The narrowest organizer in this comparison is 5 inches wide. Joseph Joseph lists its DrawerStore Bamboo Compact at H2½ × W5 × D15¾ inches, and YouCopia lists its DrawerFit Sliding Drawer Sorter at 5.9 inches wide. Those two numbers are not the same kind of number, and that is the first thing to sort out before you measure anything.

This page compares manufacturer-listed dimensions only. Nothing here was tested by hand, and no price, rating or stock figure appears. Where a maker states a minimum drawer height, that number is used as written; where a page does not state one, this page does not invent one.

Two kinds of narrow: trays that sit on the floor and sorters that ride the frame

What the size check can say about the second kind, and the depth below which it stops saying it, is a guide of its own.

Four of the seven organizers are floor trays. You set them on the drawer bottom, so their width comes straight out of the drawer’s width. A 5-inch tray in a drawer listed at 16½ inches wide leaves 11½ inches beside it. Simple subtraction, and the size check on this site does exactly that.

Three of them are YouCopia DrawerFit pieces, and the maker describes them differently: "tabs that rest on opposite sides of the drawer opening." They hang from the drawer’s side walls and extend along its depth, from 15.0 to 23.1 inches for the Sorter and 15.0 to 23.7 inches for the Tray and Bin. Their 5.9-inch and 7.1-inch widths are how much of the opening they span, not how much floor they take. Subtracting 5.9 from 16½ tells you nothing useful, because the floor under a frame-riding sorter stays free for a tray.

So the comparison has two columns that do not add up with each other. Read them separately.

Two floor trays and one frame-riding sorter across a 16 and a half inch drawer width16½ in listed width5 in7 in4½ in left5.9 in, on the framesits on the frame, not the floorfloor trays subtract from the width; a frame-rider does not
Two floor trays and one frame-riding sorter in an 18-inch cabinet drawer listed at 16½ inches wide. Drawing, not a product.

The seven models and what their pages print

Floor trays, width × depth × height as the maker prints them, and the maker’s stated minimum drawer height:

  • Joseph Joseph DrawerStore Bamboo Compact Cutlery Organizer (SKU 85168): H2½ × W5 × D15¾ in. Minimum drawer height 8 cm (3¼ inches).
  • Joseph Joseph DrawerStore Bamboo Large Cutlery Organizer (SKU 851697): H2½ × W7 × D15 in. Minimum drawer height 8.5 cm (3.3 inches).
  • Joseph Joseph DrawerStore Compact Tiered Cutlery Organizer, Stone (SKU 8500001): H2.4 × W5 × D15.6 in. Minimum drawer height 9 cm (3.5 inches).
  • Joseph Joseph DrawerStore Gray Expandable Cutlery Tray (SKU 85042): H2 × W11½ × D15 in compact, H2 × W19 × D15 in expanded. No minimum drawer height stated.

Frame-riding sorters, width × depth range × height:

  • YouCopia DrawerFit Sliding Drawer Sorter: 5.9 W × 15.0–23.1 D × 2.7 H in.
  • YouCopia DrawerFit Sliding Drawer Tray: 7.1 W × 15.0–23.7 D × 2.0 H in.
  • YouCopia DrawerFit Sliding Drawer Bin: 7.1 W × 15.0–23.7 D × 2.7 H in.

The Joseph Joseph pages print inches and centimeters side by side, and the two do not convert exactly: 8 cm is 3.15 inches by arithmetic, but the page says 3¼. This site keeps the printed inch figure and treats a drawer that lands between the two as a boundary case, not a pass. It never rounds in the product’s favor.

See the DrawerFit Sliding Drawer Sorter on the size check

Against three IKEA drawers, the widths leave this much room

The reference drawer on this site is the IKEA MAXIMERA medium drawer for an 18×24 cabinet, which IKEA lists at 16½ inches wide, 21⅜ inches deep and 5⅝ inches tall. The 15×24 version lists 13½ inches wide. The 24×24 version lists 22½ inches wide on a 24-inch frame. Depth and height are the same three numbers across all three.

Width left beside one floor tray:

  • 5-inch Compact: 13½ − 5 = 8½ in the 15-inch cabinet drawer; 16½ − 5 = 11½ in the 18; 22½ − 5 = 17½ in the 24.
  • 7-inch Large: 13½ − 7 = 6½; 16½ − 7 = 9½; 22½ − 7 = 15½.
  • Expandable, 11½ at its narrowest: 13½ − 11½ = 2 in the 15-inch drawer. It goes in, and it can open only as far as 13½, nowhere near its 19-inch maximum. In the 18-inch drawer it can sit anywhere between 11½ and 16½. In the 24-inch drawer it opens fully to 19 and still stops 3½ inches short of the wall, so it does not brace itself against the sides there.

Two trays side by side: Compact plus Large is 5 + 7 = 12 inches. That leaves 1½ inches in the 15-inch drawer, 4½ in the 18, and 10½ in the 24. Two Compacts are 10 inches, 3½ to spare in the smallest drawer.

Depth is not the constraint for any of them. The longest floor tray is 15¾ inches against a listed 21⅜, so 5⅝ inches of drawer stay open behind it. The YouCopia ranges, 15.0 to 23.1 and 15.0 to 23.7, put 21⅜ inside the range with 6⅜ inches of travel used: about 1.7 inches of extension left on the Sorter, about 2.3 on the Tray and Bin. Whether the drawer’s side walls will carry the tabs is something the pages do not say, so the size check returns "more to check" for all three frame-riding pieces rather than a pass.

