How to Build Pull-Out Drying Rack Drawers

Learn how to build DIY Drying Rack drawers for your laundry room with this simple and easy-to-follow detailed step-by-step tutorial.

I recently put the finishing touches to my laundry “room.” Well, it is a corner of my garage, but we will refer to it as a laundry “room” from now on 🙂

One of the most asked-about details was the pull-out drying rack drawers I added to the bottom of the cabinets.

In my case, I made the sides a little longer on the bottom than the bottom-most shelf.

For the rods themselves – Steel rods are a great, durable option, but they can be very hard to cut. You need special blades or grinders. Plus, steel can be pretty expensive.

Wood dowels are another great option. The only thing to remember is that the wood must be sealed well with an outdoor finish to protect it from moisture.

Let’s get into all the details of building pull-out drying racks to add to your laundry cabinets.

DIY Pull Out Drying Rack Video

Click here to subscribe to my YouTube Channel for more great videos!

***This post contains referral or affiliate links. It is a way for this site to earn advertising fees by advertising or linking to certain products and/or services.  Please read my full disclosure here ***

DIY Drying Rack Drawer

As mentioned, I accounted for the pull-out drying racks when designing the cabinet, so I already had the sides of the cabinet large enough and ready for the drawers. I will show you how to build and install the drawers on these sides.

If you have pre-built cabinets or just walls, no worries! See at the end of this post for how to make it work.

Step 1: Make the Cuts

• Make the cuts for the drawer sides based on your measurements.

Typically drawers are usually about an inch shorter in depth. Plus, you want to leave 1/2″ on both sides of the drawer to accommodate the drawer slides (but be sure to check the manufacturer’s instructions on this).

• Make the cuts for the dowels.

All the dowels need to be cut perfectly equally. The best way to do this is to set up a stop block on your miter saw and make all the cuts.

Also, you want to add 3/4″ to the length of the dowel to account for the parts that will be inserted into the sides.

Step 2: Make the Holes for the Dowels

• Calculate the number of dowel holes you want in the rack. This takes a little math. I used 3/4″ dowels and spaced them out at 2.5″.
• Measure and mark the location of the holes. This needs to be precisely identical to the opposing side, so I like to label my boards to be able to keep track.
• Use the 3/4″ Forstener bit to make the dowel holes. The holes are 3/8″ deep. You can use masking tape to mark that, or if you are using a drill press, you can set up the depth accordingly. My Forstener bit was 3/8″ high. I used the top of the Forstener bit as a guide, which worked well.

Step 3: Seal the Dowels

• Seal the dowels well using a spray waterproofing finish.

I like to use a waterproofing spray spar urethane. This is a crucial step. The dowels will see a lot of moisture and must be protected.

I used the spar urethane in the spray form because it quickly covers the dowels from all sides. I stood them upright on one of the sides and sprayed them. You need to seal the sides of the drying rack anyway to protect it from moisture.

Step 4: Build the Drying Rack Drawer Insert

Building the drawer insert is pretty much like building a drawer – except you want to add the dowels instead of the drawer bottom.

• Build three sides of the drawer using pocket hole screws and wood glue.

• Add wood glue into the dowel holes and add the dowels.

• Attach the drawer’s fourth side, ensuring all the dowels go into the respective drawer holes.

This can be a little tricky. The easiest way to get everything to work was to use clamps to hold the sides in place, as I attached with pocket hole screws. The clamps will also ensure everything stays square.

Learn more about what is square and how to correct for it here.

• Allow to dry overnight, and the drying rack is done!

Step 5: Install in the Cabinet

Installing the drying rack drawer is like installing any other drawer.

• Install the drawer slides to the sides of the cabinet.
  I like using full extension drawer slides – mainly because you want the drying rack to extend completely.

Make sure the drawer slides are attached level. To do this, I used the same 1×3 board on both sides to support the drawer slides.

• Insert the other part of the drawer slide.
• Use a 1/4″ thick board to support the drying rack drawer and attach the drawer side.

See how to build and install drawers in detail here.

Once the drying rack drawer is in, it is time to attach the drawer front and make it look seamless. See my trick for attaching drawer fronts easily in the How to build drawers article.

And that’s it!

The pull-out drying rack is done!

The space between the dowels is also enough to hold hangers.

Can You Add Drying Rack Drawers to Existing Cabinets?

If you have existing cabinets, you can alter them to add a pull-out rack. You need to remove a door and add the drawers to the cabinet, like in step 5 above. Once installed, you can either leave it open with shelving above or build and install a door above the drawer, as I did.

If you don’t have existing cabinets but have walls on two sides, you can attach a wood board and add the drawers. Sometimes, people even build the drawers to look like shelves when they are closed.

More laundry room makeover posts:

• How To Make an Easy DIY Countertop for Laundry Room
• How to Make Shaker Cabinet Doors – A Simple Tutorial
• 9 DIY Ideas For A Garage Laundry Room Makeover

You might also like these projects: