finish the job and so when she sold the property she just put the old ugly cabinet doors on the 4 cabinets that were not finished. It looked awful. So I took off all the old doors and made curtains instead. It looks beautiful!
Last year I gathered walnuts and made stain from the hulls to stain one of the bedroom floors with. In the process of prepping the floor I found a 3X6 ft section in the corner that were rotted. I pulled the old rotted tongue & groove boards out, only to find that the sub-flooring had rotted as well. (The house is over 100 years old.)
Whew! What a job that was! Since I didn't have the money to buy new matching boards I had to scrounge around looking for other boards. I found enough to do the job but none of them matched each other or the already existing floor. I said phuck it and put them in anyway and then sanded and stained the whole floor, and to tell you the truth the mis-matched boards add a bit of character!
So my personal opinion about your cabinet job is "Works for me!"
@drannhh (15219)
• United States
6 Jan 08
I've often thought that curtains would be much easier to wash than cabinet doors, and I have used those to Camouflage tool shelves in the garage.
So many times when we start a project that seems reasonable enough at the beginning, something like that bit with your floor comes up and makes it seem like it is going to be an endless task. Character is good. Without character, our environment would be sad and boring.
Now I have to devise an intelligent way to get all the stuff back in the cabinets so that everything is most accessible. I hope you enjoy eating the walnuts you gathered. We used to have a black walnut tree that provided 2 or 3 gunny sacks full of nuts in season and now it is exasperating to see what a mere handful of nuts costs. But we know from experience that preparing them is labor intensive.
1 person likes this
@ersmommy1 (12587)
• United States
4 Jan 08
We have had some do-it-yourself projects here. Most of them turn out alright. And I am pleased. However we do have one that bothers me alot. While I was visiting my mother and brother in Florida, my husband and a good friend took to remodeling our main bathroom. They put in a new sink and cabinet. New light fixture, New mirrored medicine cabinet added electrical outlet, new fresh paint(this was 3 yrs ago)It all came out terrific. Except for...You knew there was an except for..the tub and shower surround. It didn't fit properly. So they cut it to fit.Still wrong. Long story short for 3 yrs I've had 2 shower curtains. One on the outside, and one on the inside to keep the water from getting between the wall and surround ruining the wall behind. So far it has worked. But looks awful. Just waiting for hubby to put it back on project list. Done saying anything and we have had a few arguments over it.I try and focus on the rest of room which looks great.
@drannhh (15219)
• United States
4 Jan 08
I have a job that hubby has had on the back burner for many years and when I prepare to just finish it myself he gets annoyed and insists that I let him do it. It just never happens. He started painting a set of cabinets white for me and got 2 coats finished and about 2/3rds through the third and just stopped. So it doesn't look right. Oh, well, it is not worth arguing over. He is such a sweetie in so many other respects, I'll just give him a pass on this one.
@Adoniah (7512)
• United States
5 Jan 08
I guess I have an advantage over you in that I worked construction all my life. I can still pull out a kit full of screws and pieces parts that would make you eyes pop. So, I most likely would have any missing hardware in a case like yours. But I am very quick to go back and try to get them to make it right. I am so sick of slipshod merchandise and poor workmanship. No one has any pride in their work any more. Everything is made in China and it is not made to last like it used to be.
I do volunter work at a place where we teach kids what it was like to live in Fl. in the late 1800's and early 1900's. We have one of those old refridgeraters that has a thing like a big dome on top of it and it still runs well. The workers keep their lunches in it. Now that is workmanship built to last.
To be honest I have had some disasters. But I always had enough jobs going that I could just take things apart and salvage the good parts and pitch the bad and keep going with none the wiser save me. lol
@drannhh (15219)
• United States
5 Jan 08
Sounds very interesting. I have an awful lot of tools, but can not always find the ones I need. When I am in California I can remember where I put the tool I'm looking for, but it is about 1000 miles away, and then when we get back "home" I can then remember where the tools are that we needed when we were at the other place. Sometimes, we just go out and buy a new tool, but then over time the same thing happens to it. When I get my kitchen cabinets under control I must do something about our tool inventory!
@Adoniah (7512)
• United States
6 Jan 08
Well, now, I did it too myself. I was going down in the useless elevator here on my shoprider electric scooter and took a little too long backing out when the doors slammed shut on the front or it. Need less to say, metal and fiberglass do not mix well and the metal won. So I spent today repairing it. I fixed it, but it was ugly, so I came up with a way to disguise the ugly. I bought screws and washers to hold something inplace and sure enough bought screws that were too short! Guess what? I had the right size at home. I wasted a trip to the store. Dummy me.
