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kristen_hallock

DH is worried we have too many drawers

Kristen Hallock
10 years ago

We are unpacking our cabinets and my husband is asking "Didn't we get any regular cabinets with doors?"

I ordered all drawers, except for a 15" tray divider cabinet, a 36" sink base, a 24" sink base, and a 12" cabinet that will serve as a book shelf on the end of our island.

I have 7 drawer cabinets. 6 are 3-drawer stacks and 1 4-drawer stack. Hubby thinks it will look wierd and where will we put tall items? But I checked to make sure our tallest pot would fit into a corner super Susan. I tried telling him that drawers are better because you don't have to get down on your hands and knees to find stuff in the back of a basic cabinet. I hope he sees the light once the kitchen is done! I'm not crazy, right?

Comments (25)

  • Holly- Kay
    10 years ago

    There is no such thing as too many drawers. My new kichen will have three 36 inch drawers a bank of 18 inch drawers and a 36 inch cab with roll-out shelves and I am so worried that I won't have near enough drawers. As soon as the kichen is installed I will be looking for roll out shelves for under the sink.

    He will be thrilled once it is done and realizes how smart you were for doing so many drawers. I have two regular cabinets in my kitchen now and they are a total waste of space IMO.

  • azmom
    10 years ago

    If you researched, measured, verified and made smart purchase decisions, you are not crazy at all. You are well informed.

    I said to my DH that well thought out drawers in the kitchen just like money in the bank,one could never have enough.

  • blfenton
    10 years ago

    You can't have too many drawers. I have one cabinet, fortunately I only wasted 16" on it and there is a phone book and some scrap paper in it.

  • andreak100
    10 years ago

    Too many drawers???? That's blasphemy in this neck of the woods!

    But seriously, if you've measured and did your kitchen contents layout and everything fits, how can it be an issue?

    I had a few items that were taller and needed space that wasn't going to work well within a drawer and those are going in our Hafele LeMans unit in the corner and in upper cupboards over the fridge and over the oven.

    Drawers can be a little intimidating because you're "stuck"...once you have them, they are always that size. You figure that with doors, you can always move a shelf. But really, how many times does that really happen?

    And if you got doors, you would have probably put in roll outs there anyway, so you would have used up more space inside the cabinet.

    Our cabinet maker said "Well, your kitchen is going to be more expensive because you are doing so many drawers." Which is *slightly* true...but the drawer cost is offset by what it would have cost to put roll outs behind every door.

    Again, as long as you know pretty much what the height is of your highest stuff and you have places allocated for them, it will be fine and you and your husband will love the functionality of your new kitchen. Enjoy!

  • rosie
    10 years ago

    Crazy like a fox. 15" happens to be the width of my single regular doored cabinet that I outfitted for vertical storage. The rest is drawers and a pullout--except for one corner unit. If only I could have put drawers there too...sigh. :)

  • pharaoh
    10 years ago

    Ask him - ' Can you have too many drawers (mens)?' (wink)
    Tell him - ' Like jewelry, a lady cannot have too many kitchen drawers'.

  • taggie
    10 years ago

    I still have horrible memories of squatting down and reaching back into that 1/2 shelf of a dark lower cabinet and pulling out a huge stack of heavy casserole dishes to get the one at the bottom, then putting the rest of the stack back. Ugh. I don't miss those days, and I can't believe your husband would prefer that setup.

    Just ignore him, and once the drawers are in he'll be asking himself how he could even have questioned it. :)

  • a2gemini
    10 years ago

    Love my drawers. I wish I put drawers under the sink as well!
    I have a 9 inch vertical, an angle cab, and a corner super Susan.

    Think about where you will store oils, vinegars, and alcohol(drinking)

    Those are stored in our angle cabinet or out pull out pantry. I could have also used uppers(and standard oils are in uppers)

  • Annie Deighnaugh
    10 years ago

    No such thing as too many drawers...

  • suzanne_sl
    10 years ago

    Warning: there is a learning period when you first get your kitchen back together. You'll pull out any number of drawers trying to remember where you put the spatula/grill pan/ginger. After that, though, all is golden and he'll realize how clever you were to design this kitchen.

  • annkh_nd
    10 years ago

    I'm going from 6 drawers in my existing kitchen to 16 in my new one, and I wish I had room for more. My only non-drawers are the sink, an angled super susan (but it has a drawer above), a 9" cabinet for cookie sheets, and a trash pullout (that technically is a drawer).

    I'm even putting pullouts over the fridge, that are essentially a drawer on its side. I guess I'll have 19 drawers!

  • mrspete
    10 years ago

    I suspect he's thinking of the drawers you have now with more traditional cabinets; that is, drawers that're shallow and good only for spatulas and silverware. He's not really grasping that your deeper, larger drawers are going to be good for everything. Once he sees them, I'm sure he's going to see the light.

    Before I started reading these boards, I never would've considered all-drawers. Now I'm 100% on board with that idea. Ditto for a large single sink and a couple other concepts. I fully expect to fight my husband on these topics because he hasn't done the reading I've done, but I know he'll be pleased when the project is done.

    Incidentally, I intend to have ONE traditional cabinet in my kitchen, and it'll be for cookie sheets and cooling racks, which I want to store standing on their sides.

  • angie_diy
    10 years ago

    I found that the corner super susan is more than adequate for my "cabinet needs." Also, will you have a cabinet above your fridge? That is where my tallest stockpot lives.

  • BartellMike
    10 years ago

    It certainly appears from the responses that you made a good decision and I concur. One of the responses mentioned they will use rollouts as well. Since deep drawers have become popular, I need to ask why anyone would use rollouts. It takes more movements to access them and the sides are not as tall. Just some food for thought as one plans their kitchen remodel.

