Drawers, Drawers, Drawers - worth every upgrade penny.

With rollouts you first have to open the doors and you have to make sure that it's open wiiiide enough so that you don't hit them with the roll-outs, then you have to pull out the roll-outs, then you have to close the roll-outs and make sure that they are compleeeeetely closed so that when you close the doors you don't bang everything.

With drawers, you just open them and then close them. So darn easy. I got one lower cabinet and all that's in there is a phone book. The drawers are everything - the best part of the reno. Go for it. You will never regret it. I promise.

Drawers for all the reasons blfenton states PLUS there is no reaching in to find things at the back--it slides out revealing all the storage.

=) Thanks blfenton. Glad you don't like your drawers! ;) Hadn't thought about the roll-out issues. I don't even have those now.

So, if I do that I'll probably have to change my cabinet style? They are shaker style doors with mitered corners, but the drawers are plain - and that will be a lot of boring stained plain wood.

(My designer and builder are going to kill me! I'm almost afraid to broach this topic.)

Thanks for your vote dretutz. I've got such long arms reaching isn't a huge issue. Now seeing the items... that's another matter! :) I have a feeling the vote is going to be nearly unanimous.

Defintely get some drawers and if it were me I would not do the rollouts ever, too much of a pain.

Shaker doors with slab drawers are very common and look great together. I put them in my new build and once the hardware is on, it looks nice. I was worried about it too and then looked at photos of my favorite kitchens on-line and most had shaker doors and slab drawers. Good luck with your choices, it's exciting! :)

3 drawer cabinet should be less expensive than a doored cabinet with 2 roll out trays behind..

4 drawer cabinet should be about a wash..

Assuming you use a slab drawer front, and not a 5 piece.

Can you get a deeper cabinet for over the refrigerator? Could you also surround the refrigerator alcove with finished end panels? Both of these would give you a built-in look without the built-in refrigerator price...

How wide is the aisle b/w the island and the counter next to the refrigerator alcove? That will be a better indicator of what refrigerator will work.

You say it's just another $981 for a built in refrigerator (among other things)...is that an actual built-in refrigerator or do they mean an alcove like I described above?

This is what buehl is saying and so glad I did this!
Initially, I had a wing wall with vents but GC, found a better HVAC solution - so went back to KD and GC in the middle of the remodel and said - I want a wood panel and not a wing wall at the end of the fridge and can I also make it a pull out pantry and can I put a pocket door into the walk in pantry....

So, yes, you can change as you go along!

On the fridge end, I use the same panels that are on the rest of the kitchen cabinets as it faces the DR. I might add the decorative panels on the others if I have any $$ leftover (OK, I am way over budget already but not the GC fault...)

This is the only cabinet with a central divider but as deep as fridge, so I can reach all my items without a step stool

This is the deep cab over my oven

All are early pictures - waiting til kitchen complete before taking the next set of pictures. The trim was not on the fridge cabinet when this was taken...

PS - loving my drawers!!!

Should I get the Designer Package which "includes 2 glass doors (clear), door mount spice rack, built in refrigerator, and 4" crown molding for $981."

If you have something attractive to store behind the 2 glass doors, go for it. We're struggling with that issue in our planning because we don't have anything decorative. (If frosted glass is an option we might do that.)

"built in" refrigerator - not sure if you mean a Sub-Zero built-in, or cabinet woodwork built around a fridge to give it the built-in look. If you do the latter, consider that the next refrigerator might not fit (either H or W) in the same opening. One KD tried to sell us on that idea and we said "no" for that reason.

Definitely drawers. For the reasons people above mentioned. You can do slab at the top and the bottom drawers, do a 5-piece. Going with the 5-piece drawers will increase the costs a bit. We got options to go with or without - the cost difference on our kitchen was somewhere around $350, but YMMV.

I think that crown molding makes a huge difference in how "finished" the kitchen looks and I prefer the look, but some people don't. Your upper cabinets aren't running up to the ceiling, so it depends on what you plan on doing at the top - are you using something decorative up above? Will the molding interfere with those plans?

