Isabelle LaRue from Engineer Your Space joins us again with a DIY Knife Rack that's sure to increase your kitchen counter space. No power tools were used in the making of this project!
When you have a small kitchen, storage space is at a premium. While my LA apartment kitchen is a lot bigger than my NYC studio, I wanted to free up some prime top drawer space occupied by my knives. My solution was to design and make a DIY wood knife rack that's a hybrid between a knife block and magnetic knife strip. And the best part? I built it in just 30 minutes for under $10 without any power tools!
Materials you'll need:
- A piece of wood: mine was 11" x 8" and I used pine board I had left over from another project.
- Lattice: 1 1/4" x 3 ft ($1.50)
- Birch veneer edging pre-glued iron (affiliate link) on ($6.50) or 1/4"x 3/4" screen molding for $2.
- Glue Dots® Advanced Strength adhesive (Double-Sided Sheets shown, but the dispenser will work just as well)
Step 1: Cut the veneer edging into strips the height of your piece of wood (8" in my case) and iron onto the front of your piece of wood, at the edge. Repeat with 3 more strips of edging, ironing them one on top of the other. Repeat the process for the other end. This is optional, but I also added edging on the sides of the piece of wood for a cleaner look.
Step 2: Determine the spacing for your knives and iron on the dividers the same way as in step 1.
Step 3: Glue the lattice pieces across the top of the veneer edging dividers, with one at the top and bottom and one in the middle. To make this project mess-free and go faster, I used Advanced Strength Double-Sided Sheets from Glue Dots instead of wood glue and clamps for this step. I cut the lattice with a miter box and saw (affiliate link) but you can also have this done at the hardware store.
I love the look of the wood so I left my knife rack as is but you could stain it or paint it.
Then, all that's left is to hang it on your kitchen wall or on the inside of a cabinet door. I rested mine on the counter and used Repositionable adhesive from Glue Dots to hold it up against the tile.
This was such a simple project to do and I love that I now have easy access to my knives and that I've freed up some of that precious drawer space in my kitchen!
~Isabelle
Isabelle LaRue, is the creator, producer and host of “Engineer Your Space” (EYS), an award winning DIY home design show on YouTube. A building engineer turned DIY home design expert, she is affectionately referred to as “MacGyver and Martha Stewart’s love child” for her clever and elegant DIY home décor solutions. While her projects aim to solve common challenges faced by renters and small space dwellers, anyone looking to improve their home on a budget can put her ideas to good use. Bad lighting? Ugly floor? Can’t paint? Isabelle has you covered. She designs and builds all of her incredible budget-friendly creations in her apartment, on her own, using simple tools and common materials accessible to everyone. Stylish, functional and affordable, her designs have been featured on many websites including HGTV, Houzz, Apartment Therapy, and The Huffington Post to name a few. Don’t know the first thing about DIY? Isabelle walks her viewers through every step of the project in detail, sharing her “MacGyver” tips and tricks along the way. She has a knack for breaking down everything into manageable, easy to understand steps and makes everyone watching feel like they can do it too. Watch Isabelle in action and you too will be inspired to transform your “less than perfect” space into a place you’ll be proud to call home.
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