  • rosie
    10 years ago

    I totally agree regarding those open door+pull shelf+push shelf+close door cabinets, Bartelmike. Takes all kinds, but some like them.

    In my case, I was referring to a vertical undercounter pullout, 12" wide, with 3 levels to store bottles, etc., In my unit the door's attached to the lowest rack only, which pulls out with it, but other units have the door attached to all shelves. Fantastic high-functioning filler for small space.

    I think the others were referring to similar stuff, like the garbage pullout with the can mount attached to the door. Terminology failure. :)

  • Kristen Hallock
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    I will have a 24" tall 24" deep cabinet above my fridge. I told him the super susan would have room for tall items and his reply was that our old lazy susan was already filled up. But a bunch of those items can now be relocated to the new drawer cabinets!

    My DH is just getting me to 2nd guess everything. He ripped out all of the sheetrock in the kitchen yesterday. Its alot of work. He just gets like this when he feels like he's doing most of the work (and he is). Our new squabble is that now he's telling me its impossible to recess our fridge into the wall we had planned on. I may have to start a whole new post about that. I guess its true. If you can live thru a remodel with your SO, you can live thru anything!

  • CEFreeman
    10 years ago

    Tell him not to worry his pretty little head.

    I have 1 cabinet that's a regular cabinet and I'm pulling it out and putting in drawers. I put it there for a symetrical configuration and just plain (think I had a momentary lapse of sanity) hate it.

    I keep my trays and things above the fridge in a 30" x 18" x 18" cabinet. They store on their sides, so I don't need a single, "normal" cabinet.

    Don't doubt yourself. You'll be so glad you were so thorough.

    Oh - and screw the roll-out thing. Why have 2 doors in front of non-fronted drawers that are just going to get banged up. They're an extra step in getting to the stuff in your hidden drawers, i.e. roll-outs. Just cut out the middle (door) man and put in drawers. I have one cabinet I got at a reuse center and simply put drawer fronts on the roll-outs. Soooooooooo much easier.

  • andreak100
    10 years ago

    For the most part, I agree with Bartel's assessment about the roll outs. But, I am actually using some roll outs in my kitchen - the pantry area is one of them as the idea of drawers going the whole way up the wall didn't appeal to me, so, it's doors with roll outs. I'm also using roll outs in the high cabinets over the fridge. I'll probably have one in the bottom of the cabinet that holds my apliance lift as well. I'm considering a roll out for one of my upper cabinets as well for vinegar, oils, sprays, etc.

    So, there *is* a place for roll outs, even with the increased movement. One of the nice things about this forum is that it helps you to THINK about how you use your kitchen and how it can better function for you to come up with a nice balance of form and function.

  • deedles
    10 years ago

    I find that my DH questions anything that isn't 'what he knows'. If it's new, it's suspect. I finally had to insist that I be deferred to for our kitchen remodel on these types of issues as I'm the 98% of the time cook and I really got tired of explaining myself over and over. I assured him that he'll have a place to set his block of cheese on the counter which he snacks on throughout the day and is most of what he does in the kitchen anyway.

  • Kristen Hallock
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Deedles - Yes. You hit the nail on the head. My DH likes what he's used to. He wont try a single bowl sink because he has always had a double bowl sink. He liked out old layout even though we had no room at the fridge! He is b!tching about the island size now and saying we will have no room in the walkways even though we have 42" on 2 sides of the island and 48" on the 3rd side and the 4th side is open to the eating area. Ugh! So basically he has me 2nd guessing everything and its annoying.

  • annkh_nd
    10 years ago

    I'll have to remember to give my DH an extra hug tonight - he has gone along with all of my "crazy" kitchen ideas, even though he does most of the cooking. He was reluctant about drawers at first too, but saw the sense of one motion vs. pullouts. It helps that my Mom has pullouts in her kitchen - and I don't think I've seen them actually pulled out in 25 years, limiting the accessible space to what's in front.

    My teenaged sons are more of a problem (though most of their complaining is just to get my goat). When I described to them that the flatware drawer will be on the other side of the kitchen, they told me that was WRONG (read "different"). I told them that the flatware has been in the wrong place for 25 years, and the new spot is the RIGHT place!

  • Kristen Hallock
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    I dont know that my DH wanted pullouts. He just wanted a basic cabinet with a shelf in it. He is stubborn and he has his ideas and I have mine. It doesnt help that he is the one making my kitchen design happen. And so he doesnt agree with the design but he has to implement and install everything that I want. LOL. So it usually ends with us bickering. I'd love it if my DH was more laid back and not so opinionated. We'd probably get along better! But he does know how to build and install stuff and I guess not everyone can say that about their DHs. So I'll take what I have and hope when its all put together that he likes how the kitchen functions.

  • debrak_2008
    10 years ago

    Well... reading this reminds me of how one GWer handled the stress of the remodel. Lets say she made sure her and hubby got "together" very often. I think it was every 36 hours. It didn't matter if they were exhausted or not. Apparently some of us are much more agreeable when ....well you get the idea.

    It worked at my house.

  • Kristen Hallock
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    LOL. I have seen that post here recently. That same advice was given to me when DH and I were also in disagreement about the size of our fridge. I'll try...

  • debrak_2008
    10 years ago

    Oh I hope it wasn't me posting as I remember your fridge thread. People may think I'm obsessed or something, ; )

    I think the idea is to stay connected and not just talk about the remodel. You both need a break away from the kitchen.