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| A month ago I asked what people stored in their drawers. The response (with many many great pics) was amazing! So now I'm trying to get as many drawers as possible. If you could do a kitchen with almost all drawer base cabinets, would you do it? Besides the sink bases (main and prep), the super susan in the corner, pull out trash/recycle, and pull out spice rack, I'm considering doing the rest drawers. Of course price will come into consideration as well. Is there anything that CAN'T be stored in drawers? I also have a corner pantry to store larger/taller items. |
Here is a link that might be useful: What do you store in your kitchen drawers?
Follow-Up Postings:
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| In a New York minute, yes, absolutely! But I think planning is key. When we had our drawers built, I knew I'd want one for all my pitchers, another for my pots and pans, etc. So I gave the tallest pitcher to the carpenter, and I gave my largest stock pot to them, and told them to make sure the corresponding drawers would hold them AND close! So happy I did that. Could not possibly love my drawers anymore than I do. |
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- Posted by liriodendron (My Page) on Mon, Apr 9, 12 at 14:20
| Without a second thought (taking into account the sink exceptions you noted which functionally require doors). The only exception would be in a kitchen with no additional storage where you could stash really huge pots (pressure canners and ginormous stock pots come to mind). Even then I might do a pullout (essentially big vertically-oriented drawers when you think about it) and have lids and trays in the front with big pots behind. I am having no doors in my new kitchen if can help it. The hardware for drawers is much more expensive, though. But it will be my one splurge. My days of kneeling and pawing at things deep in my cabs are so over! L. |
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| I have done all my base cabinets drawer. My sink does not require doors. I have an apron sink and refuse to crawl around on the floor to find something under it. Even with a garbage disposer, I designed a drawer that's lower in the back, taller in the front. I put a drawer front on it and voila! another drawer. Plus, a more functional space for me. An 18" deep pantry, let alone a counter depth 24" pantry could address the big items liriodendron mentioned. I just cut the cabinet out from underneath my peninsula, which was a 33", reach-in, 2-drawer base. I HATED it. I would throw crap in there and forget about it. Kind of like tall, upper cabinets. [LOL]. I've put in an 18" 4-drawer (reuse center. If I'd purchased, would have been 3-drawer) and my 24" microwave cabinet. I literally cut that thing out with a sawsall. Screaming, "Die! Die! Die you USELESS THING!" Or something like that. Drawers it is. |
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- Posted by brianadarnell (My Page) on Mon, Apr 9, 12 at 14:38
| I would definitely do it! In fact, I DID! And, I love it! I knew exactly where everything was going when I designed my kitchen and for the most part, everything ended up being a great fit. The only thing I did was too many deep drawers vs the normal depth, but I can live with that! If I could double my lowers, I'd ditch my uppers altogether. |
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| My kitchen has 20.5' of base cabinets. It is broken down like this: 1) 36" sink base (doors only) Here's a photo of how my pull-out cabinet works (the closed cabinet to the left is identical to the open cabinet, but has two shallower internal drawers rather than one deep one). The drawer front is the entire height of the cabinet and attached to the bottom drawer. Interior drawers can be adjusted.
I have not regretted this breakdown at any point. Under the sink base I have items in baskets that I can easily pull out. Given the layout of our plumbing (up from the floor through the slab), trying to put drawers there would have been a hassle, and would have required a lot of customization for questionable utility in the end. The two pull-out cabinets fit the things I needed them to fit. Everything else -- EVERYTHING ELSE -- is happy in the drawers. That includes pots, pans, baking dishes, glasses, plates and bowls, tupperware, etc. I only have one upper cabinet in the whole kitchen, over the fridge. Stored up there are large mixing bowls, small aseldom-used appliances (Foreman grill, little crock pot, etc.) and the glass cake stand and big plastic cake carrier. Cookie sheets/cutting boards are stored on edge in the pantry. The only thing I didn't have to factor in was stemware. We have a wet bar and all the stemware lives in there. I would look for feedback from folks who have stemware in drawers -- that is the one thing I wouldn't be too sure about. |
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| The more drawers you can do, the better. I love having my dish drawer next to the DW and pots and pans next to the cooktop. Actually, under the cooktop is 2 pull outs, and a shallow drawer underneath. One pull out is for frying pans and one for lids. I do have some uppers, surrounding the cooktop, above the fridge and on my short, inside wall. I don't have a pantry. I was lucky. I had a very good KD at Lowes and she just knew where to put things. |
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| Christine, you are too funny. I want a sawsall. Most of my base cabinets are drawers, and the two that are not have pull out shelves. I really like the pantry pull outs for my pots and pans, I can open the door and grab what I need |
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- Posted by breezygirl (My Page) on Mon, Apr 9, 12 at 15:09
| I have three non-drawer cabs in the kitchen. 1. Cleanup sink base Everything else IS drawers! (The trash pullout is really a drawer if you think about it.) Drawers are the best thing since sliced bread! |
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| We are doing all drawers on the base and NO uppers... well sort of. We will have 2 96" pull out pantries and we also have a large utility room right off the kitchen. The Utility room will have about 60" off shelving for bigger/less used appliance and dishes (also a w/d and 1/2 bath). I can't wait for all the drawers so much easier to organize. I do not think I will miss uppers or the base doored cabinets. |
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- Posted by clarygrace (My Page) on Mon, Apr 9, 12 at 17:14
| We built into the design a few lowers with doors because of the need for open storage of very large/tall serving pieces and extra large cookware. Most of our storage however are heavy duty drawers. Update for us..we are packing up the kitchen/family room, as demo starts Thursday....geez, I have a lotta stuff... :) |
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- Posted by mtnrdredux (My Page) on Mon, Apr 9, 12 at 19:42
| We have all drawers except for 2 cabs for trays,cookie sheets. |
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| Yes, all drawers. I think it is so much more functional and nicer looking. I have two drawers under my farmers sink and a full pull out under my wetbar sink. I also have corner drawers. The only lower cabinet without a drawer is the mixer lift cabinet.