In our previous kitchen, I loved having the door mount spice rack. But, it wasn't nearly enough space for all my spices. In this kitchen, I'm going with two shallow drawers to contain most of them. Alternately, you may want to find out if you can do a spice pull out by narrowing one of the bottom cabinets (they generally come in 3" or 6"). I know you said that you can't change the layout, but I wonder if you keep overall dimensions the same if you can substitute one cabinet for two smaller ones?

If you have decorative pieces, glass doors can be nice. But, personally, I prefer having the more flexibility of storage...we're not too fancy at our house and don't have much in the way of fancy stuff to show off. Also, if you are going with the glass doors, do they include lighting inside the cabinet? If it isn't lit, it sort of defeats the purpose of having the glass because you don't see the contents as well.

Like the idea of the built in refrigerator. Particularly if that means the cabinet over the top of the fridge is deep. It becomes a viable storage area then. The ones that are only normal upper cabinet depth over a fridge are useless IMO.

Do you have to get things as a package or would they allow you to mix and match?

Thanks for all the help and things to think about.

The built in refrigerator in the decorator package is really only for the wood slab that would run down the side of the fridge that faces the living room. It doesn't include the fridge. What a steal that would be if it did! :)

I hadn't even thought about a deeper cab above fridge. Def should do that. I have one in current house but didn't even realize it. Some things I just don't think about without someone commenting on it. Not sure if that would come with the designer package and the "built in fridge" but I will def ask.

Thanks for telling me the term I should be searching for with re to the drawers is "5 stick" - I didn't even know the term. I like the 5-stick but the slabs look good too. I'll be doing expresso cabs - not sure if that will sway the decision one way or the other. ? I hadn't planned on hardware until I came back to this forum after a long absence (since I was redoing a house years ago) and see that hardware clearly is back in style. So, I think with some cool BN hardware the slab may look ok.

So, if you are still with me - which bottom cabs should become drawers? Does it matter? All of them? Again, thanks. =)

Oh, and thanks for pointing out the crown molding issue. I hadn't noticed the model didn't have it. They asked me to pick which one I wanted so I picked a 2 1/2" Shaker molding not realizing it was, of course!, an upgrade. If I go with the designer pkg I will get 4" which seems bigger than I'd prefer to tell you the truth. Huh. Something else to figure out! :)

It helps to try to think what you'll keep in each place. You probably want your cooking pots and pans and utensils in drawers right near the stove. I still have four lower cupboards with doors for specific types of storage, including the sink base, a small vertical pan cupboard, and one with a roll out for small appliances. The rest are all drawers. My old kitchen had a few roll outs,with half shelves above, and I much prefer the drawers. Way more usable space, and easier to access.

I have a bread drawer, too, and I love it.

In my upstairs bath vanity, I wish I'd put a tip-out in front of the sink, like I have in the kitchen. I'm assuming it's possible.

I had the cab maker make the cabinet around the fridge a little bigger than our current small fridge (which stayed in the remodel because it was pretty new) to accommodate an enlargement in the future. He put in filler pieces with screws so they can be taken out for a bigger unit.

Beeps, the best idea in regard to what should or shouldn't be drawers (virtually everything in my kitchen will be with the exception of my corner cabinet, one in the island where I'm putting my KA mixer, and another island based one where the garbage will be [although the garbage really would be considered one large pull out]).

What I did was to take my proposed layout and list down what I was going to put in each cabinet. Make sure that you remember all the different things that are important - like do you need a place to hold keys and a charging station for phones, etc. Do you need a "junk drawer"? Where will your cookware live? What about bakeware? Etc. Start with the most important things first - if you cook a lot but bake less, you want your cookware closest to your range. Bakeware can then move further away. You probably want your flatware close to the DW and close to the eating area. Same with your dishes and glasses. Spices should be close to where you'll use them. And you'll want a home close to the range for oven mitts and hot pads, etc. You may find that you want a 4-drawer unit for some places and a 3 drawer unit for other places.

Do your "homework" now instead of just saying, "Oh, I'll get drawers because everyone said to get drawers." Know what you are going to put where. That will guide you on making the correct decisions on what your cabinet layout should look like.

