Easy Assembly of IKEA Drawers
The foolproof assembly guide
You may not believe that easy assembly of Ikea drawers is possible, but yes, it really is.
If you had installed an Ikea kitchen before, or maybe just looked into how complicated it will be, you might think that assembling drawers the easy way sounds like a fantasy. However, let me assure you, it is not.
Practice makes perfect
As with most things in life, practice makes perfect, and that can be said about assembling Ikea drawers too. The thing is, though, it takes a fair amount of practice to obtain sufficient experience. In other words, you will have to assemble a lot of drawers, before you feel you really master this specific discipline.
And just as you get there, your kitchen is finished. The learning curve was flat, so when you finally got the hang of it, the job was completed.
The question you may ask yourself then is, “How do I make a shortcut to becoming a Master Assembler of Ikea kitchen drawers fast?”
The good news is, you don’t have to.
Quick learning by clicking
I have done all the tinkering for you and created a “Drawer Assembly Guide,” which you can use at your convenience when you have one or more Ikea drawers to assemble.
By selecting between a few options, you will know exactly which holes, on the drawer front, the hardware has to be mounted into. It is truly as easy as 1-2-3.
In conclusion, try it for yourself. Soon you will find that Easy Assembly of Ikea Drawers indeed is possible. If you have any questions regarding assembling Ikea drawers, please send me an email or contact me here. Alternatively, you can leave a comment below. Thank you.
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Still going strong
I bought one of these when I started my business more than five years ago, and it is still going strong after more than 250 kitchens.
Unbelievable quality. I use it to assemble all cabinets and drawers, and the Gyro feature is excellent. There’s only one button to press. The twist of your hand controls the rotational direction.
Very clever. I love it.
No, it is not a Philips bit
Contrary to what it looks like to the less experienced DIY’er, it is not a Philips bit.
For most, if not all, Ikea uses screws with a Pozidrive head.
PZ2 is the size and you will enjoy using it instead of the more famous PH2.
Thank you for the drawer assembly guide.
I learn better “visually” rather than by words, so to have these photos made it really clear to me what I need to do to get it right first time.
I really found this useful!
Thanks, Gary. I am happy that you find the guide useful. I am working on a similar guide for hanging rails, so come back soon and check it out.
Sometimes I find it difficult to see where the hardware fits in the holes … the IKEA pictures are small and my vision is getting worse. So, I really appreciate this guide you have made.
Do you have a guide for where the drawer rails match up with the holes inside the cabinet? Thanks for all your videos!
Thank you for your comment.
I haven’t made a guide for installation of the drawer hardware yet, but you might find this short video helpful.
https://youtube.com/shorts/zBeEI6RcIPY?feature=share
Commeni
I used your guide and whipped thru three stocks of drawers this afternoon! It was so helpful! Thank you!! You do IKEA better than IKEA!
Thank you for leaving a comment, Margery. I am happy to hear that you find my guide helpful.
Hello Lars,
I have followed the instructions to the letter and my maximera cabinets have a gap between the first and second. I installed them on 2, 13 and 21 as the instructions stated but cannot get them to line up. Any suggestions are appreciated!
I’m sure it’s just a small mistake.
Which instructions did you follow and the numbers you mention, is that from the bottom or top.
If you send a picture to info@kitchensbyrannes.com I can tell you where the mistake is.
Be sure to show all drawers in the same picture.
Hello Lars, we have been enjoying your videos and love your humor. When installing our drawers we ran into a snag and came over to your Youtube and website, but it appears that the form you mention in your video is no longer on this page? The one where you chose where the drawer went and the size of the the drawer front etc. We were wondering if it was taken down in error or if it was coming back.
Hello Dany,
Thank you so much for bringing this to my attention. I don’t know what happened, but the plugin I am using for the forms were gone….just like that.
It really got me sweating for a while. Thankfully for good house keeping, I had a backup, so it has been installed again now, and the form should be available.
Thanks again 🙂
after over 2 hours of not getting it correct, and now headed to Ikea for new screws (stripped) and a new drawer front, this guide help me put the other drawers together in less than an hour (for two cabinets!) Should have looked for this earlier! (I already used your videos for mounting the rails – should have checked with my first unsuccessful attempt at drawer assembly!)
Thank you for your comment.
I am happy to hear that you eventually got the hang of it.
with a medium drawer that is not the bottom, i mount the brackets as shown. But when I go to click the drawer front in, the top of the side of the drawer hits the bottom of the plastic bracket. Am I supposed to cut the bottom of the plastic bracket off since i am not using the lower hole? Thanks for your help and the great videos!
Hi Mark, thank you for your question.
I am certain that one of the brackets is mounted incorrectly. No cutting is necessary.
Use the two upper holes in the brackets if it is a middle or top drawer. You have most likely used the two lower holes on the metal bracket.
Hi Lars, I am having exactly the same problem as Mark. I have triple checked the manual and triple checked it off your site and still have the same problem on lower drawer. It looks like they are using a new plastic clip maybe? The clips are definitely too low to allow the drawer front to clip in.
Hi Connor,
Thank you for your comment. I am willing to bet that the mistake is not the clip or any other hardware from Ikea. It’s guaranteed. It has never happened.
