Pots'/Pan Drawers

I put two drawers underneath the cooktop in my kitchen. They were not "customized" , just two drawers of the greatest depth possible underneath. Have lots of cookware in them. Also put a pullout, open unit beneath the window with 2 shelves- works really well for saucepans. Also put in a circular pot holder about doors for the large pots - yes you have to open the doors, but that's it.

Yes, I renovated a suburban house and the kitchen designer insisted on the irritating pull-out drawers. (We sold the house, by the way, live in NYC now)

Which is my first bit of advice: You're paying, don't let them talk you into something you don't want.

I am a serious cook, and I hated those drawers because you have SO MUCH less storage space because of all room taken up by the hardware and air space for sliding. Clearly designed by somebody who doesn't actually cook.

I literally had one pull-out drawer with exactly two pots in it. I couldn't fit more. If it were just an ordinary shelf, I could have put many more.

I ended up buying a small hutch for the dining room to store pots and pans that would not fit in a kitchen that was a rather big sprawling suburban thing. Before the renovation, I had more cupboard space than I actually filled up.

As far as studyness, not to worry. I have mostly cast iron pots, the drawers are built very strong, you can fill them up with canned goods as much as you want. Very strong.

The unit under the window was designed to be on rollers, so it can be pulled out to service the heat/ac unit behind it.

Go with drawers - the pull out shelves are a PITA, as you need to open the door first. The drawer is not much less space efficient and it is far easier to work one handed when trying to grab something.

I've renovated two kitchens. The first was custom drawers that had a partial shelf supported by the metal insets. Picture a big two door drawer with a shelf coming out about a third of the way from the back wall. I put pots in the drawer and on the shelf. After a few years, the insets came apart from the weight of the pots. When I redid my kitchen, I opted for pull out drawers. Yes, you do lose a few inches but the drawers are strong and I absolutely love them. they are strong. I put the really heavy pots on the bottom drawer but don't worry about the drawer falling apart.

I have a galley kitchen too so I had cabinets going all the way up to the ceiling and pots and pans that I don't use too often go there.

@flutistic

I totally understand if you use single width drawers. We had drawers approximately 3ft wide. 2 deep mounted under the counter they proved perfect for pots and pans. We have all clad pans (relatively heavy but not le creuset or other cast iron) and we never suffered any concerns regarding the weight. We found it to be much more useful space because even those pans at the back of the drawer were accessible without even bending over or having to remove the pans at the front.

jelj13, I just saw a setup with three 30"- to 36"-wide drawers under a cooktop: one 6" and two 12". The drawer sides and bottoms are 3/4" plywood, and carry more than enough weight. I don't know whether the Blum suspension hardware was some beefed-up variety.

The drawer dividers were those peg-in-hole things you see everywhere, that let you change things around.

I have both configurations and variations spread across 2 kitchens (one small, one large), with lots of pans & equipment of varying sizes. Key experiences:

1) The 'open doors, pull out upper or lower slide' configuration is the least convenient, holds a reasonable amount, but takes up floor space to use -- not convenient in a NYC kitchen unless you have a lot of room.

2) The 'open doors, pull out single unit with a full size lower and half-depth upper' is more convenient, holds a bit less, takes up floor space, but will hold unusual and large size pots.

3) The 'pull out single deep drawer' is very convenient in the small kitchen, and holds a fair amount, though storing lids neatly is a challenge. May not hold the largest pots, but that's what the tall & deep cabinet over the fridge is for -- how often do you really use them in a small kitchen?

4) If you don't spend the $$ to get quality slides and cabinet construction, you will hate any of them if you're storing anything much heavier than Revereware.

I've got lots of cast iron & ceramic pieces, and the cabinetry and hardware has held up well, the tradeoff being the initial expense of buying higher quality construction -- it's all solid wood construction & the better Blum slides. It wasn't cheap, but makes the difference between a kitchen that works for me, versus one that I am constantly fighting. As I did both kitchens for the long run (plan on using both kitchens for 15+ years), I could justify the expense.

Aside from being less convenient (door with pull out drawer), I think it's pretty common for the drawer to be pulled out when the cabinet door isn't entirely open and so the drawers can pretty easily scratch the inside of the doors. I've been seeing this quite a bit lately... in relatively new kitchens.

It always seems that when you organize things for ease of use, you waste a lot of space. However, I cook a lot and hate to root around looking for things. I like everything clearly visible and easy to access when I open a cabinet or drawer.

I installed metal pull out pot racks in my last kitchen. They were sturdy, but sometimes they weren't pushed back fully into the cabinet and someone would bang the door closed on it. That's why I think I'd like to go with the drawers, providing they are made solidly and the drawer mechanism is good. I'm concerned about the drawers falling apart.

The kitchen in my new apartment was built in 1952! It only held up because the cabinets are all metal. There isn't much cabinet space, even for a small kitchen, because the building was originally designed to provide meal and maid service for residents. That's long gone, so the last owner just ordered his meals to be delivered. He did upgrade the range and refrigerator in 1991 according to the receipts left behind in the appliance manuals.