How to Install Sliding Shelves for Cabinets

Open the cabinet door to determine where the sliding shelves will be installed in your chosen cabinet. If you want a sliding shelf to store larger items, install it near the bottom of the cabinet. If you seek several shelves to store cooking spices, cooking utensils and small cups and glasses, determine your desired height between the shelves and distribute them evenly throughout the cabinet frame. Make small pencil lines down one side of the cabinet to indicate where you want to install the sliding shelves.

Measure the distance between the bottom of the cabinet and the pencil mark drawn in the previous step and write the distance down. Place the measuring tape on the opposite side of the cabinet and make a pencil mark at that same height. Repeat this step for each pencil mark drawn on the original side panel.

Hold one base track up inside the cabinet, so it lines up along one side. Use the level to ensure the track is evenly placed for a smoothly sliding shelf. Install the track to the cabinet using the handheld screwdriver and the track installation screws, which are inserted through the track’s installation holes.

Install the second base track on the opposite side of the cabinet wall, so the tracks are installed at an even height on both side panels of the cabinet. Repeat the base track installation process for each sliding shelf you want to install in the cabinet unit.

Insert each sliding shelf, which should have sliding tracks on each side, into a pair of base tracks. Hold the shelf upward at an angle to connect the shelf to the paired tracks. Apply slight pressure until the tracks are connected, and lower the shelf so it's level to push it all the way into the cabinet.