Many people with Shaker style cabinets will go with slab for the top drawer and then any deeper drawers will get the 5-panel on them. (a2gemini's kitchen is a great example of this). You might not want all the drawers to be slab though - I think it tends to go from a contemporary look to a modern look when they are all slab.

If you are doing a surround for the fridge, definitely consider what the widest fridge is that you're likely to get. Luckily, yours is at the end of a run, so if you were to go wider later, you could always remove the end panel. But, you may want to leave just a little extra clearance around the fridge just in case. It isn't as "built-in", but offers more flexibility in the future if necessary.

Will they allow you to go to the 2 1/2" Shaker molding instead of the 4" if you go with the designer package?

Beeps
I wish I had found gardenweb before I started but GW helped me along the way!
I have all drawers except a little one to the right of the sink, super Susan corner and an angle cabinet.
So much better than before!

Keep asking questions

Thanks so much! I need to wrap this house up but I keep finding new details to attend to. My builder is pretty tough about no changes once things get going. And the foundation was supposed to be poured starting 7/1. Oops! A little behind schedule.

I like the look of the drawers in your kitchen a2gemini (very pretty kitchen!) and think I will ask about that. Mine will show a bit less since the stain will be so dark. (But the dust will show a bit more. :) If not possible I'll just go with slab. If it leans modern rather than contemporary because of that I would be fine with that.

So I just paid attention to the drawers in my office furniture and bedroom set. Both are shaker-style. In the bedroom the drawers have a slight bevel at the top and bottom so they aren't just straight slabs, but not the 5-piece design. The ones in the office do have the 5-piece design. I had never noticed. :)

It scares me a bit to think about not having any lower cabs... old dog/new tricks and all that I guess! :) But, I can see how having the cooking and baking item in drawers would be handy. I have two narrow drawers under my oven in this house and they are handy.

I'm thinking about asking for 3 drawers on all these, unless I can get a super Susan corner in which case I'll switch the third one down from the stove out to a cabinet....

And if I do glass I'm thinking of doing the top two nearest the dining area.

Thoughts? Thanks again.

No roll outs here in our kitchen remodel. No need to open doors, then pull out roll outs, then close each, etc. with all the attendant space loss and doors and drawers hitting each other issues. I think, for lower cabinets anyway, pull outs are just another way for cabinetmakers to increase their profit margins.

Beeps - looks like you are figuring out your drawers. I had no drawers in my old kitchen (well one bank of 3 worthless drawers)
I literally went around with stickies figuring out what would fit in each location - I was pretty close.
The only glitch was the drawer under the cooktop was a no go due to the spacing, so still working on that issue....
Otherwise, I love it! Thanks for your compliment. Soon, it will be really finished.
Good luck - heading into a training week with over 70 hours of teaching.... So won't be on line for a bit!

To help with storage plans, check out the "The Next Step...Planning For Storage" topic in the "Read Me" thread. It may help you decide what to store where and how to customize your options.

Personally, I am very, very glad we did all drawers in the kitchen - except the two sinks. We also have an 18" trash pullout (ideal location is in your Prep Zone) and two 6" filler pullouts flanking our cooktop.

BUT...when deciding on slab vs 5-piece, try to get a picture of the slab look similar to what you have above. I was originally going to go w/slab drawer fronts until I saw a picture of it - and I hated it! I'm so glad I saw it first! Here's what ours would have looked like...you may like the look, but I did not:

Here is a link that might be useful: New To Kitchens? Posting Pics? Read Me!

Thanks for posting that info and pic buehl. It does help me see what it would look like with all slab fronts - sans hardware. I don't prefer the look, but don't exactly dislike it either. If my options are cabs or slab drawers I'll probably go with the slab drawers. But, if I can get the 5-piece I'd prefer that. Again, that does help. Thanks!

Drawers are much more useful then pullouts and easier to access. I find the pullouts to be useless- items tumble and fall behind. Get as many drawers as you can.

Drawers. I have all-drawers, more or less, and have never, ever looked back.

