Make this DIY knife holder to sit on your kitchen cabinets. This knife block is a great knife storage idea because it is a universal knife block (meaning, any knives will work)!
But stick around, even if you don't want to make your own knife holders, because I'm sharing some great ideas for drawer storage for knives, magnetic knife holders, and more!
I've been blogging for a long time now, doing projects and making things. It's always such a good feeling to realize that a project that I did closer to the beginning of this home decor journey is one that I still have and love.
I made this kitchen knife stand back in 2015 for a challenge with a group of gals. We had to take something we were inspired by at a specific store and make it our own. I'll link everyone else's projects at the end of this post, so you can check them out if you'd like. Anyways, for this specific challenge, the goal was to take something that inspired each of us from Anthropologie.
I really love Anthropologie but don't often actually buy anything from there. The prices are a tad high, in my opinion, for the quality. That being said, I was excited to check out their catalog and find some inspiration. I saw that they had a knife block (see below because they no longer have it) and I just loved it.
Since we didn't have a knife rack, magnetic knife holder or any drawer knife storage, I knew that making something similar would solve a big problem for us at our house.
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I hate to admit it, but we had been just throwing our knives in a drawer to the left of the sink. The bad thing about that, is that we have a few decent knives (Shun slicing knife and Shun All-purpose knife) and weren't taking care of them at all.
Anyways, the knife block set at Anthropologie ranged from $50-70 depending on the size. With those as inspiration, I decided to go for it and try my hand at making one myself. It turned out great, so I'm sharing the DIY kitchen knife holder with you so you can make one. Or, stick around to the end and you can shop some other knife organizer ideas that might work for your home.
How to make a DIY knife holder
This do it yourself knife holder was sized based on the longest knife size that I had. Feel free to customize your knife storage in size but I do think that the size that I made the knife stand would fit almost any sized knife!
DIY knife organizer supplies
- (8) ⅜" x 4" x 36" Craft Wood Boards (found on the lumber aisle)
- Stainable Wood Glue
- Stainable Wood Filler
- Stain
- Rag
- Bamboo Skewers
- Clear Polycrylic in Matte
Tools needed to make your own knife block
- Miter Saw (or any other saw that you have)
- Wood Bar Clamps (or make your own pipe clamps!)
- Nail gun (or Stapler with brads)
- Air Compressor (if needed by nail gun)
- Orbital Sander (or sanding pads)
How to Make a Knife Holder
- Decide on the size of the knife block (mine came out to be 12" x 12" x 4").
- Cut boards at 12". This will give you 8 pieces total.
- Wood glue and clamp three pieces together (we're glueing three long pieces together to make one larger sheet).
- Repeat with another three pieces so that you have (2) sheets of three pieces glued together.
- Let dry.
- Attach one 12" x 4" board (the bottom piece) to an end 12" x 4" board using a brad gun and wood glue.
- Attach 1 of the glued 3-piece boards to the bottom and to the end board.
- Repeat until you have attached all pieces.
- Sand with an orbital sander.
- Use wood filler in all the brad holes.
- Let dry and lightly sand.
- Stain.
- Let Dry.
- Seal.
- Fill with Bamboo Skewers.
I know visual cue's can be good, so I want to show you a few in-process steps to get you started on this knife organizer!
Measuring and cutting the boards to length is the first part of this project. I cut the boards on a miter saw but you could use any type of saw that you had.
The next step is to glue your three boards for each side together.
From there, you can attach the bottom board and one side board to one of your sets of three glued together sides.
Keep attaching your boards until you have the form of a knife block.
Sand the whole knife block until smooth.
*If you are more exact with your cuts, you'll have less to sand but as this was one of my beginner woodworking projects, I was just learning how to measure and cut using my tools.
Stain and seal the kitchen knife holder and then fill with bamboo skewers.
I wondered how well the knives would stick in place and they haven't budged. It's really perfect for them. The key is to put enough bamboo skewers in the knife block so that the knives slide in but don't fall down.
As I mentioned earlier, this was a project I did years ago and it's still one that I have and use. I love it!
You might wonder how dirty this will get and then what to do about that. So, let's talk about that.
How do you clean knife holders?
Cleaning the knife holder is super simple. Wipe down the wood on the outside. For the bamboo skewers, take them out and wipe them down. Once you've taken the wood skewers out of the block, gently wipe the inside of the block down.
