How to Install a Rev-A-Shelf Pull-Out Organizer (Step by Step, From a Phoenix Pro)

2026-08-26 — Dave Bannister, Phoenix Cabinet Installer

By a cabinet installer with two decades on the job. I install these for a living — here's the exact order of operations, including the two mistakes that turn a $600 unit into a crooked, scraping mess.

Most people don't actually fear buying the organizer. They fear installing it.

And they're right to be a little careful, because a pull-out organizer is the one cabinet upgrade where "close enough" comes back to bite you. Get it level and square and it glides for a decade. Get it off by an eighth of an inch and the door won't close flush, the tray scrapes the face frame, and you're staring at a $300–600 mistake bolted into your cabinet floor.

Here's the good news: a base-cabinet pull-out is genuinely a beginner job. Four screws, a level, and patience. The blind-corner units are the harder animal — but even those are doable if you follow the sequence and don't skip the measuring.

I already have my own blind-corner install on video. This is the written version — the full step-by-step I'd hand a homeowner who asked me to walk them through it.

Before you open the box: measure the OPENING (not the cabinet)

This is the #1 reason people return these. They measure the cabinet box, order a unit that "fits," and then discover it won't pass through the door opening to get in — or won't swing back through it when the door closes.

Do this first, before you buy or drill anything:

• Measure the door opening width and height. The unit has to pass through this to install, and it has to swing back through it every time you close. A unit that fits the box but not the opening is a return.
• Know your door style. Blind-corner units mount differently on a face-frame cabinet (the kind with a visible frame around the opening) vs a frameless (full-overlay, European-style) cabinet. If you're not sure which you have, take a photo of the open cabinet — the answer's in the frame.
• Check the hinge side. The direction the shelves swing depends on which side of the corner the door is on. Get this wrong and the unit swings into the wall.
• Confirm the minimum width. Rev-A-Shelf publishes a minimum cabinet-opening width for every unit. If your corner is undersized, you're down to a lazy susan — which is fine, just know it before you spend $500.

Part 1 — The base-cabinet pull-out (the beginner job)

This is the Rev-A-Shelf 5WB2 two-tier pull-out and its Lynk cousins. If you can hang a shelf, you can do this. Budget 20–40 minutes.

What you need:

• A drill/driver — a compact 12V is actually better here than a big 20V hammer drill, because it fits inside the cabinet box where you're working
• A level (a magnetic torpedo level is ideal)
• A tape measure
• A pencil
• The screws that come with the unit (don't substitute longer ones — see the "don't strip it" note below)

The sequence:

1. Empty the cabinet and pull the shelf. If there's a fixed shelf in the way of where the unit sits, take it out first. You can't mount a pull-out around a shelf that's in the way.
2. Test-fit the unit through the door opening before you mount anything. Set it in place, confirm the slides will clear the opening when extended. This is the five-second check that saves the hour-long headache.
3. Set the unit where it'll live and mark the mounting holes. Most base pull-outs mount to the cabinet floor (and sometimes the back wall) through pre-drilled holes in the frame. Hold it square, mark every hole.
4. Drill pilot holes. This is the step everyone skips and every pro does. A pilot hole keeps the screw from wandering and stops the cabinet floor from splitting — especially on the cheap particleboard boxes most cabinets are made of.
5. Level BEFORE you tighten. Set the unit in, put the level on it front-to-back and side-to-side, and shim the low side until it reads dead level. Then drive the screws. Level first, tighten second — not the other way around. This is the single biggest difference between a pull-out that glides and one that drifts toward one side.
6. Drive the screws snug — not tight. Over-tightening a screw into particleboard strips the hole and the unit will work loose. Snug is enough.
7. Reinstall the door, then test. Open and close it a few times. The tray should glide full-extension without binding, and the door should close flush.

That's it. If it binds, back the screws out a quarter turn and re-check level — nine times out of ten it's a shim issue, not a hardware issue.

Part 2 — The blind-corner unit (the one worth being careful with)

This is the LeMans II, the Girasolo, and the 5PSP dual pull-out — the $300–800 units where the mechanism is the product. It's the same idea as the base pull-out with one extra layer: a pivoting post that has to be mounted dead-plumb and square, because the whole assembly swings on it.

