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Base drawer cabinet: two 36W or three 24W?

13 years ago

In my current cabinet layout, I had two 36"W drawer base cabinet side by side -- intended for dishware. This is with American Woodmark standard full extension drawers. A kitchen designer pointed out the glides for wide drawers tend to wear out faster because of heavier load in each drawer. I think the pros of two 36"W base are 1) more storage room 2) lower material cost.

Any insight on if I should switch to three 24" W cabinets?

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Comments (9)

Fori
13 years ago
I'd go with the 36" bases if I wanted them and if after 15 years, the slides wear out, go crazy and replace the slides.

But...for dishes maybe the 24s would be better? Quick--arrange your dishes how you'd want them in drawers and see if you'd waste too much space with the 24s. I generally like giant drawers because you only have to open one thing to see everything, but functionally, for everyday dishware, I'm not sure.

But I wouldn't worry about the drawer glides.
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dretutz
13 years ago
What are the uppers? If these go under a counter with a window, it probably does not matter. If there are uppers, I think alignment is an aesthetics issue. I use 36" drawer for dishes. Works for me.
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mudworm
Original Author
13 years ago
Thanks for the input. These are near the bar area, so there are no uppers that cover both of them, so alignment is not a requirement. Yeah, I'm leaning towards sticking to 36" too.
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plllog
13 years ago
My mother has had 54" wide drawers for 45 years.

You can fit a lot more into fewer wider drawers than more narrower ones.
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dianalo
13 years ago
36" wide make more sense in several ways.
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Buehl
13 years ago
36" drawers! If you have good hardware and good drawer structure, you won't have any problems with them...so, say something like that to your KD and see if s/he hems & haws or assures you the drawers & glides will be fine.

And, don't worry about matching your uppers, there's a break b/w uppers & lowers (the counter & backsplash) that makes it a non-issue. Get whatever works best for your storage needs.
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morgne
13 years ago
I'm in good company in agreeing with everyone else here. You could always look into "upgrading" your glides if that hasn't been done already as added protection. Some companies don't put in the heavy duty slides unless you ask.

I agree with buehl as well about getting the most bang for your buck on storage while you can.
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Adrienne2011
13 years ago
Do fully loaded wide drawers take more effort to open and close? Does the weight of the contents make it difficult? I have no idea, since I don't have my new kitchen yet.
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davidro1
13 years ago
2 x 36" . Yeah sure you'll wear out the glides, uh huh, you might want to not latch the door either, since you'll be going out again later.
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