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sandlll

How deep for kitchen drawers?

sandlll
13 years ago

Thanks to GW's help I am planning all lower drawers except for under the sink and a one cabinet in the island for taller items. I'd like to know what Drawer sizes ( depth and width) are best.

Comments (6)

  • cross_stitch
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Little kitchen here and I am so thankful for this site for guiding me to having mostly drawers below! My cooktop is ultra thin allowing me to have a have a 34” wide, 4” deep drawer below it. It was originally two drawers but it drove me crazy to open one then the other to find what I needed. So I had the cabinet maker replace them with a single w-i-d-e drawer so I can see everything at one glance. It’s great for cooking utensils and measuring spoons, rolling pin, etc.

    Below that are two 8” deep drawers. The top holds most of my pots and pans and the bottom is Tupperland. My largest roasting pan and spaghetti pot have their own cabinet space. They are used infrequently so I don’t mind having to reach for them. The stack of four drawers next to my sink: #1 has custom knife storage, #2 wraps and bags, #3 BBQ stuff, #4 towels. I have one more 34” drawer that holds all my flatware, bar items and serves as a tidy junk drawer. An extra wide drawer means you can organize and re-organize as required. As plllog says above, once you opt for a narrow drawer your flexibility is forever limited.

    Don’t think I could keep dishes in the drawers. My DD has this arrangement and I find setting the table or unloading the dishwasher to be a pain (literally) since one needs to bend over to manage a stack of plates. I like plates and mixing bowls at eye level, but that’s why daughters have their own kitchens.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Drawers below cooktop (the top is now a single drawer)

  • sandlll
    Original Author
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Thanks again plllog! You've come to my rescue quite a bit lately! Thank you cross stitch too! The problem I have is that I had to pack up all my kitchen things 2 months before the kitchen was demo'd so I am not sure how tall my things are... I can estimate though, and that's the other reason I am leaving a bottom cabinet in the design. I love the idea of rollouts under the kitchen sink! I am going to go thru my layout with a fine tooth comb this weekend. Good to know that the wider the drawers the better.

  • plllog
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Oh! Forgot to mention on the wider drawers, do make sure that there are sturdy bottoms. Because I was putting a not-quite-literal ton of Le Creuset in my pot drawers, my cabinetmaker also spec'd 250 lb. rated drawer rails. These don't have soft closers, but with all that weight in the drawers they're not really necessary. There's enough mass for momentum to close them, and the Blum don't slam even without the soft close.

  • bickybee
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    plllog, have you posted a photo of your kitchen somewhere on this board? I've tried to draw your floor plan with it's drawer locations from your description but would love to see an actual photo.

    I'm trying to figure out if I have the right combo of drawers and rots, etc and it looks like you gave this a lot of thought.

  • plllog
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Oh! Sorry. I've been slowly getting the details done and working on other projects, so it's not posted. I don't have any photos of the whole thing because there's junk in the middle. My floorplan is online, however. (Scroll down.)

    If you have any questions, I'd be happy to provide more info.