I "shopped" the storage bin and found 2 plastic 3-drawer units that could be tapped for this project (they were holding obsolete kids' toys; I transferred them to a shopping bag, and peel the P-touch labels off the drawers and stuck them on the shopping bag--I'll deal w/ them later).

And I found another version of the busted one that was in the closet originally--it's in use, but I could swap it out if I wanted.

I compared all three--and here is the lesson for me, and maybe useful for you.

It makes a huge difference which one I use!!

I was really glad to have them on hand to try out--I would hate to try to go to the store and bring one of them home, and make the discovery I did.

One of them has a taller third drawer, so I could use it for even more lightbulbs, but it's also significantly taller, so it would make the homemade "drawer" I want to put on the top even shorter.

So:

original unit:

-9.5 inches tall; leaves 6-3/4" for bulb drawer (6-1/4" interior)

-drawers are 2-3/8" high (Altoids tins clear, plastic boxes don't fit on edge and don't stack; P-touch tape have to lay flat)

-drawers are 9-1/8" x 11-5/8" (organizing compartments fit)

-everything fits

second three-drawer unit (equal drawers)

-10.5" tall; leaves 5-3/4" for bulb drawer (so, 5-1/2" interior)

-drawers are 2-3/4" tall (air above Altoid tins; plastic boxes clear on edge; P-touch tapes fit on edge; a big plus, that drawer will be easier to use)

-drawer width (interior) 8-7/8" x 12-3/4" (organizing compartments fit w/ nothing to spare--but no strain either)

-everything fits, with a little extra room that the original didn't have

-longer front-to-back, so it sticks out beyond the shelf into the molding area, but the door still closes

other three-drawer unit, w/ larger bottom drawer:

-11-5/8" tall; leaves 3-1/2" for bulb drawer (not unreasonable, but not the depth I might need w/ the protective packaging on today's spiral fluorescents)

-shallower drawers are 2-7/8" deep; noticeable clearance above everything

-deep drawer is 4-3/4"; light bulbs fit, but there's lots of air above, hard to stack bulbs

-interior of drawer is 8-1/2" x 12-1/8"; THIS IS THE DECIDER. Too narrow. The organizing compartment won't fit across the drawer, and there's a 1/2" gap if I turn it, and then my arrangements get all wonky.

The stuff I'd saved won't all fit in the drawers.

So, the middle one is the best solution. In fact, it's a big improvement over the original one.

But I would never have known that standing in the store.

When I start my organizing business, I'm going to have a stash of all the makes and models available, and I'm going to bring them to people's houses to try. And then after we try them in place, I'll replenish my supply. (of course, I think two of these are not actually still available exactly as is, in the market today!)

Because those fractions really made a difference for me!

(of course, this raises my anxiety level should I ever face this again someday). .