Hmmmm, my cookware is a real assortment of sizes and shapes, and that probably would not work for me in real life.

I would be constantly trying to force things into the wrong slot if I had that.

That looks like a pretty awful cookware organizer. It is far too limiting and fussy looking.

As for copper- that is not going to work with induction. You need magnetic cookware, so certain stainless steel, and cast iron are the go-tos. Copper is not magnetic. Ironically, the coils that generate the electro magnetic filled in induction cooking are copper.

Hmmmm, my cookware is a real assortment of sizes and shapes, and that probably would not work for me in real life.

That's exactly what I'm afraid of. It LOOKS nice to have everything so neatly organized but it does seem like a lot of space is wasted.

I would be constantly trying to force things into the wrong slot if I had that.

Exactly my gut keeps telling me but DH certainly likes the perceived organization of it.

As for copper- that is not going to work with induction. You need magnetic cookware, so certain stainless steel, and cast iron are the go-tos. Copper is not magnetic. Ironically, the coils that generate the electro magnetic filled in induction cooking are copper.

Boy, what a brain fart on my end. I'm going to chalk that up to giving up coffee a few days before Lent even starts :/

Wow; my cabinets are almost identical to yours and made me feel like that organizer was actually sitting in front of me. I mostly do have a set and I nest two sets of sauce pans and a series of pans using FAR less space in two large drawers that also include the stacked lids along with other unmatched but again stacked pots/pans. Your lids wouldn't stack like mine, however. I also nest five cast iron pans separated by pieces of cereal box cardboard in another drawer. I admit that I had to reinforce the drawer glide screws after that drawer crashed to the bottom of the cabinet from the weight.

I'm looking at the steps required to retrieve the pan and lid you need:
1. open right door all the way
2. open left door all the way
3. pull out bottom rack to get a pan
4. close bottom rack (make sure it closes all the way)
5. pull out top rack to get a lid
6. close top rack (make sure you push it in all the way)
7. close left door
8. close right door

Drawers - even if you need to nest a few pots and pans, and store lids in a separate drawer - work like this:
1. open drawer
2. lift 1 or 2 pans to get the one you need (if necessary)
3. close drawer
4. open drawer, remove lid
5. close drawer

If you keep lids and pans in the same drawer, you're down to 3 steps. Remember that all the steps need to be repeated when you put things away. I think the answer is clear!

Love my wide drawers for storng pots/pans, and my drawer within-a-drawer for the covers.

Another vote for drawers.

I have something similar to the top rack for lids. It works fine. For the bottom, you pans have to fit their spacing. Mine would not.

Copper will not work with induction, unless it's steel clad on the bottom.

I agree with the wide drawers as well as heavy duty glides. I like keeping the lid on its appropriate pan.

My first thought seeing the picture is that those kinds of metal pullouts always get crud in the glides and don't slide well. I suppose one could disassemble and lubricate regularly, but there's usually plenty enough to maintain in a kitchen without adding such a tiresome task. The others have well covered the concerns I'd have.

Re induction, it's steel or iron you need, not copper. Stainless clad with copper or copper and aluminum is great. Pans with just a steel slug will work, but not work well. Cast iron is fab. Carbon steel is instantly reactive. Enamelled steel or iron are great, and the multi-layer stainless. If you're buying new, get the new that works the best. There are many fairly recent threads about it which include reviews of pans in all price ranges that are optimal for induction. None are copper forward. An "induction plate" is the same thing as putting your non-induction pot in a frying pan to cook. It'll get hot. Sort of.

If storage space is really lacking, you might consider a nesting set like Magma where there are a couple of detachable handles and lids that work for multiple pots.

That looks very like a great use of space, but way too fussy!

We also have an induction range and it’s awesome! I don’t think I could go back to gas or certainly not electric.

I have a glideware pull out rack for storage. It is absolutely not the most efficient use of space, but it is so easy to keep everything organized.

Unfortunately even the deepest drawers available from our cabinet line could not accommodate my cookware, so I do have one cabinet with roll out shelves.... but it is absolutely my least favorite cabinet and I wish that I had something else. Anything else.

I also think it would depend on your cookware, mine would never fit in that, I have a conglomeration of old Griswold cast iron, some LeCrueset, a couple of All Clad, one non-stick Aerternum, some stainless Calphalon. I also have some copper but it's pretty so it hangs on the wall where I can see it.

