I don't have a suggestion for the plates but I have my plates (bowls, etc.) in two drawers and love the set up. I can open my dishwasher and the drawer and stand between and load away. My husband who is 6' 5" loves it as well.

Had she known this in the beginning, she would have had the cabinet maker increase the depth of the 2 cabinets near the sink where she plans to put her plates, bowls, etc. but it is too late that now.

Well, the 'not deep enough' problem is going to be a PITA for the life of the kitchen so I would probably bite the bullet & have those two cabs re-built for extra depth. IMO, it's a shame to go the expense of full inset, custom cabs & end up with something that just doesn't work. Better to fix it now & have it behind you so you can really enjoy a new kitchen rather that having a constant irritation right out of the gate.

I am sure that she probably will not like this, but with white inset cabinets, it sounds as if they would go well with one open shelf (with molding/corbels to match) under the cabinet where the rest of the dishes go to just stack the dinner plates upon? The plates themselves could be a lovely decorative element with the other matching greens in the kitchen. Conversely, could she have that one cabinet with the doors removed and have a plate rack kit installed between the bottom of the cabinet and the first shelf (making sure that she had the height she needed for her plates) and have two new doors made for above the plate rack (shorter doors). If she could afford it at this time, I would agree with ci lantro, haave the cabinets remade now.

I did a little searching - it is difficult to tell what size dinner plate to look for if we don't know the interior size of your SIL's cabinets. Does she have 9 or 10 inches to work with? Susan Sargent, one of my favorite designers, has plates that are 10 inch and may (or may not) match. Sargent tends to be traditional forms with a bit of whimsy. Click on the dinner plates for a close up. They may even look great with the secondary plates that she all ready has, thought I believe that SIL's plates are more of a celery in color, and the Sargent plates a little more intense. Your SIL should do a search with the following colors: celery; charteuse; clover; etc.

Here is a link that might be useful: Susan Sargent: click on dinner plates to

This is becoming a problem more and more...that's why we often recommend 15" deep wall cabinets! The other place that is potentially a problem is counter/bar seating...does your sister have a raised bar that's only 12 to 14 inches deep? If so, her plates will just barely fit on it. Ditto if she has a cooktop/range or sink in an island or peninsula w/only 12 - 14" behind it for seating (counter-height or bar-height).

If she has either of the above, then she probably should "...Find new plates...." However, if she doesn't then I agree she should consider putting them in drawers...assuming, of course, that she has drawers other than those small top drawers. I'm not a fan of open shelving so I don't recommend that unless she'll be using all the plates frequently (or she likes dusting/cleaning!)

If drawers won't work & she cannot find replacement plates, then I would price out what it would cost to:

• make a couple of replacement cabinets +
• take out the current ones & crown molding +
• install the new cabinets +
• re-install crown molding (will be a little trickier unless all the cabinets are the same depth).

Does her DH know that if she gets new plates most likely she'll need new bowls, salad/dessert plates, etc.? Still, the new cabinets will probably cost more, but if she plans to stay in the house for a long time, then I recommend they consider fixing the problem rather than putting a "band aid" on it.

(Has she tried to put her platters away yet?)

Here are a couple different ideas for the plates. The Longaberger are 10", does that help? Don't know about the Pier 1 but they look like sort of the same color???

http://ic.longaberger.com/ecommerce/control/product?PURCHASE_STATE=STANDARD&product_id=33227POT

http://www.pier1.com/Catalog/Dining/Dining/tabid/493/CategoryID/109/List/0/catpagesize/25/Level/a/ProductID/1478/ProductName/Lacey-Dinnerware--Green/Default.aspx

Here is a link that might be useful: pier one sage dinnerware

Vierti has some pretty plates, but they appear to be 10" too.

{{gwi:2108015}}

I would also vote for a long term fix, and not just replacing the plates...

Eliz

Here is a link that might be useful: Vietri web site

Thanks everyone! Those are some great suggestions! I will pass them on to her.

I understand the advice to redo the cabinets, but she has already had them redo a couple cabinets bc of some other unforeseen issues, so I don't think she wants redo more at this point. It is so sad that kitchen designers/cabinet makers don't ask you to consider these things before they make the cabinets...They stand to make extra money by increasing the depth of the cabinets.

Thank you all so much for your suggestions. I hope one of them work out for her.

My KD asked...she actually suggested the deeper cabinets for this very reason....

So sorry to hear that -- I can imagine how bummed she is! Two quick suggestions: 1) Perhaps she could use her old plates to try out the scenario of another storage location. I originally put my plates in a spot to be closer to the d/w, but recently realized it was the cause of major tie-ups (crossing paths) in our kitchen and that actually having them further away from the d/w is better. We only unload the d/w once a day at the MOST, but all day, the 5 of us are crossing paths from fridge to get plates and back to the workspace!
2) Trying to match the green she fell in love with and decorated around could be very tricky... Maybe she could mix and match with another color? She could use the green plates and bowls or mugs, then get a nice white beaded plate in the right size as her main dinner plate?

Best wishes!

Funny, I just saw that color yesterday... at Ikea. My sister just bought the white version of these, but we were debating to buy the green because it was such a pretty green!!

Here is a link that might be useful: Green dinnerware