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Anyone store their dishes in drawers?

16 years ago

Noticed some fittings for the ikea cabinets that are made for storing plates, bowls, etc. Anyone store dishes in their lower cabinet drawers?

What do you end up storing in your upper wall cabinets?

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Comments (7)

vwhippiechick
16 years ago
There was a recent thread on this with pics of lower drawers. I do use my lower 36" drawers to hold dishes, pots and Tupperware. I like them so much better than shelves. I have food in the upper cabinets, baking supplies, etc.
california_dreamer
16 years ago
Yes! I have my every day dishes in a 30" drawer. Very convenient (especially since I have little kids).
As to what I store in my uppers:
I installed a pot rack in one and hang my pots and pans in there right next to my range.
One has coffee cups, etc. Some are glass front for display, some hold stemware.
Almost everything I use a lot is in drawers and I love this set up!
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Ooooooh, I am such an organizational freak, I love these kind of articles . . . thanks Luvs! As for using drawers to store dishes, I do this in our new kitchen (we had a complete gut and redo in Sept.'07). I love the convenience and find that my dishes are easier to safely pull out and put away in the drawers. I also keep my extra flatware with them in these drawers, as they're doing in that one BH&G pic. But, the Scot in me keeps me frugal, so I use empty large yogurt containers instead of a specially made box for mine ;^P Each of my (2) deep dish drawers holds two sets of dinner and salad plates, plus a stack of bowls or b&b plates. Another drawer holds many of my bowls. I also keep all my pots and pans in drawers, too. Out in my dining room, I have four pull-out trays in my built-in buffet. Two more sets of dinnerware are on those, along with as many accessory pieces as I can fit there. The trays are nice, but I like drawers better. Their deep sides keep dish stacks from sliding backwards off the trays when I try to access them. I think the one BH&G idea of skinny pull-out fitted with containers for flatware is brilliant! I have two wider ones under my cooktop, but they're for oils, vinegars, jars of flour, sugars, etc. I wouldn't give up mine, but in redoing a kitchen, I can imagine finding an extra 8 or so inches for a flatware pull-out . . . if you wanted to spend the money for it! Personally, I'm very happy with my yogurt containers. But, despite the organized drawers and trays, I really need ideas on how and where to store all the rest of my tablescape stuff . . . thanks to all of your bad influences here on this forum ;~) I'm off to go read more! Lynn
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Comments (23)
We have 2 5' long reclaimed shelves that store our everyday plates, bowls, coffe cups (though my 8 week nursling disagrees with caffeine), little plates (need more of these), and canister set I use often. Love the easy access to get and put away: My almost 4 year old has her own drawer close to the floor. She gets and puts away her own "dishes" Finally we use these glasses on a daily basis for our brita: Love how easy it is to access everything. Our open shelves do at times look a bit barren when both dish drawers are full.
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Comments (24)
Thanks scrappy for your input. Yes, I've learned to be a little careful about accepting expert reviews on the web without further evaluation. Just like in the normal population, they are all different and have different needs and experience. Plus depending on the date of the review, things, especially Ikea manufacturing processes could change from year to year. I like to read the reviews and hear about other opinions but also think about my own kitchen which is what most on gardenweb here recommend and remind us to do. Glad to hear that the bifold cabinet door on the lazy susan isn't causing you any problems. That was really the main concern I had about the corner lazy susan I've chosen. The pole down the middle was the second concern. Another vote from Ankh regarding no pole in the middle. That is the only reason I'm looking at customizing with Hafele shelves (Ikea doesn't have this option). I can see myself cursing that pole considering the larger and/or odd sized items I've got in my plans for this corner. So right now, I'm still liking my plan. That's a good thing. Confirmation always helps. I don't need the drawers, EVERYTHING ELSE will be DRAWERS except upper cabs so a little extra height with the Lazy Susan cabinet without the drawer will be a good thing for odd sized stuff. Love this forum. Thanks!
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Comments (6)
