Case Study: How We Solved the IKEA Drawer Organizers Hate

Introduction

Every professional organizer has a drawer they dread. For many, it’s the IKEA Maximera: sleek on the outside, but with curved, slanted walls on the inside that make standard organizers a nightmare.

When Lisa Conrad of Apartment Jeanie in New York City reached out to us, she was dealing with exactly that problem for a high-end client. What came next was a project that turned one of the industry’s most frustrating challenges into a perfectly tailored solution.

The Client

• Professional Organizer: Lisa Conrad, founder of Apartment Jeanie
• Location: New York City
• Project: High-end residential kitchen with built-in IKEA Maximera drawers

Lisa is known for designing functional, stylish spaces that maximize storage. But in this case, even her trusted solutions fell short.

The Challenge

The client’s kitchen featured IKEA Maximera drawers with curved edges and slanted sides. These details, while visually sleek, made it almost impossible to use off-the-shelf organizers.

Lisa initially tried her go-to products from The Container Store. While they worked around the curves, the sizes didn’t align with the drawer dimensions. The result: wasted space and endless frustration.

As Lisa put it: “It’s endlessly frustrating that the sizes offered don’t fit the drawers.”

For a kitchen meant to be both beautiful and functional, compromise wasn’t an option.

The Process

Lisa provided rough sketches and measurements for each drawer, knowing she needed a solution quickly.

Our team immediately got to work:

• Studied the Maximera’s shape to understand how its curves affected usable space.
• Translated Lisa’s sketches into CAD schematics, designing organizers angled to mirror the drawer walls.
• Engineered custom pieces in-house at our Cleveland facility, ensuring precision down to 1/16 of an inch.
• Rushed production and shipping to meet her tight deadline.

In just a few days, Lisa’s sketches were transformed into fully engineered organizers built to solve what most organizers consider unsolvable.

The Solution

The custom organizers arrived on time and fit seamlessly into the drawers. Every curve and slant was accommodated, leaving no wasted space.

What had once been a constant frustration became a clean, functional, and visually seamless system.

The Results

Lisa’s response speaks for itself:

“The end result was an excellent use of the space and a clever solution to a constant problem! We will definitely be in touch again when the next appropriate project arises!”

• The client gained a kitchen that maximized every drawer.
• Lisa gained a reliable partner for projects where off-the-shelf products fall short.
• Together, we proved that even the “impossible” drawer has a solution.

Key Takeaways for Professional Organizers

• Off-the-shelf products aren’t always enough. Unique spaces demand custom solutions.
• Curved and slanted drawers can be solved. With precision measurements and custom design, no project is too complex.
• Custom solutions elevate your work. When every inch is optimized, clients notice the difference — and remember the organizer who made it happen.

Conclusion

The IKEA Maximera drawer may be every organizer’s least favorite challenge, but it doesn’t have to stay that way. With the right tools and the right partner, even the most frustrating projects can be transformed into one-of-a-kind solutions.

At AnyDrawer, we believe every project deserves more than a compromise. It deserves the perfect solution, designed just for it.