When you have a small kitchen, storage space is at a premium. I wanted to free up some prime top drawer space occupied by my knives so my solution was to design and make a DIY wood knife rack that’s a hybrid between a knife block and magnetic knife strip. I built it in just 30 minutes for under $10 without any power tools!

Materials:

1) Pine board: 8″ x 11″ (scrap wood I had on hand)

2) Lattice molding: 1/4″ x 3 ft ($1.50)

3) Birch veneer edging pre-glued iron on ($6.50) or 1/4″x 3/4″ screen molding for $2.

4) Glue Dots advanced strength double-sided sheets or wood glue and clamps

Step 1: Cut Veneer Edging

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 pine board for a cleaner look.

Step 2: Determine Spacing for the Knives

Determine the spacing for your knives and iron on the dividers the same way as in step 1.

Step 3: Glue Lattice Molding

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 molding with a miter box and saw but you can also have this done at the hardware store.

If you want to give Glue Dots products a try, you can enter a giveaway on my website:http://www.engineeryourspace.com/

Step 4: Enjoy in Your Kitchen!

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 a repositionable adhesive sheet 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!