Big drawers (kitchen!) - advice needed

We had a new kitchen 2 years ago and opted for drawers of all different widths an£ depths NO cupboards at all. We love them and one drawer takes dinner plates, tea plates, dishes of all sizes etc., and must weigh a ton. However, it glides in and out beautifully and I hardly have to bend at all. Next kitchen (if ever) I would like the dishwasher at waist height instead of on the ground. I hate loading and unloading it.

Pan drawers...the answer to everything. I have tins jars and spices in one dry items in next one up and top one I had a wire grid put in bottom of for veg. Other set I have 8 piece dinner service in...plus cups and saucers in bottom one. Tea towels, cleaning cloths...bin bags etc in next one and cutlery in top.

We have a stainless steel plate rack above the sink for plates of various sizes, some shelves too for tea pots, veg. Dishes and hooks for mugs, really good

Im live in rented accommodation so am unable to change my kitchen. My solution to the 'pan drawer' was to get some crates (only about £3 each in Tesco) and use these as drawers.
I have all my glass bowls, trifle, mixing, pudding etc in one drawer so it's quite heavy but it shows no sign of collapsing under the strain. It certainly helps with the knees and not having to scrabble around at the back of cupboards!

I also have loads of deep pull out drawers, for pretty much everything. They are brilliant and very sturdy. The kitchen was put in 13 years ago, and all still works fine, even the soft close. I also put in a vertically divided cupboard for things like trays, baking trays, wire racks, chopping boards etc which previously were in a drawer, but on top of each other, so the one I wanted was always at the bottom of the pile! Now it's so easy, I would highly recommend. Maybe put in a 20cm one of those next to a 80cm pull out drawer set? Just a thought. Good luck with whatever you decide to go with!

My kitchen is ancient but I’ve got 60 cm deep pan drawers under the hob which are still going strong. I do envy my dd her 90 cm drawers under hers (nice new kitchen) though - with a shallow drawer at the top, for all the utensils.

Any base unit drawers are so much better than cupboards IMO - but I had to argue with our kitchen designer bloke who said I’d ‘rue the day’ if I didn’t have any ordinary base cupboards, except under the sink and a swing-out bin one.
I would have rued the day if I’d listened to him!

In our previous bungalow we had a new kitchen fitted 2 years before we moved and as I didn’t realise at the time we would move so soon after we had it done for us. I’ve had 2 big back surgeries and need 2 new knees, hubbies had 2 knee replacements so getting on the floor to get to the back of a cupboard is a no no. We had a beautiful Wren kitchen fitted and had 12 drawer units fitted in it, I loved it. It held everything mugs, plates, food absolutely everything and it was so easy to use. We are in process of moving hopefully to our forever home this time and a fitted out ‘drawer’ kitchen is definitely top of my list again. The drawers are also very easy to wipe out and keep clean, you wouldn’t regret it.

I would love some deep pan drawers!
I live in rented accommodation and only have 3 drawers that are quite shallow and only deep enough to hold a cutlery tray!
1 of those 3 drawers I can only open wide enough to get my hand in because of the knobs on my cooker ! What dingbat thought it would be a good idea to put a base cupboard with a drawer above at right angles to the space for the cooker ?

We have a Wren kitchen with wide soft closing drawers and also have Denby a set of 12 small, medium and large plates, plus bowls. Like you I was worried the drawers wouldn’t take the weight. I was assured by Wren they would and it has now been installed 2 years and they do. We are very pleased and the pottery fits in beautifully!

I have only drawers in my kitchen, re-done about 4 years ago with a view to future proofing for 'old' age - and I love them. They have revolutionised the way we store stuff and how often we access and use everything. Just measured ours - they are 900 wide, and in one I have a full Royal Doulton dinner service for 12 (3 x plates plus soup bowls and random other dishes). We use only our RD service these days, and the drawer is quite robust. Made by Howdens and installed by our 'builder man'. Go for it - and enjoy

We put in a new kitchen almost a year ago and like Buffy we have not a single cupboard - it is all drawers. When the "inspector" came round to make sure kitchen had been put in all ok, I happened to mention that I was worried we had overloaded one drawer which holds a lot of crockery. He told me that the company Kutchenhaus have it tested to 65kg so it would be ok!

