I built a set of cabinets a little while back to help out the organization of my shop.  I initially built both with pilaster strips and intended them to be mostly shelving.  The one on the left would be best served with a few small drawers for sandpaper related items, but otherwise all shelves.

It all started innocently.  Just a few shallow drawers for sandpaper and sanding blocks etc.  Then after those I figured I could store all the powered sanding sheets and belts.

Then a few boxes of nails needed a nice cozy home, my jig hardware would fit well there, and then before you know it, the entire cabinet is full of drawers.  It took me a few weeks to slowly build the drawers as I found items to fill them with.  The problem is that when I finally went to add finish to the drawers they were already half full!

Unfinished

Boiled Linseed Oil finish

For the drawers, I cut 1/2″ plywood for the drawer bottom, and then stacked more 1/2″ ply for the 4 sides of the drawer.  The sides got glue and brad nails through the bottom.  An oversized front was added later.  It could have saved space and probably been strong enough with 1/4″ ply on the bottom, but I had a lot of 1/2″ left over from the cabinet project, so I just kept going with that.  I rip 1×2″ pine in half to make runners.  The runners and sides got a rubdown of paste wax once the finish has had plenty of time to cure.

In retrospect I wish I had planned this all out from the beginning.  The drawer bottoms could have been thinner, and the layout could have been better.  Given that I slowly added drawers as I found a need for them, it is a hodge podge mix of sanding/finishing supplies and fasteners.  Preplanning would have had finishing on top, and hardware on the bottom.

Regardless of the haphazard nature of its creation, the final results look good.  It holds all my sanding supplies and the remainder of my hardware with plenty of room for future expansion.  Bronze card holders let you label everything cleanly.  A must for this many seemingly identical drawers.

Building your own drawers in this fashion can be quick and efficient.  And at 35 dollars a piece, a 1/2″ sheet of cabinet grade plywood can produce probably 8 drawers at this size.