Updated October 20, 2026
These DIY sliding drawers turned deep, hard to reach cabinet cubbies into pull out storage, and each one cost about $55. Here’s exactly how to build a drawer with slides, including the spacer trick that gets the slides past a cabinet’s face frame.
I built four of them for my brother and sister in law’s butler’s pantry. If you want to build the cabinets too, here’s the full butler’s pantry build. Building a drawer is a rite of passage for woodworkers, so this was my turn. Spoiler: it’s way less scary than it looks.
How do you build a drawer with slides?
Measure the cabinet opening and subtract 1/2 inch for side mount slides. Build the box from a plywood base with 1×4 sides, joined with glue and pocket screws. If the cabinet’s face frame sticks out past the side walls, add spacers to the walls first. Mount the slides level, then screw them to the drawer.
Table of Contents
- How do you build a drawer with slides?
- Watch the DIY Sliding Drawers Come Together
- Building a Drawer with Slides at a Glance
- Materials and Tools for Sliding Drawers
- Step by Step: How to Build a Drawer with Slides
- Step 1: Make Spacers to Clear the Face Frame
- Step 2: Glue and Nail the First Spacer
- Step 3: Square Up the Second Spacer
- Step 4: Measure and Cut the Drawer Pieces
- Step 5: Sand and Stain Before You Assemble
- Step 6: Drill the Pocket Holes and Assemble the Drawer Box
- Step 7: Mount the Slides on the Spacers
- Step 8: Attach the Slides to the Drawer
- Step 9: Add a Second Drawer Above
- How Much Does It Cost to Build a Drawer with Slides?
- How hard is it to build your own drawers?
- More Cabinet and Storage Projects
- 📌 Save These DIY Sliding Drawers for Later
- Drawer with Slides FAQs
- The Bottom Line on Building a Drawer with Slides
Watch the DIY Sliding Drawers Come Together
Here’s how these sliding drawers came together, from the spacers inside the cabinet to the finished drawers.
Building a Drawer with Slides at a Glance
- Cost: about $55 a drawer, plus about $25 in pocket screws, wood glue, and stain for the whole batch
- Time: about a weekend for four drawers, since the glue on the spacers needs to dry before the slides go on
- Slides: 20 inch, side mount, full extension, ball bearing
- My drawer size: 19 7/16 inches wide x 18 5/16 inches deep
- Difficulty: intermediate, but very doable for your first drawer
- Tools: a table saw, a drill, a brad nailer, and a pocket hole jig
- The rest of this pantry: the butler’s pantry cabinets, the herringbone countertop, floating pantry shelves, and these sliding drawers
Materials and Tools for Sliding Drawers
Supplies for Sliding Drawers
Amounts depend on how many drawers you’re building. I made four, and the links go to exactly what I used.
- 20 inch drawer slides: full extension, side mount (one pair for each drawer)
- 3/4 x 48 x 96 inch Sande plywood: the drawer bases
- 1x4x8 ft clear pine boards: the front, back, and sides of each drawer
- 1x2x8 ft clear pine board: cut down into the spacers
- 3/4 inch brad nails: short enough not to poke through the cabinet wall
- 1 1/4 inch pocket hole screws
- Wood glue
- Sandpaper: 220 grit
- Wood stain: I used Varathane Early American
- Paint to match your cabinet, for the spacers (mine was Caldwell Green by Benjamin Moore)
- Short wood screws for the slides, if your slides don’t come with any
Tools for Building and Installing Drawers
- Drill
- Brad nailer: a nail gun that shoots thin, tiny headed nails
- Table saw
- Kreg pocket hole jig
- Small level
- Laser measure: a tape measure works too
- Orbital sander
You can find more of my favorite tools and supplies on my Amazon storefront.
Step by Step: How to Build a Drawer with Slides
⚠️ You’ll be cutting thin strips on a table saw, so wear eye protection and use a push stick to keep your fingers well away from the blade.
