in which i document the minute details of a home improvement project that you don't care about

so i've had this problem in my kitchen for a few weeks. ok, fine, more like nearly 2 months. my silverware drawer broke. actually, the DRAWER is fine. the support beam for the wheel track broke.

see that? not very conducive for proper drawer usage. as a result, my available counterspace has been, um, severely limited, due to the drawer full of silverware that's been hanging out on it for two months.

so! the other night i decided to finally Do Something About It. am self-sufficient superwoman!

first, i removed the piece o' wood entirely, because i could see random pieces of metal sticking (uselessly) out of the no-longer-attached end at all angles. apparently the drawer had broken before, because THIS is what i was confronted with:

those skinny pieces on the left are what i assume were the original supports, and were kind of like super long staples. and obviously all bent and crappy. the two screws were just... there. they didn't even make it all the way through the plywood, so i'm not sure what whoever put them there was attempting to do.

so, i removed the screws and then tried to figure out what to do with the stapley things. the pointy ends were what was supposed to be facing the back support bar, but i wasn't going to be able to get those weak bendy arms back into any wood in any useful way. plus, because of how the other drawer was placed, i couldn't actually access the side of the support where i'd need to hammer / screw in any new pieces of hardware. hammering anything into place was especially out. so i got rid of the staples by hammering them out backwards.

i decided the best thing to do now would be to drill two new holes in the wood, put screws in so that the tips just baaarely peeked out the other side, then try to manually screw them in the rest of the way once the beam was in place. i'd like to go ahead and put it out there right now that i was pretty proud of myself because i thought this was a BRILLIANT plan.

that picture's really only there because i LOVE my drill and wanted to show it off. like REALLY REALLY LOVE my drill. it's still one of my favorite christmas presents i've ever received.

ANYWAY. i predrilled my holes, partially inserted the screws, reattached the front of the support, and then climbed inside the cabinet.

i'm not even sure what my camera THOUGHT it was focusing on here.

outcome: i should basically open up my own school of carpentry, because i am SO AWESOME. .

yay! fully functioning drawer once again.