Family Handyman lists 30 add-ons

Kitchen storage is one of those problems that feels expensive until you look closely at what’s actually failing. Usually the kitchen is not short on cubic inches. It’s short on access. Stuff disappears into deep base cabinets, corners turn into dead zones, and cabinet doors do almost nothing. That’s the gap Family Handyman is trying to close with its still-circulating roundup of 30 cheap cabinet add-ons you can build yourself, last updated on September 13, 2024. ### What is this list really about? It’s less “decorate your kitchen” and more “make your existing boxes work.” The roundup is a collection of small retrofit projects for standard cabinets — things like lower-cabinet rollouts, a cabinet-door knife rack, a container-storage drawer, extra shelves, and an under-cabinet wine rack. The through line is simple: use the space you already paid for but can’t reach easily. (familyhandyman.com) ### Why do rollouts show up so much? Because deep cabinets waste space in the back. A fixed shelf turns the rear half into a cave. A rollout turns that same space into something you can actually see and grab. Family Handyman keeps coming back to that move in several forms — classic rollout shelves, vertical rollout drawers, and even special rollouts for trash, recycling, lids, or under-sink storage. (familyhandyman.com) ### What kinds of projects are on the list? Some are tiny. Add a shelf. Mount a knife rack to a cabinet door. Build a narrow wine rack under an upper cabinet. Others are more like modular carpentry — full-extension drawers for containers, rollout panels, and custom boxes with low, high, or sloped sides depending on what you store. That detail matters because the storage shape is part of the fix. Tall sides keep plastic containers from toppling. Low sides make labels easier to read. (familyhandyman.com) ### Is this beginner-friendly or real woodworking? Both, but not at the same time. The easier projects use scraps, simple shelves, or straightforward mounting. The harder ones ask for measuring cabinet openings, accounting for hinges, and installing drawer slides so they stay parallel. Family Handyman is pretty explicit that some projects are beginner-friendly and some are not — one kitchen-storage guide even says it starts with the easiest build and ends with the hardest. (familyhandyman.com) ### What’s the trickiest part? Clearance. Not the build itself — the geometry. Door-mounted racks can hit cabinet frames. Rollout drawers can bind on hinges if you size them to the wrong width. Slide-mounted panels need cleats thick enough to clear door hardware. Basically, the annoying part is not cutting wood. It’s making moving parts miss each other by half an inch. ### Why does cabinet-door storage matter so much? (familyhandyman.com) Because cabinet doors are usually blank vertical real estate. Family Handyman’s examples show how much that surface can carry — spice bottles, pan lids, knives. One guide says a single spice rack can hold 20 to 30 bottles, which is the kind of number that explains why these projects keep getting shared. You’re not adding square footage. You’re unlocking a hidden wall. (familyhandyman.com) ### So why is this popping up again? Because it fits the current low-cost refresh mood. People want kitchens that work better, but a full cabinet replacement is expensive and disruptive. These projects sit in the middle ground — more useful than buying one plastic bin, much cheaper than a remodel, and realistic for a weekend if you pick the simpler builds. ### Bottom line? (familyhandyman.com) The useful idea here is not any single add-on. It’s the mindset shift: stop treating cabinets as fixed boxes. Treat them like shells you can retrofit — shelf by shelf, door by door, slide by slide. (familyhandyman.com)