I suggest you make a box (or boxes) of these dimensions and see how your dishes could be arranged in them. That's what's key. Also remember you do not have to store all your dishes together (or all of one type of item, i.e., more than you'd use in an everyday situation). You might find that you can accomodate the most-commonly used ones, but need to locate the others in a less convenient place eleswhere in the kitchen. (Example: say you have bread and butter plates or deep soup bowls, but only use them occasionally - these can obviously be stored someplace else, leaving room for your everyday soup bowls, lunch and dinner plates, etc. You can store your mugs and cups and saucers near the coffee maker, as well.) While you're at it, weigh the dishes you expect to store in the drawer and make sure they - including the weight of the drawer box itself - are correctly matched to the weight limits of the sliders. Another factor in locating dishes is where they are washed. Sometimes convenience to the storage place trumps convenience to the plating-up point. It depends on your kitchen and family styles. For instance if table-setting is a children's chore in your family, then storing those dishes in a place where the kids can retrieve them without getting in the middle of your most-active cooking zone might be better. And in this case maybe your want to have your serving platters close to where they'd be plated, but the individual dishware stashed where the kids can get at it. Or if you have trouble getting the dishes out of the dishwasher or dishdrainer and stowing them, (and doing that is important to you) then having the storage place ultra-convenient to where the dishes are washed may be the most important factor if it makes it easier for you. (Personally I want clean dishes to voluntarily spring from their racks straight into the drawers, but I haven't been able to buy such a set yet.) Some people have two dishwashers so that they rarely have to put anything away, it seems, they just take the clean stuff directly out of the one DW and load into the other one. I'm shouldn't be mocking that. I have a DW but never use it, instead it's the home of all the stuff that doesn't seem to have a home in my other cupboards - that is the overflow from my second oven! HTH L.
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paul_ma
16 years ago
Well, I'm just getting started experimenting with where to put stuff. At the moment I have my everyday dishes in a drawer right next to my DW. I think I like it a lot. At the moment they are just sitting there on the bottom of the drawer with no fittings of any kind. They do clatter a little bit, so I will probably put something under them.
rhome410
16 years ago
Dishes in the drawers (no fitted stuff, just stacked in there) and glassware in the temporary upper above, that will be replaced by a glass-front hutch down to the counter.
lynninnewmexico
16 years ago
I store three sets of dishes and my bowls in drawers. I keep my glassware and cups in my upper cabs. One upper is fitted for upright tray and platter storage. Food in another. My good barware and crystal pieces in another. Compared to most kitchens, I probably don't have that many upper cabs, but chose this design specifically. Even if I had more uppers, I'd still use drawers for dishes. I love the convenience!
jimandanne_mi
16 years ago
Our 36" dish drawer is in the island opposite the fridge, between the silverware drawer in the cleanup zone in the peninsula and the MW in the cabinets along the prep area under the window wall. DH has been undergoing shoulder therapy for several weeks, so not having to reach up for dishes has saved him a lot of pain.

The drawer undethe dish drawere has the plastic storage containers, which I LOVE having in the large lower drawer instead of falling out of an overhead cabinet.

I have pretty much the same things as are mentioned above in my upper cabs, plus assorted casserole dishes.

Anne
brunosonio
16 years ago
We put in all drawers in our base cabinets in the renovation. Love it...all dishes and cookware are stored in the drawers. We have the Blum metal side/wood front drawers, the same as the IKEA. They can hold up to 100 pounds each, which means you can easily store a whole set of dishes in them.

With the Blumotion soft close feature, we didn't need any of the contraptions that IKEA and other companies sell to hold plates in place. I just put down a soft cushy liner, then stacked the dishes on top of that with sufficient space in between each stack to allow clearance. The drawers are deep, and the stacks are high, so everything stays in place. When you open and close the drawers, nothing moves or rattles.

I'd never go back to doors and shelves, and with my bad back, will probably never buy a house in the future that doesn't have drawers in the base cabinets.

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