Garbage Pull Out Build

I love this project! And I am happy to check off another something off my 2014 project list. My pantry has been a very unhappy host of garbage and recycling cans. What I really need is a pull out garbage can.

They were always in the way and stinky. Boo. There really was no reason for this because the kitchen has an decent amount of cupboards and when we first moved in we just started shoving stuff into cupboards, not knowing where to put anything. So I ended up with an disorganized kitchen… and I have been trying to undo it ever since.

I have always wanted a garage pull out and the perfect place in my kitchen is near the sink, which was used to house randomness, dishcloths, bibs.

I liked the placement of the cupboards and they already had bottom mounted drawer pulls from the previous owners. Plus I wasn’t using the space well. But in order to transform this space into a pull out I had to create a place for everything to go, which meant doing something I had been putting off for a cool 15 months…. clean out my junk drawer:

Please tell me I’m not the only one in America with one of these. I’m not going to lie, organizing this baby was painful. (But I did find $2.37 hiding in the depths of messy despair, just enough to reward myself with a yummy cookie at projects end.) I rearranged the stuff in the cupboards and started to get excited, and so did baby girl, especially when she found the spinny wheels:

Materials for this project:

• base mounted drawer pulls
• cabinet face (front)
• garbage cans that fit
• shelving
• drill
• jigsaw
• screws

Before I go through the steps, you can buy kits at any hardware store. There are two main kinds, one that slide like a drawer behind the cabinet and ones that attach to the drawer. Like this and this. I was trying to use materials I already had on hand for this project. But if I was starting from scratch or if I was pinched for space I would consider a kit.

I used the pull out system that was already in the cabinets and removed the top baskets:

Then, I attached the white basket frame to the front of the cabinet. Instead of marking and removing everything in order to attach, I crawled into the cupboard and used my upholstery gun to staple it in place so I would make sure I got it straight:

I was hopeful I could be done at this point, but the garbage cans moved around in the basket so much I built a place holder out of left over shelving. If you don’t have leftovers, any board 1/2″ or so will do the job. Mark and cut the correct dimensions (oh if I had a table saw!)

I traced the top of the garbage can and made the circle about a 1/2″ smaller so the can didn’t fall through the hole. If you are cutting a circle or pattern from the center of wood, start by making a hole to put your blade through:

I then attached the above piece to the pull out frame:

And slipped the garbage cans inside. Here’s a side view:

I love this improvement, except that the entire family keeps dumping trash on the floor in the pantry because we forget the trash and recycling is now disguised so beautifully.

This project isn’t perfect, but I used stuff I already had and assembled it in the best way I could and it’s soooo much better.

Happy weekend and happy creating!