Q: How to reduce KOMPLEMENT Drawer Spacing?

When we renovated  our bedroom last year we built in lots of PAX storage. We built a large wardrobe with grey gloss sliding doors.

Photo: IKEA.com

We then used the 35cm deep frames to create open storage opposite the end of the bed.

IKEA items:

• White PAX Frame
• White KOMPLEMENT Drawers

This provides open shelving for decorative items and houses our TV. The bottom half however we fitted with white KOMPLEMENT drawers.

We like seeing the drawer fronts but we didn’t think about how tidy the drawers would have to stay to stop things being visible between the drawers. We have fitted the drawers as close together as we can given the pre-drilled holes.

What I’m asking is, is there any way to get the drawers any closer? Could we put our own holes in, in between the existing pre drilled holes?

Thanks in advance!

Sarah

***

Hi Sarah

Yes, you can add your own holes between the pre-drilled holes to lower the drawers above and reduce the gap.

Remove the drawer slides and measure the depth of the holes. Mark where the new ones should go, using the rail cover as a template for the hole distance. Drill holes in the same size and depth like the pre-drilled ones. Assemble as per IKEA instruction.

#1 New drawer fronts

Another way to close up the spacing is to make new drawer fronts for the KOMPLEMENT. Like how Erin did in her stunning walk-in closet.

She made new drawer fronts out of 1/2 inch Poplar boards. Cut them to size, sanded and screwed the boards onto the KOMPLEMENT fronts from inside the drawers. Finished with paint and drawer pulls. Read more.

#2 Backer board

The last suggestion is an easy one. Add a backing board on the inside of the drawer front. Like so:

The height of the board should be the drawer depth + gap. Then, take it down a notch to allow the drawer above to move freely.

The board can be made out of wood, plastic or even cardboard wrapped in beautiful contact paper. It would look almost like this MALM, if the boards are wrapped in gold:

Use short screws or double sided mounting tape to fix the boards on to the back of the KOMPLEMENT drawer fronts.

I’ll go for the quick and easy solution first and see how I like it. Let us know how you manage to reduce the KOMPLEMENT drawer spacing.

Happy hacking,

Jules

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