But note you do want a cabinet here or there for tall stuff, appliance storage, the like .... maybe. Depends on that plan you're drawing up like suggested above! ;) Measure your tallest pan/pot and be sure to accommodate that if possible in your drawer size. And if not because, say, it won't fit, then that will be one for the rare cabinet.

Can the builder start without a kitchen final? Explain you've had a change of heart but don't want to hold up construction on the shell? Because with time, the good folks here at GW would be able to help you make a kitchen that's far, far "upgraded" from this one. ;)

I am doing a mix of drawers and doors with pullout shelves in my lowers. I know it is currently popular to have all drawers, but I still like the old-school look of doors on lowers mixed in.

I had a kitchen designer (she seemed to have good / practical advice) suggest to mix in pullouts with the drawers - she felt they were better for pots and pans because it gave you more flexibility on where to put your handles and drawer sides were more confining in that regard, particularly if your drawers are not super-big.

I honestly don't think having to open a door and pull out a tray is that big a deal (and this is from someone who has to cook most weeknight dinners at uber-fast speed) we had a pantry like that in our last house and it was not a problem.

One more note - we are doing inset cabinets, shaker style doors, and I chose to have all my drawers slab front. We are doing a rustic-looking kitchen and I don't think it will necessarily look modern to have inset slab fronts. I am going off pictures I have seen of that style in rustic kitchens.

My cabinets are done, but not delivered yet, so only time will tell if I made the right decisions!

Sounds like drawers are the unanimous choice. I expected that. When I said to my sister last night I wanted drawers on the bottom she thought I had lost my mind. (She doesn't know about GW! :) She said the rollouts allowed taller things as you could tip them a bit to get them in. I think she will see the logic when she sees my new kitchen. :)

Unfortunately I can't wait. They want everything nailed down. And I can't change the layout. I have already driven the designer and builder crazy with all my "non standard option requests." (They aren't even going to allow any of those for future homes in the tract. I have driven them too crazy with them. And I'm sort of making my home the most expensive in the area - not a smart idea - but I plan to stay a while so want it to be what I want.)

For super tall things I do have a walk-in pantry around the corner so could use some of that space for storage also.

I think the drawers and maybe some cabinet changes to accommodate the placement of the glass cabs will be about all I can do. The granite I selected was not an option they really allowed, then I made them haul the slabs from CA where I live to AZ where the house is being built, and the list goes on... and on! =)

Thanks for your thoughts and suggestions. If you have a chance to think about the placement of the glass cabs I have to get that decided today please see the link below to my other thread. Thanks! =)

Here is a link that might be useful: Which cabs should be glass thread.

Drawers = magnificent, good, useful, practical, wonderful.
Roll-outs = an extra step, banged up doors, more door space necessary, stupid.

JMO!

switch out all to drawers. they are FABULOUS, worth every extra penny. cut costs elsewhere to get all drawers. DRAWERS, DRAWERS, DRAWERS.....

:)

I haven't been on much and didn't read everyone's post in detail, but I know the consensus here is "all drawers, all the time".

I prefer a mix. I like cabinets because the shelves are adjustable. I have stock pots, vases and various entertaining pieces that are tall. They do not fit in pull outs or drawers. With cabinets, I can adjust the shelves as I need them.

We have three banks of drawers (different widths), one cabinet with roll outs and three plain old cabinets (one is only 9" wide for trays). It works great.

Beeps - buehl made mention of trash pull-out. Do you want one? Is it in the plan, maybe next to the sink? You don't have to have one - there's a whole thread about trash pull-outs vs. under the sink, and of course you could have a stand-alone can, whatever you want- but if you do want a trash pull-out, make sure you get it in the plan.

I have a trash pull out here next to my sink and LOVE it!! Do not want to go back to the under the sink kind. Here mine has room for a trash can and a recycle bin in it and it is fab. And, yes, I have asked for a recycle bin. But I'm not exactly sure what that means in their language so I'd better check. Could mean a plastic crate from Lowes! ;) Thanks for making me realize I need to ask more questions about that!