I don't have drawers and I do have some roll out shelves but they'd never handle the weight of my heavy pans, I just keep things in those like spices, coffee paraphernalia, paper goods, things that don't weigh much. I learned the hard way after one of the rolling shelves just fell down into the bottom of the cabinet with the fasteners for the tracks pulled out of the cabinets by the weight on the shelf.

I do have one of those "corner" stackers and I keep some things on it, like small skillets and griddles, but it won't hold anything as tall as a sauce pan.

I do like the idea of using upper space by adding a second layer for lids, but two drawers, one deeper for pans and one less deep for lids would work better in the same space, I think.

Annie

If you are redoing your kitchen make sure all your lower cabinets are drawers. Much more efficient and easier to get to your pots and pans.

In my last kitchen back in 2010, everyone said all drawers and I got some drawers but didn't listen 100% to what everyone was saying. Instead I mixed it up with some rollouts similar to what you're showing. I quickly learned those who had told me to go with all drawers had been right.

Fast forward to my new house and my new kitchen I just moved into. Every single lower cabinet is a drawer with the exception of the one under my prep sink. Even under my clean up sink I have pull outs. Trust me when I say it's so much easier to reach down and pull out a drawer versus bending down to pull shelves out of a cabinet.

And the drawers give me so much more storage space than cabinets with rollouts.

I even did drawers for my corner cabinet!

Re Annie's thought about two drawers, one for pots, one for lids: she's right if you have the height. You can get an inner drawer inside a deep drawer in less exterior vertical space and the same interior space, as if it were two drawers. I did that in my under oven drawers, and it works very well. I can fit everything I wanted to, even if there's the small hassle of opening one drawer after another.

Thanks everyone! Yes, we are definitely going with all drawers as much as possible as I'll have very few uppers. I had a lot of drawers previously and used those cabinets much more than the ones I had with roll out shelves.

In our last house I had my pots and pans nested in large drawers under my gas rangetop but DH felt that the nesting contributed to scratching of them. In our current situation, we have a cabinet that has all doors and two shelves underneath and I have them turned and stored into slotted dividers like this one (not mine specificially):

I was hoping for something a little more modern and efficient.

@cpartist, I've been stalking your kitchen reveal post for a couple of days now trying to get my layout nailed down. I LOVE your kitchen, especially those corner drawers :)

Personally, I like storing the lids on top of their specific pots. I don't want to have to leaf through lids to find the right size one. And I like how satisfying pots look stored in a drawer with their lids. I do have 3 lids that are "orphans" that I use when a frying pan needs a lid. I just store those few (and it's important to cull your cookware for your new kitchen - it is so liberating and satisfying to get rid of non-used cookware clutter--but I digress!) in the corner of one drawer. Works for me.

"but DH felt that the nesting contributed to scratching of them."

Edited to add: I do not nest pots; that is not good as your DH says. But I do nest frying pans. I bought pot holders and silicon trivets at the dollar store, and put them between each nested pan. I think I read that tip on this forum. It works great, no scratching.

P.S. Another tip - line your pots/pans drawers with drawer liner so the pots/pans don't scratch up the drawers, and also they won't slide around in the drawer when you open and close it.

RE: The scratching from nesting pots/pans - I will usually use either a clean dish towel or potholder (that I will likely need when using that pot anyway) to help cushion. I do this with my enameled cast iron Dutch oven now, to keep the lid from chipping while storing/moving the pan. I also did it with my larger pans when I had a super small area in my last apartment (there was no choice but to stack them, and it also solved the 'where to put pot holders' question.

This is what ours look like.

Actually put dividers on a pull out drawer like my drawer under my cleanup sink! Then you can have them sideways like your hubby prefers and do an upper drawer to store the lids. I think that would work!

@cpartist, I've been stalking your kitchen reveal post for a couple of days now trying to get my layout nailed down. I LOVE your kitchen, especially those corner drawers :)

Thank you and I LOVE my corner drawers.

Here's what I'm talking about.

https://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/store/product/rev-a-shelf-reg-2-tier-cookware-organizer/3259182?skuId=43200405&&enginename=google&mcid=PS_googlepla_nonbrand_storage_online&product_id=43200405&adtype=pla&product_channel=online&adpos=1o5&creative=224167031473&device=c&matchtype=&network=g&mrkgadid=3140839831&mrkgcl=609&rkg_id=0&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIyNShgb7r4AIViYrICh16PAl1EAQYBSABEgIfofD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

@shead, imagine the storage you posted above in your previous house, but in a drawer - it's easy to access everything from above. That's what I put in my kitchen and I love it. My drawers are 33" wide, interior, with pegs to separate/customize pan storage. The deepest drawer is 14" deep, and that's where skillets live. Some lids sit in the front of the deep drawer (separated by pegs), and others sit on their pots in the middle drawer (~7" deep).

