5 DIY Kitchen Cabinet Liner Ideas [Practical & Pretty]
To keep your kitchen shelves and drawers in their best shape possible, cabinet liners are the best protection. You’ll avoid scratches, the usual wear-off, and stains on your kitchen cabinets.
If you’re sick of the usual kitchen cabinet liner options out there and want to get something just a little bit more unique, you’re totally right here!
I’ll show you 5 easy ways to line your kitchen cabinets and drawers:
Easy DIY Kitchen Cabinet Liners
These 5 ideas for kitchen cabinet liners will perfectly protect any shelf and drawer in your kitchen and your whole house!
5 | Wrapping Paper or Wallpaper Drawer Liners
Wrapping paper or old wallpaper is great for fun shelf liners.
You can choose the colour or pattern you truly love (no need to go with the cheesy patterns that are printed on shelf liners).
Like contact paper, simply cut the paper of your choice to the right size. And if it’s a thin material, simply fold around all edges, to get a stable and sturdy liner.
DIY drawer liners and shelf liners from paper are great for any dry part of your cabinets, on a solid surface.
Avoid places that could have a lot of spill and moisture, like the area under the sink, and wire shelves.
4 | Thick paper shelf liner
Similar to wrapping paper or wallpaper, you could use any kind of paper to line your cabinets.
In this example, I used beige paper with a natural look, similar to packaging paper, but of higher quality.
Other ideas: Use black paper or a fun vibrant accent colour.
You can get sturdy paper in a stationery store or online, in sheets or as a roll.
Tip: If you’re a photographer, consider using your backdrop paper…
Like a high-quality wallpaper, thick paper will be a bit more sturdy than wrapping paper.
3 | DIY Photo Drawer Liner
This idea originated from my attempt to make a normal kitchen shelf liner more fun and unique:
I used the transparent anti-slip shelf liner from IKEA and added some postcards underneath. You could do the same with photos, old calendar pages, or even your vision board photos.
You’ll get the advantage of the sturdy plastic liner (wipe off any spill or dust with a damp cloth), just pay attention that no moisture gets underneath the plastic.
For the best look, you’ll want to install the DIY photo drawer liner on new, white shelves, or use white paper as a backdrop for your photos.
I love this type of shelf liner for more heavy items or accessories I use a lot, such as pots and pans, or kitchen accessories.
Make sure you’re using your liner in a place where you can actually see the photos – lower cabinets and drawers will work best for this fun DIY.
2 | Felt Mat Kitchen Cabinet Liner
These last two materials are my absolute favourites, I love their look.
They just add so perfectly to a modern, minimal design, with a love for textures (which is totally my thing).
The soft felt liner is great for heavy pots and pans, and the perfect protection for ceramics.
The surface is smooth and pretty closed so you’ll be able to clean up most dry materials.
This felt mat kitchen cabinet liner and drawer liner comes in sheets and is the easiest material to cut to size. I bought it at IKEA, in the kitchen department (it’s called UPPDATERA).
I love this type of shelf liner for more heavy items or accessories I use a lot, such as pots and pans, or kitchen accessories.
Make sure you’re using your liner in a place where you can actually see the photos – lower cabinets and drawers will work best for this fun DIY.
1 | Cork Shelf Liner
This cork kitchen cabinet liner I would use in the same places as the felt liner above.
It’s just a different look than felt. On top, it’s easier to clean off.
This cork shelf liner is my personal favourite. I love that the material is soft, yet water-repellent.
And it looks pretty too.
Just the perfect addition to my kitchen cabinets!
What to Consider When Choosing the Perfect Shelf Liner for Your Drawers, Shelves and Kitchen Cabinets
To get the perfect shelf liner for every shelf, ask yourself a few questions before deciding on a material or look that might not be practical and before starting your project:
Sturdiness
How much wear and tear does the shelf liner need to resist?
Look at your cabinets and ask yourself how much wear and tear the space will encounter. Avoid thin paper and go for a sturdy material if the answer is “a lot”.
Longevity
On top of the above question, ask yourself:
How Long will I live in this place?
I would never go with more expensive options (cork for example) knowing that I will not live in a new home for at least a few years.
The same with adhesive shelf liners; they will be a pain to scrape off your shelves and the scrapping might even damage the wood. So unless you know you will use them for years or decades to come, use a non-adhesive shelf liner or wrap thin cardboard into the sticky shelf liner so that you can avoid the work.
Material properties
Will you need spill- or waterproof material?
Plastic will be your best friend!
Will there be a lot of crumbs?
Don’t go for porous materials in that case.
Is the cabinet dry and clean?
If yes, paper or wallpaper might be ok to use.
Size
What are the measurements of your shelves?
Measure and calculate before you buy 😉
Installation
Will you need to stick your shelf liners down or will they be all right just being put in place?
Do you have the supplies to cut the shelf liners to size?
Think of everything you need for your DIY project to avoid extra runs to the store mid-project.
A tape measurer, ruler, self-healing cutting mat, and a sharp cutter will be the things you usually need.
How to install kitchen cabinet liner
For a tutorial on how to install your shelf liners or drawer liners, follow this guide:
This post gave you a few unique Kitchen Cabinet Liner Ideas. Have fun recreating your favourite look in your kitchen!
by Corinne
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