Lids on. I guess I have too many pots, but if I don't keep the lids together, I'm always fumbling around to find the right one. Of course, the reals answer is Cristel.

Lids on...same reason as dinkledoodle....

Lids on...same reason as dinkledoodle and slc2053.

i keep my lids on. i just like it better that way.

Lids on. In fact that was one of my goals for my remodel, to have enough room to be able to store each pot with the lid on instead of nesting them (as I had to do in the old kitchen).

I actually don't have THAT many pots -- I got rid of most of what I didn't need. That also helps enable me to store with lids on since I can do that in the space I have.

Lids on, and inverted.

I have one big drawer for pots and nest the pots inside each other to get more into the drawer. I probably have/use 8 pots and have another drawer for frying pans. For me, it's a matter of storing as much as possible in limited space. I don't have the space luxury of storing them with their covers on.

Thanks for your quick responses, everyone! Your explanation made me think of a related issue. Most people on this forum seem to prefer drawers over cabinets with slideouts. One person, though, commented that she preferred slideouts because the lids (stored to the side) could fall to the side of the cabinet, and one didn't have to adjust them perfectly to keep them in the drawer. Also, she got more room with the pullouts.
I'm wondering if drawers with pots stored with lids on is the ideal way to access pots, but it does require having a good amount of storage space. If space is limited, perhaps pullouts and storing with the pot lids off is the way to go. I have limited space so it's not clear which is the best set up. Maybe I should downsize my collection of pots and pans!

i find that i have less room with my pull out. i'm not sure if this is what your talking about.
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If this is what your referring to, i can tell you that i would have had alot more room if it did not pull out. it would have been better to build it with the door as is, but use divider panels for my pans. the pull out takes up space on the sides for the sliding mechanism. i think there is too much wasted space on both sides. i ended up taking out the divider panel to give me more room.

i am more than happy with the two drawers for my pots and pans. this is one thing i planned for too. every pot has its own spot. this prevents me from buying more now for sure. i kind of wanted to go a little crazy buying for my kitchen. i saw some of the le cruset cast iron pots that i wanted, but had to back off and not get any.
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I divide this question into two categories--(1) pots and saucepans, and (2) frying pans.

I store pots/saucepans with lids on as others have said. Mostly because I don't want to be fumbling to find the right lid when I am pulling out my saucepans or pots. Also, I would worry that if I nested my pots without the lids, in order to save space, that method might (a) scratch the inside of the pots, and (b) warp them.

One thing I did that was SO helpful was to de-clutter my pots and pans collection when I redid my kitchen. I had pots/pans that were old and scratched, or were sizes I never used, or I didn't like their handles so I didn't use them, or were super-cheap bad ones from college (yikes!) or were just plain duplicates (I had FOUR 2-quart saucepans--how did I do that?--I have no recollection...). I figure no one could have as bad a collection as I had, but I did reduce my pots/pans storage by about 75%. So, look at your cookware and see which ones you truly use, and EDIT, EDIT, EDIT.

As to my frypans, I do nest them (they too benefited from de-cluttering!). At the suggestion of this forum, I found at the Dollar Store small round soft cloth trivets. I put a cloth trivet between each fry pan so the pans don't scratch each other. I rarely use a lid on my fry pans, so I bought a "universal lid" just for my fry pans for the times I need one. I have really saved space by nesting the fry pans.

Here is a link that might be useful: Universal Fry Pan Lid

Like most of the others who have replied, I store the lids w/my pots and I have one drawer for pots & the other for frying pans.

My pots are not stacked, but my frying pans are (I use paper towels b/w them). With the exception of the largest frying pan, my lids for my frying pans are "shared" with the pot lids, so I only have one or two lids in the pan drawer.

Are you talking about a pullout like Teppy showed or are you talking about Roll Out Tray Shelves (ROTS) (a.k.a., pull out shelves)?

I do both. For pots that I usually use with a lid (dutch ovens, stockpots) I store them with the lid on, even when I'm nesting them. For sauce pans that I usually use without a lid, I store the lids separately. I'm fortunate that many of my pots use the same size lids, so it's not a big deal to match them up. Also, I only have one or two pans with non-stick surfaces, so there's not much danger of scratching them by nesting.