Unfort I believe it will be on the left hand side of the sink... really? Like most of the population is left-handed? But, DW is on the right so has to be left. I'm sure I'll adapt. :)

And thanks 1929 (my south OC neighbor) - you are right this is a drawer loving crew here. I'm thinking of leaving the cabs on the fridge wall as cabs, and below the sink as a cab, and making all the rest drawers. I do have a large walk-in pantry just around the corner where I can store some tall things also if need be.

You haven't mentioned ventilation yet (or maybe in another thread that i have missed) but are you going with the over-the-range microwave/vent option I see in the drawings? Your kitchen is on an outside wall I believe, and therefore I would really consider upgrading to a proper hood for proper ventilation. A microwave could live on the counter or in one of the upper cabinets next to the stove. Sorry, one more thing to think about and drive your builder/KD crazy with ;-).

Another vote for drawers. Make sure you have one by your prep area to keep KNIVES in. I just got my 2 in drawer knife blocks yesterday:-)
Also, if there is a way to get a couple LARGE drawers in there, that is going to be better. So if there is a space where 2 doors open to create a larger space than 1 door does(does that make sense?) then make a BIG drawer or 2. My in laws did this for their pots and pans and such.

I would get a combination of drawers and cabinets. Drawers are easy to use, but there is more restriction on the size of objects that you can place in drawers. Cabinets with roll outs are more flexible.

Beeps - search for a2gemini more pictures to see how I used slots to put lots of pots in drawers. I only had a couple items that did not fit
I will try to post this weekend but work too crazy.

Also, regarding the "D" indicators you show above to indicate which lowers will be drawers, several of the drawers should be wider, double width. What I mean is that you should not just say to the KD that all these lowers marked with D's should be drawers. The cabinets need to be reconfigured IMO.

I put a rollout for DH's vitamins and one other roll out cabinet. All the rest are drawers and its very handy. I do wish I had left one cabinet just standard to store vases, big coffee urn, crock pot, etc (because I don't have a tall pantry). Looks like its going to be a great kitchen! Enjoy!

petra66 - lol. You had to mention it! ;) My KD took the drawer thing really well. =) She's awesome. And I actually looked at hoods the other day, just because they are so beautiful in many of the kitchens I see on here. I'm not a huge cook though so figured it wasn't a big deal for me. But, I wonder if that microwave vents in or out? If out it shouldn't be a big deal to change I wouldn't think. Oh my. I can hear them rolling their eyes at me already. :)

Found it a2gemini. Thanks!

On the new diagram there is a lazy susan in the top cabs. She switched all the bottom to drawers based on a quick email. I'll talk to her about leaving maybe cabs beside the fridge.

And she has the recycle bin in. Yay!

She has the built-in fridge cabinet in the new sketch and that does extend the cabs over the fridge out also.

Thanks so much for all the help and feedback!

Now, if only I could figure out the glass doors or no glass doors issue.... :)

My sink is across my U-shaped kitchen from the stove.
I am taking apart a bank of cabinets and moving the drawer cabinets over 18" to put a full-height cabinet there. I'm going to have a trash pull-out for that side of the kitchen, too, because I prep in both areas.

I'm making the door inset, and installing a drawer at the top and the pull-out at the bottom. So I will be creating an inset drawer and door.

I am excited. Just another project I added to my list.

You are quite the DIYer! Good job! DIY is fun. And more flexible than working with a builder!

Whew. Just avoided disaster. She had the plans with 18" and 21" drawers. Just got that fixed thanks to you all warning me about getting some wide drawers! (And then my reading other threads.) So should I go with 3 banks of drawers with double drawers on the top (slab) with 2 40" wide drawers on the bottom (5-piece)? That way they will line up with the upper cabs. Since this kitchen seems to be about symmetry that seems like the best thing to do.

The drawer bank on the very far right will be 24" and then the two on the fridge side 21" - if I don't change those back to cabs so I have one set of base cabs other than under the sink. But, I'm not too worried about no base cabs with the large walk-in pantry around the corner. Tall things can go there or in the upper cabs.

