What do you put in your shallow drawers?

10 years ago

I have 1 4-drawer stack and 6 3-drawer stacks in my new kitchen. I would have LOVED 1 wide 2-drawer pot/pan cabinet but I couldnt make the sizes fit with the space I had taking into consideration the alignment of the other drawers. So I went with all 3-drawer stacks. Now I am a little worried about what I will fill them with. The 4-drawer stack is fine since I will keep silverware, kitchen gadgets and other things in there. But I am wondering about the top drawer of most of the other stacks.

In the drawers surrounding the range I will probably keep pot/pan covers and cooking utensils (spatulas, etc...) in the top drawers. One top drawer will become a "junk" drawer. I still have 2 24" 3 drawer cabinets underneath my microwave/toaster oven and another 33" 3-drawer cabinet in the island.

I know I still need to store things like food wraps (tin foil, plastic wrap, etc...), dish towels, etc...

Just looking for ideas on what you store in your shallow drawers!

Featured Answer

williamsem

10 years ago

I wish I had more! One has my flatware and some misc serving pieces, ice cream scoops, etc. dishes are in the two drawers under that one. The one near the range has a knife block and cooking utensils in it, pot/pans under. The small 12 in one one the other side has pot holders.

The four drawer stack I have has the top two drawers full of assorted utensils and gadgets that don't fit in the other areas. Plus a drawer of wraps and baggies. Bottom drawer there is for plastic containers.

I also have two under the oven. One is not in yet, but will house the extra oven stuff (it's sand Advantium, so it has racks, etc to store). The other one I haven't decided yet. It's too far from the prep area to hold extra prep stuff. I might put our two cast iron fry pans there so they aren't stacked.

I could have added more shallow drawers, in retrospect. Then I would have had less stuff stacked in the larger drawers. I think I might just need some verticle dividers. We are just moving stuff back in, so things are still being juggled around a bit.

If I could have had a cooktop so the pans were underneath, I would have loved shallow drawers next to it. A spice drawer would have been in the plans, as well as a second utensil/tool drawer. Everything in my kitchen wants to be near the range and prep area. Lucky for me the 4 drawer stack is only a few feet away if you pivot back. A drawer for prep bowls would have been nice too.

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Comments (9)

badgergal
10 years ago
I use one of my top drawers for spices.
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blfenton
10 years ago
For starters my junk drawer is only 18" and it keeps the junk way down.

3-drawer stack (33" to the L of the stove) - cooking cutlery/ pots and lids/ frying pans

3-drawer stack (33" to the R of the stove) - eating cutlery/ casserole dishes/ small appliances such as small electric beater, immersion blender, grinder, and mixing bowls.

4-drawer stack (24") - my husbands wine and barbecue stuff / lunch bags/ water bottles/ food wraps.

3-drawer stack (18") - horizontal knife block/ towels and dish clothes/ pasta and rices.

1- 24" drawer under the MW - all my plastic storage bowls and some mixing bowls.

Spices, trays, kettle, coffee pots and misc. stuff is kept elsewhere.

You have way more drawers than I do and I have empty spaces in mine. I went on a major purge when we redid our kitchen and it sure helped with organizing things.
annkh_nd
10 years ago
Mine aren't installed yet, but I've pretty well planned out what is going to go where. I'm going from 3 small shallow drawers to 4 wide ones and 2 smaller. It's a U-shaped kitchen.

Next to DW: everyday flatware

above corner super susan (angled cabinet): knife insert

4-drawer stack (right of sink):
- top: potholders, measuring cups/spoons
- #2: wraps, plastic bags
- #3: towels, dishcloths
- #4: I don't know yet!

I'll have a 24"-wide drawer to the left of the stove, which I expect to hold utensils.

To the right of the stove will be 2 16" top drawers. One will probably hold more utensils; the other will be a junk drawer (my current junk drawer is pretty organized).

I'll have one little drawer (9") to the left of the sink, above a cookie sheet cabinet. I don't know yet what will end up there.
ginny20
10 years ago
In one top shallow drawer near my wall oven, I keep not only pot holders and trivets - things you use with the oven - but also the instruction manuals for the oven and for the induction cooktop, which I reference more than you would expect.

I have two shallow "miscellaneous" drawers, but for two years I have kept them orderly using dividers and small boxes. Things are sorted in them, not just thrown in. Big improvement over previous junk drawers.
homebuyer23
10 years ago
In one of the most recent reveals on here someone had an awesome drawer filled with coffee fixins, if you had a need for that, it was nice!
Buehl
10 years ago
Let's see....

(1) Pot Holders in the drawer b/w my cooktop and ovens (24" wide)

(2) Knives and Prep & Cooking utensils & tools under my cooktop (36" wide)

(3) Foil, parchment paper, and my gluten-free utensils (a special need) (31" wide)

(4) Silverware (24" wide)

(5) Wraps and plastic bags (24" wide)

(6) Electrical things like extension cords, switches, etc. (24" wide)

(7) Linens (dish cloths and dish towels) (33" wide)

(8) Coffee supplies: K-cups, sweeteners, filters (my in-laws are resistant to changing to K-cups), coffee scoop, and butter (the toaster is next to the K-machine) (33" wide)

(9) Serving utensils (pizza cutters, corn holders, serving spoons for pot-lucks, etc.) and oven tools (thermometers - both manual and electric) (27" wide)

(10) Flashlights & batteries (27" wide)

(11) Dog supplies (spare collars & leashes, meds, etc.) (27" wide)

I have one 4-drawer stack with 3 shallow drawers: #s 4, 5, 6
The rest are 3-drawer stacks
The Dog supplies are in a roll out tray shelf (ROTS) that is the equivalent of a shallow drawer b/c it's placed as high as I can get it to have the most vertical space possible for the dog food cans on the bottom ROTS.

The contents and locations are based on what goes on in that area. So, my prep and cooking tools are in the Prep & Cooking Zones, my baking and roasting tools are in the Cooking Zone and Baking Center, etc.

Here is a link that might be useful: Link to the insides of the drawers in Buehl's cabinets
rober
5 years ago
In our former kitchen we had a 5-drawer stack, adjacent to the sink and on the way to the microwave, that was quite handy. You might have to go to Euro cabinet design to allow five drawers. I can't remember exactly what went where, but here goes:

Peelers, corers, food prep brushes.

Pot holders (for mw) +

Towels, wash cloths.

Junk, small tools.

Cookie press and other sparsely used devices

Can't remember !!??

Another useful and somewhat novel bank was a 3 drawer unit with two shallow (5-6") drawers and a tall pullout lower drawer which housed the cuisinart mixer and a bread maker. Power ran in from the adjacent cook top so that the breadmaker could be used in place. Vent holes were bored through to the side into the refrigerator area. Top drawer had spices with 'saw tooth' insert.

Under our shallow, 36" gas cook top we had a very shallow drawer with two tall drawers below. The top drawer housed a cutting board, and some occasionally used items (skewers, corn holders, etc). Pots and pans were stored in the two higher drawers below.

We maximized the available height by using Euro design, moderate toe kick height, and minimizing the height used in drawer design with side suspension and considering dimensions.
j_leary
5 years ago
I have two wide shallow drawers that are on the opposite side of the kitchen from my fridge and stove. In one of these two drawers, I store lids to travel mugs and tupperware containers and in the other, I keep snacks - granola bars, individual packets of nuts, etc.

What do you put in your shallow drawers?

williamsem

Comments (9)

badgergal

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