Step 1: Make Spacers to Clear the Face Frame
My first obstacle was the face frame. That’s the flat wood frame on the front of a cabinet, around the openings. Mine stuck out 3/8 inch past the inside of the cabinet wall. That little edge is called the lip, and a drawer slide screwed straight to the wall would run right into it. Drawer slides are the metal tracks that let a drawer roll in and out.
The fix is a spacer on each side wall, as thick as the lip, so the slides sit flush with the opening. Flush just means even. I ripped a 1×2 pine board on my table saw into strips 3/8 inch thick and 18 5/16 inches long, the depth of my cabinet. Ripping means cutting a board the long way. Then I painted the spacers Caldwell Green to match the cabinet. (Here’s my step by step guide to painting cabinets if you’re painting yours too.)
Cut one more strip to lay flat on the cabinet floor. It holds the spacer up off the bottom while you attach it. I used this same spacer trick later on my pull out trash can cabinet.
Step 2: Glue and Nail the First Spacer
Lay the floor strip in the cabinet. Run a thin line of wood glue on the back of the spacer and set it on top of the floor strip, flush with the front. Check it with a small level. When the bubble sits right in the middle, it’s level.
Then brad nail it to the cabinet wall. I first tried screwing mine in, but my 1 inch screws were too long and would have come out the other side of the cabinet. So I glued and brad nailed them instead, then let the glue dry before I hung any slides. Pick brad nails shorter than your spacer and your cabinet wall put together.
Step 3: Square Up the Second Spacer
This is the step that decides whether your drawer glides or sticks, so take your time. Set the second floor strip and spacer on the other wall. Press the spacer tight against the wall. Then measure from spacer to spacer at the front of the cabinet and again at the back. I used a laser measure, but a tape measure works too.
The two numbers need to match. When they do, the cabinet is square, and your slides will run straight. Quick tape measure lesson: each tiny line between the inch marks is 1/16 inch. So 19 15/16 is just one tiny line short of 20.
My front measured 19 15/16 inches and my back measured 19 13/16, so the back was 1/8 inch narrower. I recut that spacer to fit and measured again. After that, the front and back were only about 1/16 inch apart, which is close enough. If yours are off, you can also tuck a shim behind one end of the spacer until they match. A shim is a thin wedge of wood. Once the numbers match, check that it’s level, then glue and brad nail it.
What I’d do differently: hold the laser measure flat against the spacer. On my first try, it was tipped up a little and told me the cabinet was more than 1/4 inch out of square. It wasn’t. Don’t be like me!
Step 4: Measure and Cut the Drawer Pieces
Your cabinet won’t be the same size as mine, so here’s the formula. Keep that spacer to spacer number handy, because every cut comes from it:
- Drawer width: the spacer to spacer measurement minus 1/2 inch, because side mount slides need 1/4 inch on each side.
- Drawer depth: measure along the cabinet floor from the front opening to the back.
- Base: 3/4 inch plywood, cut to the drawer width by the drawer depth.
- Front and back: 1×4 pine, cut to the drawer width.
- Sides: 1×4 pine, cut to the drawer depth minus 1 1/2 inches, so they fit between the front and back.
Heads up: a 1×4 isn’t really 1 inch by 4 inches. It’s 3/4 inch thick and 3 1/2 inches wide, which is why the sides get 1 1/2 inches shorter (two 3/4 inch boards). In my cabinet, the spacers were 19 15/16 inches apart, so my drawers are 19 7/16 inches wide and 18 5/16 inches deep. This fraction calculator helps when the fractions get ugly. Measure everything twice, because a drawer that isn’t square won’t slide.
Step 5: Sand and Stain Before You Assemble
Trust me on this one: stain the pieces now, not after the box is built. Getting a rag into the inside corners of a finished drawer is no fun. Sand both sides of every piece with 220 grit sandpaper on an orbital sander, wipe off the dust, then stain. I used Varathane Early American, the same stain as the herringbone countertop.
