Sink Cabinet Shelf

1. MEASURE the cabinet opening (height and width) to size the shelf system.
All that wide open space under the sink is a black hole for cleaning products, shoe polish, trash bags—you name it. If you’re tired of exploring its depths
every time you need something, build this handy door-mounted shelf. Better than store-bought wire racks, it mounts securely, has the same wood finish as your cabinet and maximizes space because you custom-fit it for your cabinet.

Reader's Digest Measuring the sink

The shelf is made from standard 1x4 lumber (which is 3/4 in. x 3-1/2 in.). If you have access to a table saw and have a drill, screwdriver, some wood glue and a tape measure, you can build this project. It takes only a few hours. You can also modify this design to work in other cabinets for holding spices, canned goods or craft supplies.

The shelf has a unique built-in system to make mounting it to the backside of a cabinet door a snap. The shelf gets screwed into the solid wood stiles of the door (not into the panel).

Sizing Tips

Because there’s no standard size for sink base cabinets, here are a few tips to help you size your door-mounted shelf. Measure the height and width of the cabinet opening. The shelf unit must be 1/2 in. less in height and 2 in. less in width. These measurements ensure that the shelf unit will clear the frame by 1/4 in. on all sides as you close the cabinet door. Here’s how to size each part:

-The height of the 3-1/2 in. deep sides (A) must be 1/2 in. shorter than the height of the opening.

-The 3-1/4 in. deep shelves (B) are cut 3 in. shorter than the width of the opening. These pieces are ripped 1/4 in. thinner than the side to allow space for gluing the mounting strips (C) to the backside of the shelves.

-The 1/4-in. x 3/4-in. mounting strips must be 2-1/2 in. longer than B or 1/2 in. shorter than the width of the door opening.

Preparing the Sides

After measuring the opening’s height and width, cut the sides (A) to length. Then cut a 45-degree taper on the tops of each piece, leaving 3/4 in. at the top. Label the inside of each side so you don’t cut the dado (groove) for each shelf on the wrong side. Notice that there are two 1/4-in. notches on the back edge of each side to accept the mounting strips (C).

Reader's Digest Preparing the shelves

To cut the dadoes, set your table saw blade so it’s 1/4 in. high. Mark the locations of each dado. The lower dado is on the bottom of the sides, and the top of the upper shelf is 13-1/2 in. from the bottom of the sides.

Reader's Digest Inserting the shelves

Cut the dadoes in the inner sides of A using your miter gauge as a guide to push the workpiece through the saw. Our table saw has an extra-wide miter gauge for stability. If your table saw has a small miter gauge, screw a piece of wood to its front edge to extend it to within 1/4 in. of the saw blade. You could make the dado cut in one pass with a special dado blade, but if you don’t have one, just make repeated cuts with a standard blade .

Making the Shelves

Cut the shelves (B) to length from 1x4, then rip them to a width of 3-1/4 in. Make the 1/4-in. x 3/4-in. mounting strips (C) and front rails (D) by ripping them from a wider piece.

Before you glue these pieces to the backs of the shelves, drill a 3/16-in. hole 3/8 in. from each end. You’ll use these holes later to mount the shelf to the door stiles.