6 Best Expandable Drawer Dividers for Kitchens in 2021

• By: Corey Turner
• Updated: August 5, 2021
• In: Buying Guides

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If you’re like most people, the kitchen is one of the busiest places in your home.

It’s also a room that can be difficult to organize with all of our cabinets and drawers!

I’ve compiled a list of my favorite expandable drawer dividers for kitchens to help make this space more efficient. 

These will allow you to customize your storage space by creating different compartments or zones for items such as utensils, cookware, snacks, etc.

This will give you a good idea on how to use these handy organizers!

The Two Types of "Expandable" Drawer Organizers

When we talk about “expandable” drawer dividers we can essentially discuss two variations of similar products.

First, we’ve got the divider itself. This is a stand-alone divider rail which would sit inside of a drawer and expand in length from front to back. Using multiple divider rails allows you to create compartments within the drawer.

And second, we’ve got the drawer organizer itself. This version is a fully assembled organizer that drops into a drawer and then expands outward to consume extra space on either side. 

The latter is ideal for ever-changing drawer setups.

How to Choose an Expandable Drawer Divider

There’s a couple nuances to know about before getting started. To nail down the right expandable divider, here’s a few tips…

Start With Drawer Measurements

First things first. You’ll need to measure the inside of your drawer from side-to-side, front-to-back and top-to-bottom.

Whether it’s a divider rail or an expandable drop in drawer, you’ll want to make sure you can properly fit it.

The other tip…is to measure the actual items in your drawer. For example: if you have longer utensils (serving spoons, ladles, spatulas) you may want to create a section for those specific measurements.

Or, if you’ve got tall items like stacked hand towels or Tupperware, these can sometimes be higher than the actual divider.

What's Your Style?

The material is actually more important than people realize. Essentially this dictates the overall quality of the expandable divider or bin.

There are two core materials…wood and plastic. I know, who knew . The wood is more than likely an MDF (medium density fiberboard) with a laminate or veneer cover like bamboo.

Both wood and plastic are fairly easy to keep clean and will last if maintained. The color and finish just depends on your personal aesthetics or existing home decor.

If you have white melamine inner cabinet boxes or drawers, it’s probably better to go with a white plastic or clear plastic divider organizer.

The Best Expandable Drawer Dividers

There’s quite a wide variety of styles, quality and price points to choose from. Expandable divider rails that have an adjustable depth can be the most versatile and serve numerous purposes.

1. Bambusi - Expandable Bamboo Wood Drawer Dividers

The Bambusi drawer dividers come in a set of 6. They are offered in multiple finishes so you can match your cabinetry and drawer finishes.

With a height of 2-5/8″ these are lower profile, which is ideal for most kitchen drawer uses that will use cutlery or larger utensils within compartments.

In order to add them to your drawer, you simply pull back on the spring loaded tension, place in your drawer and let go of the tension. This will give you a snug fit to appropriately sized drawers.

2. OXO Good Grip - Tall Expandable Drawer Divider

A simple yet amazing solution that lets you separate and organize your items.

These OXO drawer dividers are extremely well-made and are ideal for appropriately sized drawers.

These can fit in drawer lengths of about 11″ out to 17″. Keep in mind that they are for deeper drawers. The height of the divider is 4″ tall. The height is perhaps the best part though.

3. Practical Comfort - Drawer Dividers for Small Compartments

Need an all-around great product for drawer organization? This Practical Comfort customizable divider is perfect for a kitchen drawer or office drawer.

You’ll get tons of value out of it no matter the drawer. The adjustable plastic ends give you an extra 2″ of expansion.

The idea with this product is to measure your drawer items first and then configure the adjustable dividers around the size of your items.

4. Lipper Intl. - Expandable Deep Drawer Dividers

Dividers can be an affordable solution to organize deep drawers and to keep things from shifting. The Lipper Int. dividers use tension springs to allow for a perfect fit to most drawers. Your drawer drawer depth would need to be at least 17″.

If you have a wood or maple drawer box and want something to match closely, these dividers match nicely.

The dividers have a 4-1/8″ height, so make sure your drawer is deep enough to fit them. They are a great way to add sections without taking up a lot of space.

5. mDesign - Expandable Cutlery Drawer Organizer

Yes, this doesn’t look like much, but it actually is one of the more useful drawer organizers.

This mDesign model starts at 12″ width and then adjusts outward to 22.5″ total. So if you have an 18″ drawer or somewhere in the middle it would be ideal.

It has longer compartments or sections. These are great for big utensils like spatulas, mixing spoons, etc.

6. Royal Craft - Expandable Flatware Drawer Organizer

Sometimes standard cutlery organizers can wobble around our drawers. For more of a more custom fit, the Royal Craft flatware organizer is an option to consider.

What’s expandable? The width on the drawer organizer can expand out to 20″ to fit more snug while also giving you 2 more compartments.

The depth within the compartments is also about 2.5″ which holds large quantities of spoons, knives, forks and more.

Are There Any Downsides to Drawer Dividers?

It will certainly depend on the divider itself, but the main drawback to using a drawer divider is the divider itself.

You’re giving up a little space to include the thickness of the divider to fit within the drawer. It’s usually only 5/8 inch, but if you have a smaller or more narrow drawer, space is at a premium.

Nonetheless, expandable drawer dividers do serve the ultimate purpose of keeping things separated, organized and easy to find. It sounds obvious, but just make sure you are using the space appropriately and to find a style and size of drawer divider that gets the job done right.

Time to Expand Your Horizons!

The best thing about expandable drawer organizers is the ability to keep things sorted without taking up too much space.

For larger drawers, the best way to go about doing that is to use an adjustable divider rail with an expandable length.

Usually you can get a few inches of adjustability. For this, I would consider using the Bambusi or the Lipper Int. drawer dividers.

The other takeaway…is to use adjustable dividers that sit within bins or trays. This is perfect for smaller items we put in desks, vanities, craft areas and miscellaneous junk drawers.

There’s lots of solutions here, but hopefully you 

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