Step 6: Drill the Pocket Holes and Assemble the Drawer Box
Now it starts looking like a drawer! You’ll join everything with pocket holes. A pocket hole is a small hole drilled at an angle with a pocket hole jig. A screw goes in through that hole and pulls two boards tight together from the hidden side. The jig does the hard part; you just clamp the board in and drill.
The trick is putting the holes where nobody looks. I drilled mine on the underside of the base, to attach it to the walls. I also drilled them on the inside of the walls, where the corners join. The ones near the front only show if you bend over the drawer, and since that would be weird, it seemed like a good spot. The ones at the back never pull out far enough for anyone to see them. Genius.
To put the box together, work on a level surface. Run a thin line of wood glue on each joint, then screw the four walls together with 1 1/4 inch pocket screws. Flip the box over, set the base on, and screw it to the walls through the pocket holes underneath. Keep the bottom edges of the walls flush with the base, and wipe off any glue that squeezes out.
Before you hang it, slide the box into the opening to test the fit. Mine slid in and out pretty easily, which is exactly what you want.
Step 7: Mount the Slides on the Spacers
Side mount slides come as a pair, one for each side of the drawer. Each slide has two parts that come apart: one screws to the cabinet and the other screws to the drawer. I kept mine together for this step. Full extension means the drawer pulls all the way out. Ball bearing means tiny steel balls inside make it glide.
To get both slides at the same height, set a few scrap spacers on the cabinet floor under each spacer and rest the slide on top of them. Screw the back of the slide to the spacer, check that it’s level, then screw in the rest. Repeat on the other side. Those scrap spacers made installation super quick.
Step 8: Attach the Slides to the Drawer
This is the fun part. Set the drawer in the cabinet, resting on the scrap spacers, and pull each slide out so it’s flush with the front of the drawer. Drive a screw through the front hole of the slide into the drawer.
Pull the drawer out farther, keeping its back resting on the spacers, and screw through the middle hole. Then pull it all the way out and screw through the back hole. Do the same on the other side. Now give it a slide. So satisfying!
Step 9: Add a Second Drawer Above
One drawer down, three to go. I wanted two drawers in each cubby, one above the other. For the upper drawer, I cut two identical spacers to stand on top of the bottom spacer. They set the height of the upper slides, so there’s no measuring up from the floor. I brad nailed them in, checked them with my level, then repeated Steps 7 and 8.
Okay, now I’m done! These drawers weren’t nearly as intimidating as I thought they’d be. They were the last thing to check off on this pantry build, and I’m definitely the favorite sister for a while.
How Much Does It Cost to Build a Drawer with Slides?
About $55 a drawer. A pair of 20 inch Everbilt slides is about $20, a 1×4 pine board is about $15, and the base is about $20 worth of a $70 sheet of Sande plywood, since one sheet makes four bases. Pocket screws, wood glue, and stain add about $25 for the whole batch.
A made to fit wood pull out shelf from Home Depot runs about $65 to $95 each. So building your own saves a little on one drawer and a lot more on four.
How hard is it to build your own drawers?
Building sliding drawers is easier than it looks. If you’ve wondered how to make a sliding drawer, the box is just a base and four boards. The hard part is getting both slides parallel and level. The spacers handle that. Match the measurement at the front to the one at the back, keep both slides level, and the drawer glides. I’ve used the same slide method for pull out shelves in my own kitchen.
More Cabinet and Storage Projects
- DIY pull out shelves for kitchen cabinets
- Double trash can cabinet
- DIY silverware drawer organizer
- DIY pantry shelves
📌 Save These DIY Sliding Drawers for Later
Pin these sliding drawers so the measurements are handy when you build your own.
