Your kitchen slide-out shelves are only as good as the materials from which they are constructed. Yes, roll-out kitchen organizers are a godsend; they increase storage space, keep your kitchen neater and better organized, and provide improved accessibility to the things you need most. But if they're made of cheap materials or shoddily constructed, they won't last.

Ideally, your kitchen slide-out shelves should be constructed of furniture-grade plywood. What you want to steer clear of is roll-out organizers made of particle board or MDF. These are man-made substances constructed of sawdust held together by resin, not real grain wood. Another substance I prefer to avoid in slide-out shelf construction is Melamine. It's essentially a toxic mix of pesticides and cyanuric acid; it may take a great deal of exposure to do any harm to humans or pets, but why take the risk when there's perfectly good wood available?

Birch, maple, oak, and beech are the woods of choice when building kitchen slide-out shelves. These plywoods come in several grades, grade A being the best (and most expensive). Grade-A plywood is almost completely unblemished, well-sanded, and easily painted. In grade-B plywood, the imperfections may be slightly more distinguishable, but not to any great degree. I prefer to use grade-A or grade-B plywood for building roll-out kitchen organizers; grades C and D typically contain considerable unsightly marks and blemishes. Unless you're deliberately setting out to create slide-out shelves with a weathered or distressed look, I'd recommend sticking with grades A and B plywood.

The next materials to consider are the joints and brackets. You want your slide-out shelves to do just that: slide out, smoothly and easily. Therefore, you definitely want tight joints, well-constructed rollers, and sturdy rollers. For the latter, I recommend axles made of tempered steel, along with standard steel L brackets that are specially made for roll-out kitchen organizers. Another "must" for kitchen slide-out shelves are plastic door protectors. You want to make sure you don't graze up against the wood of your cabinets and score them each time you roll out your organizer.

Assuming you have carpentry experience and are familiar with basic tools, a single set of slide-out shelves can be finished over a weekend (see http://www.slideoutshelvesllc.com/how-to-guides/installing-how-to.html). Of course, there is an abundance of sources for pre-made roll-out kitchen organizers; you can have a professional install a complete set in a relatively short time (see  If you decide to go this route, I recommend having the company that sells you the slide-out shelves do the installation. If they're a reputable company, they'll have installation specialists who can get the job done quickly, expertly, and efficiently.