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Big drawers (kitchen!) - advice needed

(57 Posts)
Northernlass Wed 16-Sep-20 12:04:42

Our kitchen needs a face lift. I would like to store everything that I have in a 1000mm wide unit in the same width deep drawers unit. This includes dinner plates etc (white Denby, so quite heavy). DH says it won't all fit. We have a small kitchen so I haven't got a lot of space to play with.
I've noticed in a friend's kitchen that the drawers aren't particularly stable (£ from Wren); my other friend who has used Wren, but £££, says her drawers are wooden and fantastic.
My creaky knees and back are making it a chore to get to the back of the cupboards!
Does any one have any advice? (apart from de-clutering, that is!).

Northernlass Wed 16-Sep-20 12:08:31

Forgot to say that I only want to buy this unit - not a full kitchen! Do you think that may pose a problem? Current kitchen was made by DH and still looks good as it's bespoke and very original - and I'm not going to say how long ago it was!

shysal Wed 16-Sep-20 12:17:11

I have one soft-close 600mm drawer unit, with a standard cutlery drawer and two deep pan drawers. They are fantastic! I use one for pots and pans and the other for casseroles and serving dishes, which are all heavy, and everything is easy to access. If I ever had a new kitchen I would have more of these drawers for plates and bowls.

Kirsty Allsop is a big fan, often mentioning pan drawers on her TV shows.
Good luck!

Willow500 Wed 16-Sep-20 12:54:27

I have a Wren kitchen with 3 wide drawers one of which is a deep pan drawer - its great and holds 2 full pan sets.

fevertree Wed 16-Sep-20 13:00:29

I have an Ikea kitchen (still looking good after 15 years) and I have three deep drawers, one is used for pots and the other two for pans; and plates. I could do with one more for casserole dishes! I think you can buy Ikea units as stand-alone.

aggie Wed 16-Sep-20 13:05:50

I have three of these units , cutlery.. pots and pans ... baking tins under the hob .
One beside the sink has dishes and holds very heavy plates etc.
The third has all my baking stuff
I wanted one for cups and mugs but there wasn’t room .

Auntieflo Wed 16-Sep-20 13:05:54

Northernlass, have you considered asking a local cabinet maker/ carpenter, to make you a unit to your own design?

I understand that they can be as good value as something from a big supplier.

Charleygirl5 Wed 16-Sep-20 13:11:55

In my previous house, I ruined a lovely deep drawer by overloading it. I now have a much larger kitchen with two deep drawers but I am very careful re what I put in them and they would not take plates- may be one but not the whole caboodle.

BBbevan Wed 16-Sep-20 14:50:48

We have 2 sets of deep pan drawers One 60 mm wide, the other 1000 , I think. Both very stable and bought from Ikea .

SpringyChicken Wed 16-Sep-20 15:52:06

We have 5 sets of three drawers, all 1000cm wide and they are very stable. I don't know if each drawer unit is attached to the adjacent ones or to the walls but even if all three drawers from one unit are open at the same time, they don't budge. Each drawer can take 55 kg weight (I was told). Mine hold crockery, groceries, saucepans, etc. If the unit moves, I would guess it's the way it was installed that's the problem

SpringyChicken Wed 16-Sep-20 15:54:28

P.S. You'll fit more in the drawers than in a cupboard and the convenience is wonderful.

Jaxjacky Wed 16-Sep-20 15:57:39

Northernlass sorry, I can’t help, but you’ve helped me. Just having kitchen designed and I must check this!! Thank you.

avitorl Wed 16-Sep-20 16:03:21

I would definitely go for deep drawers as they are so much easier than Cupboards.
In my previous kitchen I had pull out wire shelves and these were also better than normal cupboards but I don't think they would have taken the weight the drawers do. I have a Howdens Kitchen now

Callistemon Wed 16-Sep-20 16:46:59

I'd love some big drawers!

If they are going to be 1000mm wide then check they are made of sturdy material and perhaps that they have a support down the centre of the bottom too?

DD has one of those tall narrow pull out units, it is good for storage and extremely strong, but I find it rather heavy to pull out. She also has mainly drawers for other storage too - so much neater than my kitchen cupboards.