Drawer with Slides FAQs
About $55 a drawer. A pair of 20 inch full extension slides is about $20. A 1×4 pine board for the front, back, and sides is about $15. The plywood base is about $20, since one sheet makes four. Pocket screws, wood glue, and stain add about $25 for a batch of four drawers. A made to fit pull out shelf from Home Depot runs about $65 to $95, so DIY saves more the more drawers you build.
Measure the opening between the cabinet walls, or between your spacers, and subtract 1/2 inch. Side mount slides need about 1/4 inch on each side of the drawer. My spacers were 19 15/16 inches apart, so my drawers are 19 7/16 inches wide. For depth, measure along the cabinet floor from the front opening to the back. Measure the width at the front and at the back too. If they don’t match, fix the spacer first.
Either one works. Half inch plywood is common for drawer boxes because it’s lighter and leaves a little more room inside. I used 3/4 inch Sande plywood for the bases, the same plywood I used for the pantry cabinets, because it’s extra sturdy. The front, back, and sides are 1×4 pine, which is 3/4 inch thick. Whichever you pick, figure out your drawer width after you account for the slides.
Not as hard as it looks. The drawer box is just a plywood base and four boards. Glue plus pocket screws hold it together. The tricky part is getting both slides parallel and level. Spacers on each cabinet wall, measured at the front and the back, take care of that. These were my first drawers, and they weren’t nearly as intimidating as I expected. If you can use a drill, you can build these.
Yes, and that’s exactly what I did. These drawers went into the lower cubbies of a pantry cabinet that was already built and painted. The only catch was the face frame, the wood frame on the front of the cabinet. It stuck out 3/8 inch past the side walls and would have blocked the slides. A spacer glued and nailed to each wall, as thick as that lip, brings the slides flush with the opening.
Add spacers. Measure how far the face frame sticks out past the inside of the cabinet wall. Then rip strips of wood to that thickness and the depth of the cabinet. Mine were 3/8 inch thick and 18 5/16 inches long, cut from a pine 1×2. Glue and brad nail a spacer to each side wall. Keep it level and flush with the front, then mount the slides to the spacers. Paint them to match the cabinet so they disappear.
You can. If you want to build a sliding drawer with wood runners, that’s the old fashioned way: a strip on the drawer rides in a groove or on a cleat, which is a strip of wood fastened to the cabinet. They work for light drawers. They don’t pull all the way out, though, and they can stick when the wood swells. I used metal ball bearing slides because I wanted these pantry drawers to open fully. A pair of 20 inch slides was about $20.
Make sure both slides are parallel and level before the drawer goes in. Measure from spacer to spacer at the front and the back of the cabinet. The two numbers should match within about 1/16 inch. Rest each slide on the same scrap spacers so both sit at the same height, and check each one with a level as you screw. Then attach the drawer one hole at a time: front, middle, then back.
Mount the cabinet side of each slide first, level and at the same height on both sides. Then set the drawer in the opening on scrap spacers and pull each slide out until it’s flush with the drawer front. Drive a screw through the front hole. Pull the drawer out farther and screw through the middle hole, then pull it all the way out for the back hole. Repeat on the other side, then test it.
A drawer has four walls, so it holds loose things like cans, snacks, and lids. A sliding shelf, or pull out shelf, is a flat board with a short lip around the edge, which is better for pots and appliances you lift straight up. Both ride on the same side mount slides and go in the same way. I built drawers for this pantry and pull out shelves for my own kitchen. The slide method was the same for both.
The Bottom Line on Building a Drawer with Slides
Building four sliding drawers for a butler’s pantry cost me about $55 a drawer. Each one is a plywood base, pine sides, pocket screws, and a pair of 20 inch slides. If you tell a friend one thing about making drawers with slides, tell them to measure spacer to spacer at the front and the back before anything gets nailed in. That one check is the difference between a drawer that glides and one that sticks.
Have you ever built or installed drawers? Tell me in the comments what worked for you and what you wish you’d known. And if you’re a visual learner, all of my project stories are saved in the highlights on my Instagram account @crystelmontenegrohome.
