Good Ways to Line Drawers

Kitchen

• The interior of kitchen drawers can get pretty messy pretty quickly. Cooking drips, crumbs, and greasy residues are nearly impossible to avoid and nearly impossible to clean from the bottom of drawers, unless you line them with a durable surface that’s easy to wipe down. You can buy several ready-made liners, with features specially designed for use in the kitchen -- such as an open weave for allowing air to circulate -- or you can make your own washable drawer liners from moisture-resistant wallpaper.

Specialty storage

• If you don’t have the counter space for a knife block, consider storing your knives in a drawer. While opening and closing the drawer could cause them to knock into each other, thus dulling their blades, lining the drawer with a cushioned, slightly sticky liner will help keep the knives in place. Cut down on silver polishing chores by lining your flatware storage drawers with special anti-tarnish silver cloth.

Dressers

• There’s nothing quite as pleasant as opening a drawer and smelling a clean, fresh scent. Paper drawer liners that have a fragrance are a great option because they both protect your clothing from getting damaged or snagged on the wood surface of the drawer and stave off the stuffy smell that can sometimes build up in an enclosed space. You can purchase them or make your own. Simply use a pretty, heavy-duty wrapping paper, or use a stamp to decorate plain white kraft paper, then apply a bit of essential oil to the corners and allow it to dry. A pretty fabric is another good way to line your drawers.

Storage

• If you intend to store clothing in drawers over a long period of time, lining the drawers with cedar wood slats will keep them smelling fresh and will also dissuade moths and other pests from doing damage. While cedar slats are a bit more expensive than mothballs, they’re also not toxic and much more pleasant smelling. When the fragrance of the cedar slats begins to fade, simply rough it up with sandpaper to renew it.