Lower drawers vs. cabinets? Any other earned cabinet wisdom?

[Anonymous]

We are redoing a house and working on kitchen design now.

Our current house has both upper and lower cabinets.

Designer for the new house wants mainly lowers (only a handful of uppers in the design) though the overall amount of cabinet space is about the same because the kitchen is bigger and has an island as well. Her design is also mainly drawers rather than cabinets...

Anyone moved from mostly cabinets to lower drawers? Is is weird to keep things like dishes in a drawer? Do you find it's more efficient?

Anything else you wish you'd thought about in a similar re-do?

[Anonymous]

Drawer are the best for organization. No issues at all with plates, panes etc. you can see everything without bending over so nothing gets pushed to the back. After having both, I would only choose drawers.

[Anonymous]

I covet drawers and would change to them in a heartbeat if I had the opportunity to do new cabinets. So much easier to keep organized for dishes, pots/pans, etc. I would keep some uppers for glassware and mugs, but that's probably it.

[Anonymous]

I love drawers for dishes and smaller pots and pans. IME, you still need a cabinet or two for large stock pots and roasting pans.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I love drawers for dishes and smaller pots and pans. IME, you still need a cabinet or two for large stock pots and roasting pans.

You could use pull out trays for those.

[Anonymous]

Drawers, drawers, drawers! Being able to pull them out and see everything so easily makes them a much better choice, in my opinion. I wanted all drawers and my contractor talked me into one cabinet, and I regret that choice every day.

[Anonymous]

We have cabinets with Lynk pull outs for pots and pans. I prefer it to a drawer because the pans can be filed vertically with the handles up and the big stockpot fits in the plain pull out drawer. I don’t like pans in a drawer because they have to be stacked and then they’re harder to get to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have cabinets with Lynk pull outs for pots and pans. I prefer it to a drawer because the pans can be filed vertically with the handles up and the big stockpot fits in the plain pull out drawer. I don’t like pans in a drawer because they have to be stacked and then they’re harder to get to.

I think it really depends on the drawer. My old house had very wide, deep drawers under the cook top (we had wall ovens) that were great for holding pots. My new house has a range, so we have smaller drawers to the side of the stove. The pans fit in the drawers, but the pans are stacked and it is a hassle getting them in and out.

[Anonymous]

We have one low cabinet next to the stove that holds cookie sheet types of pans. They are so large it is fine. Otherwise drawers are the bomb.

[Anonymous]

Take the pots and pans you want to fit in the drawer to the showroom. Make sure height and depth are right.

I showed up with my stock pot, a dinner plate, a pasta bowl, and a full sheet pan.

[Anonymous]

Also mak certain the kitchen designer knows which drawers are for your pots and pans. For us, those two drawers and the one that holds dishes, are reinforced/stronger than a regular drawer. 15 years and I still love my kitchen, drawer a and all!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I love drawers for dishes and smaller pots and pans. IME, you still need a cabinet or two for large stock pots and roasting pans.

You could use pull out trays for those.

We did a mix of this and some drawers. Very happy with it. Planning the same for our new build.

[Anonymous]

On our lowers we have one side with pull out shelves behind cabinet doors, and one with drawers. I prefer the pull out shelves. They seem to fit more and feel less crowded even though they are the same size. I prefer both to regular shelves though.

[Anonymous]

I’m PP, this is what we have (behind cabinets) that I prefer: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Hampton-Bay-Cambridge-20-72-in-x-4-33-in-Unfinished-Pull-Out-Plywood-Drawer

[Anonymous]

For lower cabinets my preference is pull-put shelf, then drawer, then shelf. I think they all have their purpose but the pull-out shelf is most versatile in my opinion.