See the DrawerStore Bamboo Compact on the size check

Height is where a narrow tray fails, and the body height is not the number

Here is the slip that catches people. Three of the Joseph Joseph trays have bodies about 2½ inches tall, and every one of them would clear a 3-inch drawer by body height alone. The makers say otherwise: 3¼, 3.3 and 3.5 inches minimum. A tiered tray needs room above its body so the upper tier can be used as designed, and the maker’s minimum is the number the size check compares against. Body height never enters that comparison.

Against the IKEA drawers’ listed 5⅝ inches, all three clear with room: 5⅝ − 3¼ = 2⅜, 5⅝ − 3.3 = 2.325, 5⅝ − 3.5 = 2⅛. Against a shallower drawer with 3 inches of clear height, none of them meets its stated minimum, and the size check will not report "within" for any of them.

Measure the clear height with the drawer closed. A drawer front taller than the box, or a rail under the countertop, takes height away from the top, and that is exactly the space a tiered tray is asking for.

Where each model fails

  • Skip the three fixed tiered trays when your closed-drawer clear height is below the model’s stated minimum. Being close does not count.
  • Skip the expandable tray in any drawer narrower than 11½ inches, and remember that passing at 11½ means it fits closed. It does not mean it can open.
  • Skip the frame-riding YouCopia pieces when your drawer is shallower than 15.0 inches front to back, because that is where their travel starts, or when the drawer sides have no flat top edge for the tabs to rest on. The pages describe tabs on "opposite sides of the drawer opening"; they do not say what the sides must look like.
  • Skip any of them if the drawer’s printed cabinet size is all you have. A 15-inch cabinet does not give you a 15-inch drawer. IKEA lists the drawer at 13½.

Would I put a frame-riding sorter in a drawer without checking the side walls with a tape? No. It is the one measurement the maker’s page leaves to you.

What is not covered, and what to measure before you decide

Durability, how much cutlery fits, and how the trays clean are usage claims that need hands-on records. None are made here. The YouCopia minimum drawer length appears only in a company press release, not on the product pages, so it is not quoted. Amazon listings are not a source on this site; every dimension above comes from the maker’s own page, read on the date in the Sources block.

Three numbers from your own drawer settle all of this: the width you measure between the side walls, the depth front to back with the drawer open, and the clear height with it closed. The measuring guide shows where the tape goes, and the size check holds the seven models above so you can compare them against your numbers in one pass.

Which of your drawers is the narrow one, and is it narrow at the floor or at the opening?

Sources

  • YouCopia, DrawerFit Sliding Drawer Sorter with SlideLock: "Measures 15.0"-23.1" D x 5.9" W x 2.7" H" and "tabs that rest on opposite sides of the drawer opening." youcopia.com (accessed 2026-09-08; evidence B-EV-16)
  • YouCopia, DrawerFit Sliding Drawer Tray with SlideLock: "15.0"-23.7" D x 7.1" W x 2.0" H" and "keep tray extended to sit on top of drawer frame." youcopia.com (accessed 2026-09-08; evidence B-EV-14)
  • YouCopia, DrawerFit Sliding Drawer Bin with SlideLock: "15.0"-23.7" D x 7.1" W x 2.7" H" and "locking teeth keep bin extended to sit on top of drawer frame." youcopia.com (accessed 2026-09-08; evidence B-EV-15)
  • Joseph Joseph US, DrawerStore Bamboo Compact Cutlery Organizer (SKU 85168): "H6 x W12.2 x D39.8cm (H2½ x W5 x D15¾ inches)" and "Suitable for drawers with a minimum height of 8cm (3¼ inches)." us.josephjoseph.com (accessed 2026-09-08; evidence B-EV-18, B-EV-22)
  • Joseph Joseph US, DrawerStore Bamboo Large Cutlery Organizer (SKU 851697): "H6 x W17.5 x D38.4 cm (H2½ x W7 x D15 inches)" and "Suitable for drawers with a minimum height of 8.5 cm (3.3 inches)." us.josephjoseph.com (accessed 2026-09-08; evidence B-EV-19, B-EV-23)
  • Joseph Joseph US, DrawerStore Compact Tiered Cutlery Organizer, Stone (SKU 8500001): "H6 x W12.6 x D39.7 cm (H2.4 x W5 x D15.6 inches)" and "Suitable for drawers with a minimum height of 9 cm (3.5 inches)." us.josephjoseph.com (accessed 2026-09-08; evidence B-EV-20, B-EV-24)
  • Joseph Joseph US, DrawerStore Gray Expandable Cutlery Tray (SKU 85042): "Compact: H5.3 x W29 x D38cm (H2 x W11½ x D15 inches); Expanded: H5.3 x W48 x D38cm (H2 x W19 x D15 inches)." us.josephjoseph.com (accessed 2026-09-08; evidence B-EV-21)
  • IKEA, MAXIMERA drawer, medium, white, 18x24" (art. 002.656.65): listed 16½ × 21⅜ × 5⅝". ikea.com (accessed 2026-09-17; evidence B-EV-26)
  • IKEA, MAXIMERA drawer, medium, white, 15x24" (art. 002.656.70): listed 13½ × 21⅜ × 5⅝". ikea.com (accessed 2026-09-17; evidence B-EV-41)
  • IKEA, MAXIMERA drawer, medium, white, 24x24" (art. 802.656.66): listed 22½ × 21⅜ × 5⅝". ikea.com (accessed 2026-09-17; evidence B-EV-42)