Most of the home industry is focused on selling you some kind of product — if it's not bins, then it’s labels. If it's not drawer dividers then it’s drawer liners. 

The reality is the home industry loves to prescribe solutions without any diagnosis — and that leaves most people constantly wondering whether or not they should buy this OR buy that. 

With the scroll of a screen, you’re left with questions but no answers. 

It’s overwhelming. 

Add fancy algorithms that track what you were looking for and now suddenly, you’re on social media looking at pictures of a friend’s vacation when you’re inundated again with the uncertainty of what to buy + how to get it all done in your home.

And we know this to be true because it’s the very reason that Elegant Simplicity exists. To empower you with the WHY behind each decision we make together in your home.

In that spirit, let’s deep dive into cabinet + drawer liners. 

Why they’re important to use, where we install them for clients in our luxury Organizing Membership + a few distinct considerations for determining whether drawer liners make sense for your home ← stick around cuz, that ones important *wink*.

You, ready friend? Let’s do this!

What Is A Drawer Liner 

While discussing “what a drawer liner” is may seem “basic” or “elementary” it’s still worth it to ensure we’re starting with the same level of clarity. 

Drawer liners are any removable lining that sticks to the surface or covers the surface of a drawer or cabinet shelf.

Why We Use Drawer Liners?

With what a drawer liner is behind us… understanding why drawer liners are important is paramount :)

Liners Protect Your Drawers + Shelves

Whether we’re lining the drawers of the kitchen, bathroom vanity or simply a piece of furniture drawer liners protect the drawers + shelves in your home. From helping stop water damage in drawers or shelves like in the kitchen + bathroom to preventing stains from oils, seasonings or spilles — drawer liners provide a strong layer of protection.

In many instances, they’ll even help stop scratches.

Drawer Liners Make Clean Up Easy

One of the things we’ve heard over the years is how much your cleaners LOVE the drawers liners :) From crumbs + general wear and tear,  drawers + cabinets get a heavy dose of living. 

Having a wipeable shelf liner makes cleaning up much easier.

Drawer Liners Are Removeavble

Not only do they protect your cabinets + drawers but liners are removable. 

So, whether it’s a necessity to replace a drawer liner because it did it’s job when something accidentally leaked or it’s simply time to change the aesthetic of what you see when you open your drawers — change isn’t difficult.

Drawer Liners Dampen Noise + Can Stop Objects From Moving

One of the small but mighty benefits that our clients love is drawer liners can help dampen the noise or the “clunk” of items on a shelf. 

And they can stop objects in your drawers from moving. Sometimes, adding a container to a drawer is unnecessary and yet having a drawer liner can help not dampen the noise of things but stop them from moving around.

Liners Add Style To Your Beautiful Home

Let’s face it… drawers + shelves are typically functional necessities but having the opportunity to add a little beauty to each one of them can help motivate + encourage you (+ others) in maintaining an organized home.

It’s that unexpected feeling that acts as reminder that many of us need from time-to-time when we’re overwhelmed, fatigued or short on time..

Seeing your cabinets + your drawers lined with a beautiful liner can be that extra encouragement ya need boo :)

What Rooms Or Furniture Make Sense For Drawer Liners

Here are several places in your home that our design + organizing members love to have drawer liners installed. By adding liners, you’re not only being intentional about the way your home looks but you’re conscientious about the way it wears over time.

Kitchen/ Pantry

Whether it’s new kitchen cabinets or we’re redoing the kitchen pantry, adding shelf liners + drawer liners protects the surfaces of your kitchen cabinetry from the wear and tear that comes with ya know, using you’re home *wink*

But it also makes it cleaning crumbs + seasonings from your pantry a heck of a lot easier (on you + the rest of your house staff.)

Not to mention, under the kitchen sink and prep sink (which we’ll get to below) are musts for liners!

Bathrooms + Other Undersink Cabinets

One of the most important areas to protect cabinetry surfaces is underneath any sink cabinets (including the bathroom vanity). For obvious reasons, sinks from time-to-time leak + they don’t always do it when we’re around #WompWomp

Adding drawer + shelf liners to areas that are prone or could be prone to getting wet helps protect your cabinetry from water. 

Furniture + Built-ins

From dressers + closet systems to office built-ins, drawer and shelf liners can be a gamechanger to the overall look + feel of these areas in your home. 

While in these areas water isn’t necessarily an issue — when it comes to closet systems or dressers things like shoes, belts, and accessories can scratch your drawers + shelves.

And when it comes to your home office, office supplies are prone to easily damaging these drawers + shelves as well.

Considerations For Drawer Liners

Here are a few different considerations we take into account for our clients.

Material

There are various types of drawer liners made with specific materials. From decorative paper liners to clear plastic liners and beaded grip liners, there’s quite the variety.

What’s important though is that there’s a clear understanding for why a liner makes sense in a particular area of your home. In other words, there’s a purpose for whether to choose a decorative paper liner or a liner that’s say waterproof.

A few simple questions to consider when determining a material for a drawer or shelf liner are:

• Where is the liner being installed?

• What will be stored ontop of the liner?

Adhesion

Another important factor in selecting the right liner is adhesive type. 

There are liners like decorative paper that peel + adhere to the cabinetry shelves or drawers they’re being installed to. 

While there are other types of drawer liners that don’t adhere to the surface, like beaded grips or clear plastic liners that simply are cut to size and lay flat inside or ontop of the shelf.

Size

Many of the drawer + shelf liners that we use for our clients come in roles + are custom-tailored to fit each specific area the liner is being installed to. However, taking into account the caseworks drawer or shelf width + depth ensures that they are adequately protected.

So there you have it my friend, what a professional organizer looks for in cabinet + drawer liners for your home. And if you loved this blog post then without question, you’re absolutely going to go nuts for our FREE video course: 4-Days To A More Beautiful + Functional Home

Also, don’t forget to check out our amazing Free Resource Library or if you’re looking to start your home organizing journey, request a FREE 30-minute Clarity Call and… let’s chat!