Do the pots stored inside the oven count?

My Dad has a good system - he stores his pots with the lids on but inverted so he can stack smaller pots on top. He still has to dig a little, but at least everything is together when he needs it.

I have always had to store my pots and pans in stacks with the lids seperate because I have always had small kitchens with little useful storage. My new kitchen will have three banks of 36" wide drawers along the back wall - that's right, 9 linear feet of storage drawers with the cooktop in the middle of it. No more stacking!

That doesn't include the corner cabinets, uppers, pantry or island. I am overwhelmed with storage. I think I have to go lie down ;p

I too store my pots with the lids on inverted and my fry pans nested. I store all of these in a corner cabinet with a lazy susan. I love this set up so much that I kept the corner susan in the remodel. Because the lazy susan shelves are rounded it works great with rounded cookware.

Lids are off because my kitchen is small. Even if we do get new cabinets and drawers, I can never justify storing each pan with it's lid in a drawer. There is no way to expand the space in our 2,000 sq ft home. The purpose and intention is to fully utilize space, not waste it. Right now pans and skillets are stacked in a cabinet and the lids are in upright storage in the same cabinet. No problems matching. I've had them for years!

Thanks, everyone, for your perspective! As with many topics on this forum, the right answer for an individual often can vary depending on that person's unique kitchen layout/habits/personality, etc, etc! Teepy, regarding the pullouts, I was referring to cabinets that you open and then slide out a single shelf. (Sorry, I may not have used the correct terminology.) I think I can take a good stab at it now. I'll focus on making my commonly-used pots/pans easily accessible and then perhaps stacking the rest (or downsizing.) This seems to be another flavor of the theme 'Make those items you use the most easily accessible'. Thanks again, all!
Rose

I have limited space, so I use an 18 inch base next to my range. Top drawer holds cooking tools, then behind the door I have a heavy duty pull out drawer (on the floor of the cabinet) that holds most of my pots and skillets stacked in two nested piles - in a drawer above are most of the metal lids, then a drawer above that most of my glass lids. To the right of that cabinet I use the bottom drawer in my 24 inch drawer base for my very wide pan/strainer/stockpot. They all used to be in an old corner lazy susan and I HATED that. Something would fall off of the side and keep the susan from rotating, or just get lost. After the chaos of that cabinet, I love my nested pots and pans. I get a lot of pleasure rolling out the lid drawers and choosing the matching lid.

My kitchen is small, and still unfinished, but in daily use, and I have to be very judicious about what goes where. I've culled a bunch and my kitchen is much more efficient.

Drawers vs Roll Out Tray Shelves (ROTS)

OK, so you didn't mean what Teppy has...you meant Roll Out Tray Shelves (ROTS) (a.k.a., pullout shelves)
"Most people on this forum seem to prefer drawers over cabinets with slideouts. One person, though, commented that she preferred slideouts because the lids (stored to the side) could fall to the side of the cabinet, and one didn't have to adjust them perfectly to keep them in the drawer. Also, she got more room with the pullouts."

SO...I'm now confused about your description...the problem you described is a problem with ROTS, not a way to solve the problem. Drawers solve the problem. Are you saying it was a good thing they fell over? B/c it sure wouldn't be good for me...I'd have to move them back onto the ROTS to be able to pull open the shelf...they would get caught on the frame of the cabinet if they stayed leaning over. If you have frameless cabinets, you might not have to move them, but as soon as you pulled the shelf out they would fall to the floor b/c of the short sides.

OTOH, if you have drawers and you store lids on the sides, the sides of the drawers will keep the lids from falling into the cabinet itself or out onto the floor. ROTS have short sides and anything that's taller than the sides w/o a large base may fall over the sides.

Also...it only takes one motion to open a drawer but it takes 2 or 3 to open a ROTS. With ROTS, you have to open 1 or 2 doors all the way and then pull out the tray. With drawers, just pull the drawer open as little or as much as you need. Drawers are especially helpful when you have only one hand free or are in a hurry.

