I decided to tackle the messiest drawer first, by emptying the drawer and sorting through all the items by grouping them into categories. I then placed each category back into the drawer to map out how many compartments I would need to create a divider system.

Using some washi tape I marked where I wanted the dividers to go to keep the items separated in their categories and then emptied the drawer again. I carefully measured the base of the drawer and each taped line, making a note of each measurement. I used this as my cut list. It’s helpful to sketch out the drawer and dividers to make sure everything matches up!

Before getting to work, it’s good to give your drawer a wipe with a damp cloth to make sure it’s dust free! My pattern of choice was the beautiful Mademoiselle Daisy wallpaper to line the drawer. I drew out the dimensions of the drawer base onto the reverse of the paper, carefully cut this out and then checked that it fit neatly into the drawer. Then, I did the same for the four sides of the drawer. Marking up the dimensions on the reverse, cutting these out and checking they fit neatly into place.

I was then ready to stick each piece into the drawer using double-sided sticky tape. Sticking the double-sided tape to the back of the wallpaper, peeling the back off of the tape, carefully laying the wallpaper into the drawer and gently smoothing it out as I laid it down. I then repeated this process with the side pieces of wallpaper. Ta-da! It’s an absolute delight to open the drawer and see this beautiful wallpaper.

I used some pine stripwood from Homebase to make the divider (you should be able to get similar from local DIY stores). Using your cut list measure and mark each length. The stripwood comes in various thicknesses and height, the one I used was 2.4m per length and it took less than 1 length to make my drawer dividers! You can use a mitre saw, or just a good old-fashioned hand saw to make the cuts … anything that can cut a straight line will do! I found it helpful to lay out each piece of the divider to keep them in order, and it’s good to sand some of the edges down where you might have a few rough cuts.

Then, I started to place the divider pieces into the drawer to check they were a snug fit – the final piece will always need to be trimmed down slightly to factor in the width of the stripwood. For this piece, I simply marked a line where it needed trimming, cut this to size and then popped the final piece in to check everything fit.

To make sure I was getting the spacing correct, I marked the two vertical pieces of strip wood where the horizontal pieces would need to be glued into place. Then to secure it all together, I glued each edge of the horizontal places and matched them to the pencil line I had marked up on the vertical pieces and left to dry.

I love a natural pine wood finish, but I felt a colour match to the Mademoiselle Daisy wallpaper would make the dividers feel extra special. Instead of buying a full tin of paint, I simply used an old tester pot we had lying around! Once everything was dry, I popped the divider back into the drawer, ready to be filled with all my crafting tools, ready for my next project.