Thoughts? And thanks again for the help. You have certainly made me aware of (way too) many things! :)

Oh, so the KD apparently has no clue as to how a kitchen functions if she was putting in all 18" and 21" drawers! Thank goodness you caught that. Actually, I can hear her muttering under her breath about "This crazy woman who wants all of her cabinets to be drawers. I don't understand why she would do that, it's going to look terrible and choppy and not be very functional, but okay."

tart to lay out where you are putting things. Take your floorplan and write down where things will live. That will dictate how big drawers should be in each area. Make it logical to where you will use the items. For instance, you want your pots and pans to be stored close to the range - those cabinets need to be wider (and should be a 3 drawer unit) Where are your cooking utensils going? Where are your baking supplies going? Where do your leftovers storage containers go? What about plastic wrap, sandwich bags, etc. Where will you want your flatware (ideally, it should be close to your DW and where you will set up for most of your meals, but if you can choose just one, personally, I would go for near the DW.) What about spices while you are cooking? Do you apply most of those spices during prep or while you are actually cooking and are your prep and cooking space side by side? How many "tall items" do you have? And how often do you use them? Say for instance, you have a blender that you don't want out on the counter but use often, you would want it to have a home somewhere near where you are likely to use it (ingredients from the fridge?)...how tall is the blender? How tall are the drawers? Are you going to have a lazy susan or something (super susan, etc) or is the kitchen retaining the blind corner? If you have a lazy susan, often tall items can go there. As an aside, I'd probably try to eliminate the blind corner since it's not adequately usable storage....things go into the black hole in there and NEVER return.

We all have similar "ingredients", or things that go into our kitchen, but each of us differ a bit on how much space we need for certain objects and how we use our kitchen, so it's tough for us to say exactly how wide each drawer bank should be for your uses. It is fair to say that wider drawers are typically more useful for many storage needs than narrow ones. And it results in more actual usable space since each cabinet side and drawer side diminishes the amount of storage space...it makes sense that two cabinet and drawer sides would take up less space than four.

Oh, and you can change the size of your uppers around to suit what is below if you want them to match up in size. Personally, I wouldn't worry on that quite as much. And if you use many spices, I would try to get a spice pull out somewhere in the kitchen (close to prep or cooking areas).

I love my dish drawer which is opposite the dishwasher. I can stand next to the open dishwasher and just do a half turn to place dishes in the open dish drawer.
Spices can also be put in a drawers ((thanks again to Breezy for this idea)
{{!gwi}}
I have a total of fifteen 3 drawer stacks with the two bottom drawers deeper than the top. I put slab drawers on the top and made the others 5 piece. All slab drawers would look fine too. I also have cabinets with pull outs. Here is a picture that shows how using a combination of drawers and cabinets can look.

Your KD sounds awesome! My first KD didn't take well to my interest in the details. They didn't get my $$$. But I got a kitchen that I love!

So should I go with 3 banks of drawers with double drawers on the top (slab) with 2 40" wide drawers on the bottom (5-piece)?

That is exactly what I did (for one bank), and am quite happy with it.

Not surprising, but here's another vote for drawers, drawers, drawers - and big ones, at that! I have two cabinets with large pull outs which are fine, but if I had it to do again, I would have done drawers there, too.

One thing about typical pull outs is that they usually are not very wide so I think you lose what is otherwise good storage space. At least when I put in my pull outs, I had them put in as wide as all of my drawers and they are much more functional.

I keep all dishes except glasses (including plates, bowls, mixing bowls, collanders, cutting boards, pots and pans, etc.) in my drawers and love them. On my two large cabs with pull outs, I have tons of Tupperware and other storage items in one and the other has baking mixes, pasta in canisters, Jello, pudding, snacks, etc.

I definitely prefer my bank of three wider and deeper drawers (in place of where I used to have a bank of four shallower and narrower drawers) for the junk drawer on top and two glorious drawers for kitchen towels, cleaning cloths, etc.

I'm buying a new house (a model being retired) and am having some cabs replaced with drawers before I even move in!

Good luck. Hope you like Arizona (I've lived in AZ my entire life)!