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- Posted by joaniepoanie (My Page) on Mon, Apr 9, 12 at 20:10
| All drawers except a 12" cabinet for cookie sheets. I also had a rollout tray put in under the sink...they notched it out around the pipes/disposal. Saw a picture after cabinets were ordered where the sink base was actually a drawer...kind of like a trash pullout drawer...thought it was brilliant but it was too late to do it so ordered the rollout instead...no more on hands and knees to get to the stuff at the back. |
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Our remodel is mostly drawers!! I have drawers that range from 13-42 inches!  This one is not what we ordered and will be replaced with 3 drawers
We have one cabinet for cutting boards, etc and above oven and fridge for baking sheets, etc.. We have a super susan in one corner and trash at the far end - wanted closer but due to codes, not enough space to pull it off! Hope I made the right choice! |
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| My last kitchen had a wall that was 12" deep even on the base cabinets due to layout restrictions. Those were not drawers, because at that depth it's just not necessary. Otherwise, the trash pullout and sink were the only things not drawers. Will do it again. And am thinking awfully hard about the sink cabinet, too, like Christine describes, after seeing a similar (and very cool) one when I was house-hunting (still regret not taking pictures). |
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| Our only lower cabs are either side of range where we keep our pots and pans. We have ROTS in them. This makes them re-positionable, if I need some kind of future flexibility. No regrets on the drawers -- much less bending and I use the materials stored at the back as well as at the front. |
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| All my bases on the perimeter other than the one sink base are drawers. My island has a bookshelf end, prep sink base, trash pullout, drawers (including my warming drawer), but the back side had to be too shallow for drawers, so I have doors there and store all my small appliances and outdoor stuff in those two. My huge pots are above the fridge. The mixer stays on the counter and the food processor goes in the cabinet above my baking area with mixing bowls. I'd save some money by nixing the spice pullout and put those in a drawer too. Best thing I ever did. Or at least one of them. |
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| Yes! I love my drawers and I wish I had more. You can never have enough drawers. |
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| All drawers here, too, excepting for the cabs under the sinks and the corner lazy susan. They range from 24-42 inches wide. Love having the dish drawer next to the dishwasher, it makes unloading go so much faster. I measured my spice containers and had drawers made to fit them. I heard the idea here and am really glad I went with it. |
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| Drawers are great indeed. Just be careful of storing tall items. Some mixers, etc. are too tall for most drawers. |
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- Posted by outsideplaying (My Page) on Tue, Apr 10, 12 at 9:34
| Because of the design aesthetic, I would make some of your base cabinets look like doors with pull-out drawers behind them. I would also take advantage of a small, narrow spot for trays and baking pans/cookie sheets. Love this in my kitchen for storing these items as it is near the oven and not stacked. There is a divider in this spot also. I have 2 pull-out cabinets with 2 pull-out drawers in each cab. My mixer and my big Cuisinart slow cooker will fit nicely in each. Plus large mixing bowls and other assorted large items can fit. Breaking up the room with cabinet doors and drawers just looks better IMO. I assume you are going with taller base cabinets? |
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| I know the all-drawer kitchen is part of the GW religious doctrine, but I'm not a believer. You really need to examine what you're going to store in there. I had ROTS in my last kitchen and they worked great for large bulky prep items like super sized colanders and my Cuisinart. Total access from every side. Also, remember that drawers require more bending. A cabinet outfitted with ROTS can be opened from standing height, and I could pull out my colanders or whatnot in the top tray without bending at all. |
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| After spending a week at a home that only had top drawers above doors and having to crouch down and forage for items in the recesses of dark cabinets, I realized that I can never go back to that system. I MISSED MY DRAWERS! We have almost everything in drawers or pullouts. I do have a corner cabinet for taller things, a cabinet that I store extra oven racks and the big cutting board, and the two sink bases, but even one of them has pullouts. |
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- Posted by newlywed2011 (My Page) on Tue, Apr 10, 12 at 11:21
| Wow! I'm loving the idea of having drawers! What type of drawer boxes are best? Some of these look metal ? I am replacing my doors and am now thinking of replace two base cabinets with drawers. I'm looking at Scherr's and Barker. What type of drawer should I be looking for? |
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| Thank you so much for your opinions and pics. Thank you too to marcolo for the dissenting opinion! I'm excited and nervous about meeting with the cabinet guy tomorrow. Hopefully I'm not a complete nut case. Lol! |
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| I'm planning all drawers. This is my layout, not necessarily the color. The image was just handy.