I've had this knife block for over five years now, and it's still going strong. I wipe it down every so often, but it doesn't get dirty easily so that's been great.
I do want to share a few options for if you want to buy something for knife storage instead of making my knife holder. I think any of these three items would work well depending on your storage and kitchen needs.
Knife Storage Ideas
We don't have a great drawer to install an in drawer knife block but, if you had the space for it, this bamboo in-drawer knife block looks nice!
Oftentimes, you see a magnetic knife holder in stainless steel but this one by, Schmidt Brothers Cutlery is Acacia wood. I love how it looks!
If you are looking for knife blocks that get rated well and is just a knife block without knives, this is it!
Overall, I'm still so thrilled with this project. If you try it, let me know. I'd love to see.
As I mentioned earlier, there are a few other projects in this series that you can check out.
Stop by: Upcycled Treasures, The Gathered Home, Designer Trapped in a Lawyer's Body, Brave New Home and Delineate Your Dwelling to see more!
cassie
that looks fab and is such a great idea! i hate my knife block- it takes up way too much space!
Ashley Mayes
Thanks Cassie! We are loving it so far!
Kristi
Absolutely BRILLIANT! LOVE this!!!
Ashley Mayes
Thanks Kristi!
Katie
This is such a great idea and those skewers are freakin' genius! Now I want one of these in our kitchen!
Ashley Mayes
You should totally make one! Your woodworking skillset is definitely better than mine!
Amy W
So clean and simple! And I love the look of all those skewers in there. Very cool DIY!
Ashley Mayes
Thanks Amy!
Brynne@TheGatheredHome
It looks great, Ashley! I love the color stain you used too, and that shot from above with all the skewers is art in itself! 🙂
Ashley Mayes
Thanks Brynne. The stain was whatever we had in the cabinet (I think walnut though...wiped off fast so it didn't go dark).
Anima
God, That is so damn cool idea. The bamboo skewers , I could never have thought of it. Genius 🙂
Ashley Mayes
Thanks Anima! You could also use little dowel rods, but you'd be paying more. Thanks for stopping by!
Jessica
I ABSOLUTELY Love this DIY!...I wish I had power tools and a house...anyways, you did a GREAT job Ashley and I like your finished project (stain and casing) more than the original...So cool!
Ashley Mayes
Thanks Jessica! I really like the Anthro version, but it was a bit rustic for my taste. I tried to make it a bit more clean/modern.
Julia@Cuckoo4Design
It's so cool and looks awesome
Ashley Mayes
Thanks Julia! We desperately needed somewhere to store the knifes, so it was a perfect DIY.
Jen @ Fresh Crush
Nice work! Great job on building the box -- you got skills, girl! I use bamboo skewers for my knives too, they are sooooo gooood! 🙂
Ashley Mayes
Thanks Jen! I'm not sure about having skills, but we are slowly figuring things out (trial and error!).
Katie
OMG!! I love this! What a great project and knock off!!
Ashley Mayes
Ha, thanks Katie! You should make one.
Jennifer @ Brave New Home
Ahh, this is soooo cool! I'm kinda bummed I already have a knife block cause I totally want to make one of these. And love that you included a photo of yourself ; ]
Ashley Mayes
lol, I guess you could give the current one some sort of epicycle and make one? I'm not looking my best in that one. =)
Kyla @HouseOfHipsters
Seriously? So cool lady! Absolutely genius!
Ashley Mayes
Thanks Kyla! I really love it. =)
Corinna - For My Love Of
This is so cool! Nice job figuring that out.
PS can you put together a post on easing into using power tools and which ones are beginner friendly? The noise gives me jitters but I want to learn!
Ashley Mayes
Thanks Corinna! You are the second person to ask me for a post like that. I feel like a superstar...lol. I'll put it on my to-do list but I only use the "easy" tools.
Lori
Hi Ashley! Love this. I have the typical knife block...eh... I want this classy looking one! Putting it on the "to do" list!
Would you consider sharing this at our weekly Dishing It & Digging It Link Party? We are live Sundays @4pm. We’d love for you to share your creative ideas.
http://www.thestonybrookhouse.com/2016/10/dishing-it-digging-it-link-party-119.html
Ashley Mayes
Thanks Lori! You should totally add it to your to do list. It's pretty easy!
Deb
I love this Ashley! Pinned! It looks fabulous in your kitchen too.
Ashley Mayes
Thanks Deb!