Your cabinet maker should be the one to answer this. S/he should be able to take whatever steps are needed to reinforce them. It's doable.

I had some that were about that wide (and also about 29" front-to-back) and they were made to handle the weight. I also have an old IKEA freestanding cabinet that is about 52" wide (so the three drawers are about 46") that I've been using during my remodel for dishes and cookware (and before that, kids had it chock full of paper) and those drawers are holding up just dandy.

Sure, it can be done. The cost/benefit might not be worth it. I wouldn't do a drawer stack bigger than 36''. What would be the weight rating that you would need for your items that you want to store in it? Why does it need to be that large?

I was thinking to put my dishes in the top drawer and not sure about the bottom one. I have a long stretch between my prep sink and my cooktop of 45". I don't want two short drawer stacks of 22 1/2" (custom so I can go in 1/8" increments) so my other choice is a 12" cabinet and 33" cabinet or one 45" cabinet. Here's a link to the wall with the 12" cabinet instead of the larger one. I can't upload directly because my computer is too old. I will get to the store after the beginning of June after my show to buy a new one.

East Wall

btw: it's not exact for cabinet style or how high the range hood or exact placement of the wall oven.

Dishes don't really belong in he prep area. They're part of the clean up zone storage area. Prep area is for cutting boards, measuring cups, knives, mixing bowls, garlic presses, microplanes, food processors, spices, and some cooking pots And pans. That bleeds into the cooking area storage of pots and pans and ladels and spatulas and stirrers.

I'd look at a 30'' 2 drawer for the mixing bowls etc in the top drawer and casserole dishes etc. below, and then plenty of shallow 4 drawer storage for those knives gadets and spatulas.

How comfortable is your reach? The further apart your arms, the less leverage you have pulling the drawer open, in addition to the drawer being heavy.

Also why the different sizes of the two sets of doors to the right of the hood? Why not this?

Well Sophie since my cleanup area is on my island right directly across from the cooktop/prep area, that would be the best place for my dishes. All I have to do is turn around to put them away. Also since most nights when I cook, I serve DH and myself at the cooktop/oven area, and then carry the dishes with food to the table, it's the best place for the dishes for us.

All the cooking spoons, knives, gadgets etc will go in the top drawers. I'm getting older and don't want to be bending down to third and fourth drawers to find small objects. Not when I have so many top drawers to put stuff like that in.

Large pots will go under the cooktop. Also understand there is no way I'll ever fill up all the cabinets with the way I cook. LOL. I'm fine with room. And if I decide, I may do like I have now which is put the dishes to the right of the cooktop up above. Depends on what DH wants.

Palm, I did it so the cabinets line up with the bottom cabinets where they end. :) And I chose to make that one 45, because that would make the doors 22 1/2" and the one on the other side of the cooktop is 21" so close in look.

Good point about my arm reach. My reach is short. :)

I had a set up very similar to this elevation in a previous kitchen. You are going to find the counter next to the ovens is too small. Can you move the cooktop down the run and increase the size of the counter to more than 21".

Thanks palimpsest. Good to know. I will change it so they are even across the top. I had achieved it in my present kitchen having the bottoms equal out so was trying to do it in this one as I like things to match up. Oh well.

Homechef, if I do, then I lose my large prep space on the other side of the cooktop. However the advantage I will have is that right behind me is my island, so I can always take something out of the oven and place it on the island.

The thing about matching uppers to lowers is that they are on a different plane anyway. They project out further, and unless their are no corners at all, the lower run is 12" shorter for each corner than the upper run.

Most people I think would see a run of 21" 36" 45" 30" as something random on the upper, rather than noticing that it matched the lower

21" 36" 37.5" ,37.5" will be seen as more consistent by most people. Since you are going custom you could probably get it even closer than that but I don't think it has to be exact, it's just better to have some consistent rhythm.

I am drawn to heavy dishes. My everyday wedding China is Pfaltzgraff stoneware, which is large and heavy. My small dishes for smaller meals are Fiestaware, heavier still, even though I have the smaller luncheon size plates in that set. I also have a set of handmade pottery plates.

I would not want wide drawers for my heavy dishes. Your mileage, of course, may vary.

I would not want that wide of drawers for heavy dishes. We have one bank of drawers that is 45" and they put a thicker bottom in those...but we will be using them for lighter things like snacks, cereal, etc.

mrspete is hitting on what I was thinking with a big dish drawer. "Could be" quite a workout over time.

All my everyday dishes, silverware, and glasses for in a 21" wide, 4 drawer stack. I would rather use another drawer stack if I needed the space because these glide in and out so easy.

Didn't someone recently post about drawer failure with a wide drawer full of dishes?

Was is a2gemini?

LOL. I'm convinced! No extra wide drawers. My plates are fiestaware too. Quite heavy.

