Add some organizations to your messy IKEA Alex Cabinet drawers with this really simple, easy DIY Drawer Organizer tutorial that is easy to do.I have lots of drawers in my office that I use both as a home office for my corporate day job and my side hustle as a craft/home decor blogger. I have a ton of IKEA Alex Cabinets (pretty much almost every Alex variation). While they are great for storing things, I have had a hard time keeping each drawer organized. I needed some way to organize the insanity of each drawer.
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How to Organize IKEA Drawers
With IKEA Alex drawers, they aren’t the traditional sizes where you can just buy kitchen utensil holders that would fit perfectly. Sometimes, you also have knick knacks of varying sizes that you also want to store in an organized way that the traditional dividers purchased online won’t work for.
I created some DIY customizable drawer dividers by using some poster board foam that you can easily buy for under $10! By upcycling poster board with strategic cuts, you can create custom dividers for your IKEA Alex cabinets in a matter of minutes. These compartments allow you to throw stuff inside a drawer in an organized fashion.
What I wanted to avoid was using wood and having to paint the wood. That would require me to pull some favors with my husband because I am definitely not that handy when it comes to wood cutting. I opted for an easier project that didn’t require me using a saw.
Problem with Commercially Available Drawer Dividers
The problem with the drawer dividers that are available is that a lot of them have the same homogenous sizes, and we all know that we want to store things that are generally of varying sizes in this space. I wanted to be able to customize my drawer space so that I could keep the things that belonged with each other in the same space.
Often, a recommended solution was to use kitchen utensil dividers. I also found that these often varied in size and didn’t always fit my IKEA Alex Cabinets that I’ve grown to love so much. I needed a way to customize homemade dividers to fit the dimensions of my Ikea Alex Cabinet drawers.
IKEA Containers
I’ve purchased plenty of IKEA containers, and trust me, they don’t all fit perfect for these drawers.
Dollar Tree Dividers
I’ve gone to Dollar Tree and purchased a few acrylic containers and white plastic ones that didn’t 100% fit the space of the IKEA Alex Cabinets as you can see below.
IKEA Alex Cabinet Drawer Dimensions for Dividers
To create these drawer organizers for your IKEA Alex Cabinets, you’re going to need the following dimensions of the cabinets. The height is based off of the height of the drawer height, not including the clearance that is available. Use this to determine the height of the divider that you want to create.
IKEA Alex Cabinet 5-Drawer Dimensions
- Top 2 drawers: 20 5/8″ x 11 1/2″ x 2 1/8″
- Bottom 3 drawers: 20 5/8″ x 11 1/2″ x 4 1/2″
IKEA Alex Cabinet 4-Drawer Dimensions
- Top 3 Drawers: 20 5/8″ x 11 1/2″ x 2 1/8″
- Bottom Drawer: 20 5/8″ x 11/12″ x 9 1/2″
IKEA Alex Drawer Unit on Casters
- Top 2 Drawers: 16 3/4″ x 23 5/8″ x 2 1/4″
- Bottom 3 Drawers: 16 3/4″ x 23 5/8″ x 3 3/8″
There are other IKEA Alex Drawer combinations (including a tall one which I absolutely love), but because I don’t have those dimensions on hand, I’ve left them out of this list.
Tips and Tricks for Making Your Own DIY Drawer Organizers
Before using this tutorial, I wanted to share with you some of my best tips for making these drawer organizers for your IKEA Alex Cabinets.
Choosing Poster Foam Boards
The problem with the poster foam board that I chose was that it was cheap foam core that had air in between the foam. You want to choose a high quality poster foam bard that is foam all the way through instead of having pockets of foam.
Use Glue That Dries White or Tape Adhesive
If you are using a white foam board, you’ll want to choose a white glue that dries white so that if you have glue spillage, it doesn’t look yellow and visible. I went the cheater way and used wood glue because that’s all I had on hand at the time.
I would now recommend using the double stick tape adhesive, it’s clear and you can move it around.
How to Make DIY IKEA Alex Cabinet Drawer Dividers
Frequently Asked Questions About Making Dividers for IKEA Alex Cabinet Drawers
What is the height of IKEA Alex Cabinet drawers?
IKEA Alex Cabinet drawers range from 2 1/8″ to 9 1/2″ deep
What is the depth of the IKEA Alex Cabinet drawers?
IKEA Alex Cabinets that are most frequently purchased in the 4 or 5 drawer variation are 20 5/8″. IKEA Alex Cabinets with the caster wheels are 23 5/8″ in depth.
Summary of Homemade IKEA Alex Cabinet Dividers
Hopefully, this DIY homemade drawer divider tutorial allows you to control of your junk drawers inside of your IKEA Alex Cabinets using this awesome solution.
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