PamelaJ1 Wed 16-Sep-20 17:03:53

I’ve got two 600drawer units and one large one under the hob for pans.
They are fantastic. We did buy the whole kitchen at once from John Lewis. The units came ready assembled so I would think would be easy to fit in if you have the right size space.
I have got a couple of corner cupboards with very good pull out carousels, they are good too.
I really wanted a pull out cupboard but the layout wouldn’t let me so I had a tall 300 unit with drawers in the bottom bit. I find that really useful too.
IMO drawers are so much more useful.

J52 Wed 16-Sep-20 17:29:20

We have 600 deep pan drawers and a tall pull out larder. They are fantastic and I would not have anything else now. I keep pans, baking trays, cake tins, plastic boxes and serving dishes in the drawers.
Tins, packets etc in the pull out larder.

Aldom Wed 16-Sep-20 18:20:31

I have six 600 deep drawers. Plus wall and floor cupboards and cupboards over fridge /freezer and above the oven and microwave. Love the deep drawers.

Nonogran Wed 16-Sep-20 18:23:28

New kitchen for me, fitted 18months ago. Small kitchen, limited space. Built in double oven with microwave above that. Lovely! Carousels in corner cabinets for pans in one & store cupboard tins in other. Fabulous! Drawers everywhere else at lower level. Wonderful! Would never go back to under worktop cupboards again. Drawers for me every time because they hold so much & offer such ease of access.

JuliaM Wed 16-Sep-20 18:58:28

I have a new Howdens kitchen with this type of draws fitted and its fantastic! The draws are so strong, the 1000mm unit has three full widthdraws and a top cutlery draw. The 600mm has just two extra deep pan draws. If you have the space, the 1000mm version is the most practical.

Northernlass Thu 17-Sep-20 07:28:25

Auntieflo thanks for the suggestion - it's worth considering as we only want one set of drawers, and we know a carpenter!

Purpledaffodil Thu 17-Sep-20 07:43:41

Another vote for drawers rather than cupboards. An extra suggestion is a peg system if you’re wanting to store crockery in a drawer. Brother in Canada has it, a bit like a large scale cribbage board and it means piles of plates etc are held in place and don’t shift when you open the drawer.

Northernlass Thu 17-Sep-20 08:07:19

Jaxjacky glad my post has been helpful! As you're at the design stage, perhaps these comments will help too:
The kitchen DS has inherited has a tall, narrow pull-out larder unit. We all find it a bit disappointing (I've used it a lot when I've been helping out with the new baby). As Callistemon said they're very heavy to pull out and we think there's a lot of wasted space ie above each of the wire shelves. This'd be ok if you've got a big kitchen and tons of space, of course.
DS and DIL are also really disappointed with integrated appliances. Soon after moving in the dishwasher and washing machine had to be replaced and, in the process of being removed, the cupboards were ruined.
Our family (in France) have a tall 600mm wide larder cupboard. It has pull out wire shelves and everyone thinks it's better than a sliced baguette!
They also have 400mm wide deep drawers. One of the drawers has an in-built system for vertical plate storage, which is fantastic. It's well-designed as it doesn't waste any space. Perhaps I need to emigrate!

Northernlass Thu 17-Sep-20 08:14:15

Thanks everyone for the really helpful suggestions and taking the time to reply. It's great to hear users say the 1000mm wide drawers are sturdy.
SpringyChicken where did you get your kitchen? 55kg capacity sounds great; they must be very strong.

kittylester Thu 17-Sep-20 08:15:44

We had the pull out thingy in the larder cupboard replaced by individual pull out drawers in the bottom and two shelves in the top. Much more practical. We are about to change 2 600 cupboards into drawers - makes sense I think.

Kalu Thu 17-Sep-20 08:34:53

We have two 1000 drawers with heavy loads of crockery. Three 600 for pots and pans. One drawer contains 3 Le Creuset casserole pots to give you an idea of the strength of the drawers. Howdens, fitted 9 years ago thankfully as having to bend into cupboards is quite a task nowadays. ?