I much prefer drawers to ROTS! As a matter of fact, I got one cabinet w/ROTS and I now wish I had gotten a "trash pullout" type arrangement instead.

Hestia_Flames...you must have had one of the very old style lazy susans that had the rotating shelves sitting inside a cabinet w/the walls that are several inches away from the shelves. My mother has the same thing in her 49 year old kitchen & she has the same problem.

However, when our house was built in 1995 they put in the "newer" type...it had one curved wall that followed the contour of the shelves and was so close to the shelves that nothing larger than a grain of salt could fall through. We had probably the worst cabinets made (AristoKraft) and we still had that newer wall. (AristroKraft was rated dead last by CR for quality & overall value back when they used to rate individual cabinet companies.) In the 13 years or so that we had those cabinets nothing ever fell off b/c there wasn't anywhere for them to fall to.

That one 36" lazy susan (pole in the center) held all our pots & pans, colanders, MW dishes, and a few other misc items. I was amazed at how much fit in that thing...and everything was always accessible b/c you just rotated it to the front. [I really wanted one for my new kitchen to hold all my small appliances (only w/o the center pole), but alas my DH wanted the Pet Center instead so I lost it. (My small appliances now take up way too much room in my small pantry.)]

Hi Buehl,
I see what you mean about the advantage of the drawers over the ROTS. I was trying to recall what another poster had written, but I may have misquoted him/her. I tried to find that thread last night, but couldn't locate it. Maybe I can today using the right terminology. By the way, it was a post within the last week, I think, and I believe you commented on it. Perhaps you recall?
I'll look this evening.
Thanks!
Rose
PS: I just grabbed a pot with lid on from my temporary setup of pots/pans in boxes, and it was very nice not to search for the appropriate lid.

Ditto edit pots and store with lids inverted on. I'm down to about 4 pots--2 qt, 3 qt, dutch oven-type, and large pasta pot. If someone often cooks for large crowds, will need more, but edit, edit. I often wash skillet or pot and re-use within prep of same meal, depending on what I 'm cooking, because it's so easy to wash out a pot right after you use it. I

f you have the time and some way to experiment, do as you are describing and see how you like to pull out your stuff, what motions seem fluid, which ones are a pain and make you tense. So the idea is not just to create the MOST storage space, but to create the spaces that feel the best when you are cooking and using your things, and easiest to put away also. The less is more concept really helps, because then it is not a picture-puzzle to get things back in.

So to some extent, I have a pretty generous space devoted to just a few pots, because I have found we use these pots for most everything we cook, plus several baking sheets for roasted vegetables and fish, and I like the easy in-and easy out, and no falling and clattering, and not fretting over whether I could fit 3 or 4 more items in the same space if I place them ever so carefully. In a remodel, I will plan again on having these items having the largest and most accessible spaces.

That's great advice, frankie!
I can't find the thread in which the poster asserted that pull outs were better. But I think I have a lot to go on now. I love when people provide a rationale for their position. I learn so much this way! I Thanks, everyone!!!
Rose

Late to the party but it works nicely so I wanted to offer that all my regular pots are in one 36" drawer, nested 2 deep. Two bars across the back of the full-extension drawer create adjustable narrow 36"-wide spaces that hold lids semi-upright facing the pans. Very easy to grab the right one and not in the way when I don't need it. A couple lids for the fry pans in another drawer are also here to save room for soup pots in that drawer too (one nests completely within the large one, and their lids stay on them).

I sure agree with Frankie about editing and simplifying to what you actually use. I have somewhat and am down to...huh? 8 saucepans, plus glass double boiler. First time I counted, but I do use them and never have to go grab something back out of the dishwasher. It would undoubtedly have been fewer, though, if they didn't store comfortably.

I still have to tackle the fry pan drawer, which does make me tense up as I wrestle out the one I want. They're mostly pretty heavy, and how the one I use 3/4 of the time always seems to be under something else is one of the mysteries of the universe.