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- Posted by athomeinva (My Page) on Tue, Apr 10, 12 at 15:42
| I am one of the few that does not care for drawers, long term they wear out quicker than regular cabinets. I also find that I like storage in cabinets better, for me they stay better organized. |
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- Posted by desertsteph (My Page) on Tue, Apr 10, 12 at 17:18
| 'I would also take advantage of a small, narrow spot for trays and baking pans/cookie sheets. Love this in my kitchen for storing these items as it is near the oven and not stacked.' drawers would great for trays, cookie sheets, baking pans and cutting boards too.
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- Posted by desertsteph (My Page) on Tue, Apr 10, 12 at 17:25
| that should read 'drawers' would BE great for... |
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| On where the really big stuff went: The canning pressure cooker, the wok, soup kettles, and blender all went in the super susan. Cookie trays, serving trays, cupcake tins, and cooling racks went above the fridge on edge. The kitchen aide mixer went on the bottom roll-out shelf of the pantry. Everything else went in drawers. Love the drawers!!! The only thing I couldn't tuck away was the toaster over (small kitchen), so it stays out on the counter. |
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| i have drawers. The drawer fronts are 15 inches high. They look a bit like what has been called a "pullout". Behind each of these 15"h drawer fronts is usually one shallow drawer. These are called internal drawers. It takes two pulls to get to them. The blender lives on its side. There is nothing that needs so much head room that it would require a 15" high drawer all to its own. |
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| I am a little different. I don't want lower cabinets or drawers. My kitchen has plenty of cabinets but I rarely use the lower cabinets. I also removed some of the cabinet doors from the upper cabinets. I just find it easier to access what I need if things are at eye level or hung (like pot racks). |
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| Yes and yes...in my plans, I have a cabinet under sink, lazy susan, and one other cab...the rest are drawers-15 total. :) I am subdividing some with pull out trays inside...i had a kitchen with mostly drawers a few years ago, and I LOVED it. |
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| In our recent reno we only put in four drawers, all 36" wide. Two under the stovetop for pans and pots, and two near the dishwasher for my Fiestaware dishes. For the rest we have normal base cabinets with roll-out trays. I don't know that I'd want a kitchen with ALL drawers - I like how our kitchen has a bit of visual interest with the mix of regular cabinets and drawers. |
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- Posted by desertsteph (My Page) on Sat, Dec 8, 12 at 3:41
| "A cabinet outfitted with ROTS can be opened from standing height, and I could pull out my colanders or whatnot in the top tray without bending at all." how about that bottom ROT? I've watched my sister and BIL access theirs. They have to bend over and pull it out. then push it in. then shut the cabinet door. not what I'd want to do if I have a choice. |
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| My new kitchen will have a 21" base with 3 drawers, a 36" sink base with trash rollout, an 18" with corner blind pantry, a 30" base with 3 drawers, a 33" base with ROTS, and a 15" with ROTS. I like the look of the 30" drawer base flanked by the regular cabinets and my husband was not sold on all drawers. I do now sort of wish that the 15" base was drawers, but I can live with it the way it is. I am still making decisions about counters, back splashes, sinks and faucets, but the cabinet decisions have been made! |
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| If I'd not had two blind corners, ALL my bases would have beed drawers. But, as it was, I have one lazy susan and one rev-a-shelf. Lazy Susan has appliances that don't get used every day (electric skillet, crockpot, stand mixer) rev-a-shelf has yet to be filled... |
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| I love that this thread was brought up again! I started this thread many months ago, and my kitchen is mostly done at this point. Just a few more details and then I'll post pics. I ended up with almost all drawers. My two sink bases don't have drawers, but my plan is to add a rev-a-shelf drawer under the big farmhouse sink. The smaller prep sink has colanders and cutting boards so I'm fine without drawers. I have the corner super Susan which so far is great. Then I have two other plain base cabinets with ROTS. The one cabinet perfectly fits my pots and their lid. The other cabinet bugs me a ton, so I plan to retrofit it to be a pull out cabinet to match my pull-out trash can nearby. I am loving the drawers so far. I think my only other regret is doing a 4 stack instead of a 3 stack next to my prep sink. I thought I would have more smaller prep tools, but I wish I could fit my big glass measuring cups. |
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| There are quite a few threads out there discussing drawers vs roll-out tray shelves (ROTS and a.k.a., pull-out shelves). Pros & Cons of each
Thread: Drawers or cabinet under cooktop? Thread: Drawers over pull outs in Cabinets Thread: Kitchen drawers versus pull-out shelves? Thread: Which pull out drawers are must haves? [Some discussion of drawers vs ROTS contained inside the thread] |
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