The drawers will instead be as shown. 21"-36"-33". And after staring for quite a while at my layout, I see exactly what palimpsest explained above. Now I just have to decide whether I want that 12" cabinet next to my cooktop or next to the prep sink. If next to the prep sink, it will hold cleaning stuff and then I can put a second trash can under the prep sink.

However I'm leaning towards putting the 12" cabinet next to the cooktop. I really like this setup, but wonder how practical it is. I think it might be easier than digging in drawers but am not sure.

Utensil Drawer

Yes, a2gemini's original post.

Oops, good javiwa found it.

I bookmarked so many helpful threads about drawers...just very happy a2g's story had a happy ending.

Thank you for finding the thread javiwa. If nothing else it reinforced my insisting on plywood boxes for the cabinets. I keep insisting on all plywood boxes and the builder keeps telling me that is all he uses in his build but he does use Brookhaven, so we'll see.

I like the concept of that utensil drawer. If you have the real estate I would go for it and put your most frequently used in it (I don't know about you but I have an entire big drawer filled with all my cooking paraphenalia). I personally couldn't do it simply because in my space, there isn't enough space to do that plus another drawer for overflow/extra stuff.

I'm not fond of the utensil cabinet unless the kitchen is a large one and can afford the inefficiency of the storage. For heavy dish stacks, I tend to not use larger than 30'' drawers. There is room for an entire china servce for 12 in a standard 30'' 3 drawer stack. (Maybe not for 12 if you're doing stoneware!) And a 3 drawer stack tends to be easier to access than a 2.

Silverware in the top drawer, plates and bowls in the midde, and the cups and saucers and serving dishes that no one ever uses except when company comes in the lower. I only use a 2 stack for pots and pans, to accomodate overheight items.

Have you posted your layout (not just elevations) in a thread I've missed? (Entirely possible, as I'm not on here much anymore.) I'm interested in your cleanup zone. You mention storing your dishes in the prep zone, and that can create cross zone traffic that interferes with the prep.

The ideal location for dishes is adjacent to the prep, between the cleanup zone and prep. That allows someone to grab those dishes and get them ready to plate or to set the table, without crossing over into the danger zone of the last minute flambé or saucing of the asparagus.

You may be the ony one in the kitchen at the moment, and not anticipate cross zone traffic, but things can change for the better! One of the great positives about good design is that it can change family dynamics for the better!

You can upgrade to plywood with Brookhaven. I had a 36" WoodMode dish drawer with standard Blum hardware & the soft close stopped working. They changed out the hardware to Blum Heavy Duty. Insist on Blum 569HD for the 33" & 36" drawers.

Thanks for asking ProSource Memphis. Here is a link to my whole house plan as well as the kitchen. As for more in the kitchen, mostly DH will be "helping" which is why the prep sink.

I did post a while back but can't find it now. So here it is again.

First, let's just say I recently celebrated my 30th birthday for the second time. DH is retired. This is for a house in FL where we will entertain, but mostly it's for the two of us. We are very informal and plan on most of our entertaining to be more outdoors or in the great room. No sit down dinners for me. Been there, done that!

I cook usually 2x a week although we don't have a barbecue now because we're in a condo. We hope to use the barbecue a lot, and eat out less. I do not have a lot of pots, pans and gadgets. I do like to bake and will do so on average once every two weeks.

Right now we are planning on 1 oven with a microwave above, induction cooktop, a farmhouse sink, built in refrigerator, prep sink, DW.

We have a dog station garage because DH is awful at putting doggy stuff away bowl, vitamins, treats, etc and will not put in drawer, cabinet etc so this way, I can shove it under the garage and not look at it. Better than fighting with DH. Hence the prep sink where it is so DH can clean out doggy bowl near doggy area (dog eats raw).

DH also tends to leave keurig pods and sugar packets on counter; hence the coffee station behind closed doors. That is where all the coffee mugs will go as well as his toaster oven.

Additionally DH helps with cutting veggies and cleanup. I do most of the cooking, and the nights I do cook mostly I cook on the cooktop.

Dishes will go next to cooktop. Glasses above doggy garage, with the pretty glasses in the glass buffet. Forks, knives etc will go next to sink in drawer above trash pullout.

Here is the downstairs plan, but not the exact kitchen layout:

House Layout

Here is the south wall with the doggy garage and DH coffee station on other side of refrigerator (the empty spot)

South Wall

And here is the layout of the kitchen area. Sizes of cabinets are on the elevations

Kitchen Layout

Beth, I would use the 12" drawer for the utensils. I have plenty of room for it. I'm in a smaller kitchen now and haven't filled up all the drawers!

Thank you Romy. If we do go with Brookhaven, I will definitely insist on the heavy duty.