I have denby and agree that they are heavy but I manage to keep 12 dinner plates, tea plates and soup bowls in one large drawer along with other bits and pieces. Like you I thought this drawer won’t take the weight but still good after 7 years. Would not be without them as everything at a glance.

I don't have pan drawers, have in the past found them too cluttered and always sag eventually. I have cupboards with pull out wire shelves. Work a treat. For Crocker I have a tall
narrow pullout upboard with wire shelves. Wouldn't have anything else now 30 years old kitchen.

Perhaps you need a carpenter instead of a catalogue.

Remember when 'fitted kitchens' really WERE fitted? Got a space - build a cupboard. Not playing Lego with 500mm units.

I have two 1000mm three-drawer units in my kitchen. One contains all my pans and utensils; the other crockery and table cutlery. The kitchen was fitted by an independent local kitchen supplier and they are very sturdy but, having had problems with drawers in our last kitchen, I am careful not to overload them. We went to Wren when we were looking for a kitchen and their salesman said you could pull out their drawers and stand in them! We took that with a pinch of salt!

We got a Wren kitchen a few years ago with mostly pull out drawers (thanks Kirsty!) and only 1 small 'regular' cupboard. The drawers are 900mm, not incl end pieces, and graduate in size ie narrowest at top which takes 6 stacked plates, bowls, plates and saucers, next is deepish (all sorts of bowls, flan dishes, cookware) and finally extra deep (takes large pot mixing bowls, ovenware, salad bowls etc). All are full to the brim and show no signs of strain. I also have creaky knees and vertigo so couldn't go back to cupboards. Only things in my single cupboard are 'once a year' things and my health has definitely improved. However, if you have a bespoke kitchen I'd have the drawers to match if possible but the designers are really helpful and might find something that looks good with your kitchen. Best tip I could offer is get a price from somewhere else as they aim to beat it with like-for-like items.

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

I had a IKEA kitchen fitted just a year ago and had the 2 corner units fitted with carousel for easy access of bake ware paraphernalia, scales, Pyrex and casserole dishes. One set of drawers, that look as though they're 3 deep but 2 of those drawers have "hidden" drawers within them. One of those is for cutlery and knives and the other one is for rolls of cling film, baking foil, baking parchment etc. The other drawers are standard depth with the bottom drawer the deepest for pans. The huge amount of storage in that one unit is amazing. Good old IKEA for sheer inventiveness!

I'm considering having a new kitchen and it's good to hear all the positive reviews for deep drawers which sound good.
I had a new kitchen in my old house in 2015 but Howdens never mentioned deep drawers in their design, neither did they mention that the tall narrow unit could have a pull out facility.

All about wooden drawers which I have and find excellent.
However, I also used to have a Neff undershelf fridge with drawers which I similarly found far better for the back and seeing what I had.
The Neff came to the end of a long life and the only relacement that the kitchen fitter could find... with shelves... was a Liebherr. I bought it but do not find it at all impressive. Can any of you GNers who advocate storage shelves please suggest any alternative to the Liebherr alos with sliding shelves?

We would never go back to ordinary cupboards again.
Using drawers everything is easily visible and easily cleaned out, just ensure the drawers are metal framed then they will hold up well without wobbles as have our Symphony kitchen drawers after 13 years. One narrow and two deep drawers seem the best use of space.
150mm pullouts are also useful for trays and tall condiments/olive oil etc
Ikea might be your best bet tho as the kitchen companies may not sell just one unit.

I have an Ikea kitchen, all drawers, no cupboards. It’s wonderful. I have never been so organised.

widgeon3

All about wooden drawers which I have and find excellent.
However, I also used to have a Neff undershelf fridge with drawers which I similarly found far better for the back and seeing what I had.
The Neff came to the end of a long life and the only relacement that the kitchen fitter could find... with shelves... was a Liebherr. I bought it but do not find it at all impressive. Can any of you GNers who advocate storage shelves please suggest any alternative to the Liebherr alos with sliding shelves?

Is that a drawer fridge? I think Hotpoint do one....
Hotpoint NCD191I 150 Litre Integrated Under Counter Fridge Drawers A+ Energy Rating 90cm Wide - White NCD191I

If you have anyone lives nearby, Hotpoint have a factory shop in Peterborough which has good deals.

We had a new kitchen fitted in 2016 and l love my deep drawers. Like you, l have a fairly small kitchen but l think my favourite part is a cupboard with a carousel in it. It has good storage and no need to bend down too far.