Is it a 5+10+15 drawer setup?
Two things can be wrong. Either the lower bracket (metal) is mounted using the two lower holes in the bracket (which only must be the situation if the drawer sits at the bottom of the cabinet), or the 10″ front is upside down.
Sometimes, they put the sticker/stamp in the wrong position, so the front is upside down when you correctly have the sticker/stamp at the bottom of your assembly.
If you measure from the top of the drawer edge to the first hole in the front, it should be 1 3/4″; if it is less, the drawer is upside down.
Try again until it works.
Hi Lars, I will measure the drawer and see if sticker is on wrong side. I can also email a video showing the issue and the corresponding manual showing that the plans are followed correctly. Drawers are 10,10,10
Hi Lars, you are a genius. All of my drawer fronts for 30×10 and 15×10 have the sticker at the wrong side! Currently my bottom holes are at 1.5”. I will rotate them all now. I can’t believe ikea has made this mistake on all of my 30×10 and 15×10 drawer fronts
I’m sure you are measuring at the wrong position.
The 1 ¾” is at the top and 1 9/16″ from the bottom.
You made a mistake elsewhere.
Correct, I wrote that wrong. Mine had the 1 3/4” measurement to the bottom (side with the sticker). Spoke with IKEA and they confirmed this is the issue. I have put the label end to the top and they fit like a glove! Thanks
Excellent.
I am a bit surprised though, that you managed to get hold of someone from Ikea, who knows about installation 🙂 Hard to come by.
It took multiple calls and they sent me a video from YouTube to watch that wasn’t done by IKEA. I told them they should start sending people to this site!
Thanks. I appreciate your supporting my website. Cheers.
I think you may have saved me a trip to liquor store! But seriously, the pictures in the booklets never seemed to match up to the drawer configuration I needed. This is my first IKEA kitchen & now that I found you, I would consider again in the future.
Thanks Sarah. You’re comment inspired me to get a G&T on the balcony 🍸😀
Much like Mark and Connor my middle drawer was upside down too. :/
If it was not for THIS forum discussion I would never have considered that was the issue.
I am glad to hear that you figured it out.
Can you tell me how to remove a drawer front if I think I installed it upside down?
Hi Lydia.
Certainly. Remove the white plastic cover on the side of the drawer. You’ll see three openings and in the middle one, there’s a screw partly covered by a metal latch. Press your screw driver in, while pushing the latch to the side. Then turn a quarter round and the hardware will un-click from the bracket on the front. I cannot remember which way to turn, but it will only work in one direction, you cannot fail.
This is amazing! Thank you! You saved me a lot of time.
You’re very welcome, Cathy.
I’ve tried searching multiple places for an answer but didn’t see it mentioned anywhere so I thought I’ll check here — it doesn’t look like you can install a maximera drawer in an upper wall cabinet? I don’t see why not but all the ikea documentation shows the layout for base cabinets and when I try, it is bumping into the cabinet door. Thanks for all your helpful videos and info
Oh yes you can. Same way as in base cabinets but for any inside drawers, the door hinges must be the 153 degrees ones, so the door clear the drawers.
https://www.ikea.com/ca/en/p/utrusta-hinge-w-b-in-damper-for-kitchen-10427262/
Hi Lars,
I really like your drawer assembly guide! But I have a question. I have a low drawer that I want to attach to a 10 inch front. Its to accommodate an inner low drawer above it that will have an Utrusta front. In this situation, I’d like to know what holes in the metal bracket do I use for connecting to the 10 inch front? Same holes as with a medium drawer? Thanks!
Hi John.
Yes, that is correct. Use the holes you would for a medium drawer, but without the plastic adapters since it is a low.
Hello-
I have a 15” wide base cabinet that is all (six) drawers. Do the pre drilled holes on the drawer fronts not work for this set up? The holes seem to be off a half inch when trying to slide them into the tracks. This is the first project I have designed and built myself and I am wondering if I ordered something wrong?
Hi Courtney.
No, you’re just doing it wrong 😃
On the bottom drawer, use the two lower holes in the metal bracket, and for the rest, the two upper holes.
And oh, sticker/stamp in drawer fronts must be downward 👇
Try again.
The issue is the pre drilled holes and metal bracket doesn’t line up with the sliding shelf portion
Hi Courtney,
I am not sure what you mean with the “sliding shelf portion.” What I do know is, that of all the thousands of drawers I have assembled and installed, every single hole were lined up perfectly.
I am certain that you are doing something the wrong way. Feel free to send me an email with some pictures. My email address is to be found else where on this web site.
Comment thank you for the guide! However, I am having difficulty with my drawers and one of the issues I have is ikea instructions for the medium drawer. If I install the hardware on the 10″ drawer front as the instructions say, and also as your instructions say then the white piece on the rail will not allow me to put the drawer front into the drawer. In addition, the gap between my small(Top) drawer and the Medium (middle drawer) is huge and I cannot reduce the gap even with my drawer in the middle as high as it will go and my drawer on the top as low as it will go. IKEA is no help and I am completely stumped. I’ve measure everything. What am I missing?
Did you check that the 10″ drawer isn’t upside down?
https://youtu.be/nGubhRmxyPI