How to Build a Silverware Tray

Last year I decided that our silverware drawer was a disgrace. We had a steel mesh tray for the spoons, forks and knives, but everything else (serving spoons, spatulas, knives, etc.) was just tossed into the extra space, absent of any kind of order. I've been telling my wife for awhile that I suffer from a minor case of self-diagnosed OCD, and the disarray in the silverware drawer finally took its toll on me; I had to do something about it.  This tutorial may or may not be the best way to do this, but it worked well for me, so I thought I would share the method with anyone interested in taking on a project like this.

The first thing I did was to take out the separate items in the silverware drawer, and put them into categories.  Next, I determined how much room would be needed to house each group of utensils.  I combined like items together, cut out appropriately-sized rectangles of paper, and labeled each cutout.  Then I arranged the cutouts in a pattern that would best utilize the space in the drawer.  I tried several different layouts until I found the one that made the most sense and maximized the surface area of the inside of the drawer.

Once I had a blueprint, the next step was to build the box.  This is just a matter of buying the right amount of wood, making precise cuts, and using wood glue to join the pieces.  When cutting the wood pieces, it's best to cut them slightly longer than you need because you can always trim them down a little.  With a project like this, it's important that the wood fits snugly because you're not going to be able to get nails into most of these joints, so the glue will have to hold everything together, along with the snugness of the fit.

Once I had the box assembled, all that was left was to stain, add a few coats of polyurethane lacquer, and lay down some shelf liner, which you can buy very cheaply almost anywhere.  Since organizing the silverware drawer, lots of friends and family members have regained at least a small amount of respect for me, and I no longer have to hang my head in shame at group functions.