The honest difficulty read, from someone who does this daily:

• Lazy susan — beginner. Set it in the cabinet, done.
• LeMans II / Girasolo — confident-DIY. Take your time, use the included template, level the post before you tighten anything.
• 5PSP dual pull-out — the hardest of the bunch. If you're not comfortable drilling into the cabinet floor with a square and a level, this is the one to pay for. A $200 install on a $600 unit is cheaper than a crooked $600 unit.

The sequence (LeMans II / Girasolo / 5PSP all follow this):

1. Measure everything from Part 1 first — opening, door style, hinge side, minimum width. No shortcuts here.
2. Use the paper template that ships in the box. Rev-A-Shelf includes a full-size mounting template. It exists specifically so you don't have to free-hand the pivot-post location. Tape it down, transfer the marks.
3. Mount the pivot post plumb and square. This is the step that decides the whole job. The post has to be perfectly vertical — if it leans even a couple degrees, the shelves will sag toward the low side and scrape. Use the level on the post itself in two directions before you tighten the base.
4. Mount the top/bottom pivot brackets to the cabinet floor (and top, depending on the unit), then hang the shelf assembly.
5. Swing it through its full range once before you put anything on it. Open it all the way out, watch for binding or scraping against the cabinet face, then close it and confirm the door seats flush. Adjust the post if it's not clean.
6. Level the shelves themselves — most units let you fine-tune shelf height or tilt after the post is in. Get them level before loading.
7. Load it, then re-test. The weight of pots and appliances will reveal any sag. Better to find it now than in two years.

The two mistakes that ruin blind-corner installs:

1. Not drilling a pilot hole for the pivot post. The post takes real rotational load every time the unit swings. Driving that screw into particleboard without a pilot hole is how you get a post that works loose and a unit that sags within a year.
2. Mounting to the door instead of the cabinet. The blind-corner shelves do NOT attach to the door — they attach to the cabinet floor/face frame and the door just covers the opening. If you try to hang the mechanism off the door, it'll rip out. This is the classic first-timer move.

The tools I actually use (and what's worth buying)

You don't need a workshop. Here's the short list, in order of how much they matter:

• A good drill/driver. A compact 12V that fits inside the cabinet is genuinely better than a big 20V hammer drill for this job — you're working in a box, not framing a wall. → SKIL 12V compact drill/driver kit
• A level you trust. A magnetic torpedo level is small enough to sit inside the cabinet and it stays put on metal while you shim. The cheap plastic ones lie. → CRAFTSMAN 9" magnetic torpedo level
• A 25-ft tape. You're measuring openings and clearances; a tape that locks and stays straight matters. → DEWALT Toughseries 25 ft tape measure
• A pencil and a shim pack. The shims are the secret weapon for "level before you tighten." Any hardware store sells a pack for a few bucks.

And if you're doing this on a pull-down shelf for a tall cabinet (the pantry / over-fridge units), the same sequence applies — you're just mounting to the cabinet sides and back instead of the floor, and the "level before tighten" rule matters even more because gravity is working against a taller assembly.

Which organizer to buy (the links, at a glance)

If you've read the measurement section and know what you're working with, here's the short version:

Base cabinet pull-outs (the everyday workhorse):

• Rev-A-Shelf 5WB2 two-tier base pull-out (what I'd install on a paying job) → check price
• Lynk Professional pull-out (the ~$55 value pick — same idea, less money) → check price (11" W), check price (17" W), check price (20" W)

Blind corner (the $300–800 spot where it's worth spending):

• Rev-A-Shelf LeMans II 2-shelf, soft-close (the swing-out kidney shelves — what I install most) → check price
• Rev-A-Shelf Girasolo maple two-tier (the rotating lazy susan — when you want to see everything at a glance) → check price
• Rev-A-Shelf 5PSP dual pull-out (the heavy-duty flagship, $600+) → check price

The honest workaround (when the budget's tight):

• Rev-A-Shelf 32" wood lazy susan (rotates instead of swinging — installs in minutes, no pivoting post) → check price

When to just pay someone

I make my living installing these, so I'll be straight with you: there's a point where DIY costs more than the install. If you're looking at a 5PSP dual pull-out and you're not comfortable drilling into the cabinet floor with a square and a level, hire it out. A crooked $600 unit — plus the cabinet face it scraped up — is more expensive than a clean $200 install.

The base pull-out and the lazy susan? Do those yourself. You'll be done before the coffee's cold.

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