If you can't easily reach the pans, I don't think the pan rack is much of an option. Personally, I definitely wouldn't want to have to get a stepstool out to reach a pan when I was in the middle of cooking dinner. It would be a huge PITA and might result in burnt dinners. :o I would suggest putting the pans in drawers.

We had one in our old kitchen, out of necessity because there was no room in the cupboards, and we really loved it. It was a galley kitchen and the potrack went right down the middle, hung precisely over DH's height (about 5'10"), so he didn't bump his head on low-lying cookware, but it was still easy for me (5' 4") to grab pots. However, new kitchen has more space and now all the pots/pans are in drawers. I thought for sure we'd put the pot rack up again after the reno (we even put wood crossbeams in the ceiling for the extra weight when the ceiling was opened up), but I like our new clean/uncluttered kitchen so DH (cook in our house) is trying to adapt to the drawers. (He has an awful lot of pots/pans, and sometimes it's not easy to grab the ones he wants.) We may put it back up eventually, but for now the drawer solution is ok.

we have a calphalon pot rail that we are rehanging on a wall next to the stove in the corner of our kitchen - i have a lot of hanging big spoons and we'll hang a few fry pans.

I love the look and functionality of pot racks (I'm 5'8" and we have 9' ceilings -- so height is no problem.) But, a kitchen designer recently advised that putting one over our planned small island/work table (work table is 6' by 3') would make the kitchen look too cluttered and closed in. Our working kitchen is only 14' by 13'. My designer reminded me that most of the gorgeous kitchens with pot racks I had in my inspiration folder were at least twice as big as my kitchen. So now I'm thinking of going ebean's route with a pot rail on the wall by the range. Based on the advice I received, I'd think about the overall space and take into consideration the dimensions of your kitchen.

All good arguments. Thanks for weighing in.

I'm thinking I'm going rack-less. My old kitchen was cluttered, and not huge, so I would definitely want to have a cleaner look in the new kitchen.

Unfortunately, I won't have the wall space to do a wall rack.

Oh well, when I get a Beautiful Kitchens sized kitchen, I'll get my pot rack.

we ended up with a bonus that made sense...we have a built-in china cabinet in the dining room (whose shelves will be rebuilt with this reno) and the back of it is what we're having the pot rack on.

We have a small kitchen but decided to put in a pot rack -- love, love LOVE it! We have it hanging over the end of the peninsula not far from the stove, and it works beautifully. It's so functional and easy, can't imagine going without one ever again. I'm 5'8" with 8 foot ceilings, so reach isn't an issue. Don't see why you couldn't make your rack lower to accommodate any height requirement. I think the secret is putting it somewhere where there's no danger of heads bumping it.

We personally find that all our pots, pans and colanders, old or not, look great hanging there. But we cook almost every night and at length, wielding pans all over, so others' preferences may vary...

I have always had pot racks out of necessity but will try to go without with this kitchen rebuild. I love the functionality of the pot rack but am trying to go for an uncluttered look, plus my kitchen is on the small side. We'll see how it goes! I may end up adding one after all, but not sure where it would work.

I have a pot rack over my island and I love it. I have no other place to put them. The island is pretty small (25"x35"), the ceiling is 8', and I'm about 5'4". Some guests have bumped their heads, but it serves them right for invading my space!

I think it really depends on your space. It sounds like maybe it won't work in your kitchen. We had a pot rack in our old kitchen, and I loved it. The people who bought our house loved it so much that they wanted it as a condition of sale. However, our kitchen was open to the family room (with vaulted ceilings) and breakfast. It had nine foot ceilings, and the pot rack hung over the island directly across from the range. I loved having the pots hanging so close at hand. It made cleanup a lot easier too. I'd wash and dry the pots, swivel to the island, and hang them up.

We have a 20 year old Enclume pot rack. We are keeping it in the remodel. It is in the center over the worktable/island. I am 5'3" and have found it to be so handy and a time saver. My kitchen is about 12 by 14 --rather small -- but the pot rack has earned its place. They seem to be a little out of vogue right now but just wait til Martha or Christopher or Mick features pot racks and they will be everywhere!

We've got one hanging just to the right of our stove, and it's handy, so far as having the pots and pans right there, but it's also kind of a pain because it gets in the way when you try and lean over the counter when preparing food for meals. Additionally, the one we have is about 2'x3' powder coated wrought iron. and has a shelf on the top of it for storage, where we initially kept all the pan lids. It only took one time for one of those lids to slip between the strips of wrought iron and "el kabong" my wife in the forehead, and now nothing gets stored up there. When we finally DO get around to remodeling, I have a feeling that thing's going to end up as part of a "yahd sale". :-)

We couldn't do a ceiling rack since none of them seemed to work, but we have an Enclume wall-mounted pot rack, and I'm very happy with it. I am 5'3" and we have 8' ceilings.

I loved my pot rack, which hung next to the stove. But everything on it just got so dirty and dusty from oil and steam from the stove. I got in the habit of pulling a random pot/pan from it every night and putting it in the dishwasher (so it might be clean when I wanted it in a day or so).
I finally took it down.

We have never had any kitchen ventillation, and I am hoping that if we ever get a range hood, that will keep the stuff clean so I will be able to use my pot rack again.