@cpartist, I saw that one you linked - is that the one you use? I doesn’t seem to differ a whole lot from what I posted originally except it’s on a pullout, which I’d definitely do instead of two doors, if done at all.

Decisions, decisions....it doesn’t help that my whole layout has just fallen apart due to plumbing and measurement issues :(

How does putting pots/pans/lids into a metal racking system with metal slots not have more of a chance of scratching them? Seems to me if scratching is the issue that drawers and no nesting would be the best option.

@cpartist, I saw that one you linked - is that the one you use? I doesn’t seem to differ a whole lot from what I posted originally except it’s on a pullout, which I’d definitely do instead of two doors, if done at all.

No I keep mine in regular drawers. I have enough drawers that are wide enough that I don't have to nest my pots/pans. I keep the lids on the pots/pans inside the drawers.

I showed that as a solution IF you decided that putting them in drawers was not an option for you but personally, I prefer the drawers. Easier to get stuff in/out of.

Decisions, decisions....it doesn’t help that my whole layout has just fallen apart due to plumbing and measurement issues :(

May I suggest you post your floor plan with all measurements to make sure you're on the right track? and let us know about the issues.

@rantontoo, my assumption was that storing them vertically inside the slots reduces the chance of scratches inside the pots and pans where the actual cooking surfaces are. Nesting, without any type of cushion between, has the outer bottom of one pan resting on the inside bottom of the one below making the one underneath more prone to getting scratched. In my case, I won't have unlimited drawers to store a lot of pots and pans so I'm trying to be efficient in storage space of them. I just wasn't sure if this contraption was the best way to accomplish my goals.

Another vote for drawers and for storing pots with their lid on them. That's what I've had since I remodeled my kitchen back in 2004. Never regretted it.

I think that cabinets with pull outs are great if you already have cabinets and can't switch to drawers. But I would never plan them specifically in a remodel when drawers are available.

I believe you can buy inserts for drawers if you need them, so you might investigate that. However, I would always prefer "free form" where I'm not limited by a configuration unless I can customize that configuration myself, and even then, it has to be fairly cheap so that I don't regret the money spent when I buy new pots (or whatever) that end up not fitting.

Cabinets with pullouts are also nice for pantry cabinets. You can fit more in, and you can see your whole pantry, rather than opening and closing drawers looking for what the kids put in the wrong place. :)

For pots and pans, it's very hard to beat a really good pot rack. Easy to quickly find the pot/pan one wants, easy to put back after washing, and always just "right there" where one needs it. I could not live in a kitchen without a pot rack. I have the very first one I ever bought when we bought our first house in 1969. It was an extravagance but oh my how I love it!

My yardman just finished polishing the three copper pans that hang on this rack. I rarely use them anymore, but oh how I love the look of copper pots and pans hanging! That little one right up front is an antique colander for washing berries. So darned cute and very useful as well. I don't have to get out the huge stainless one for a cup of berries! I found it on eBay.

For pots and pans, it's very hard to beat a really good pot rack. Easy to quickly find the pot/pan one wants, easy to put back after washing, and always just "right there" where one needs it. I could not live in a kitchen without a pot rack. I have the very first one I ever bought when we bought our first house in 1969. It was an extravagance but oh my how I love it!

My yardman just finished polishing the three copper pans that hang on this rack. I rarely use them anymore, but oh how I love the look of copper pots and pans hanging! That little one right up front is an antique colander for washing berries. So darned cute and very useful as well. I don't have to get out the huge stainless one for a cup of berries! I found it on eBay. Of course, I'd kill for this!

You can make your own drawer dividers fairly simply using Lee Valley drawer dividers. If you don't want to put them into the wood of the drawers themselves you can always line the perimeter of your drawers with 1/4 inch wood to install the dividers into.

Another vote for drawers : ) Please take cpartist's advice and post your plans - She and others on the Kitchen forum certainly helped us design our kitchen layout for the better.

2Many, you're right - I've used Lee Valley dividers for 2 drawers in my kitchen, and one in my Mom's kitchen. My utensil drawer has spaces appropriately sized for the items I keep there - and because it's logical, they actually get put back in the right place (no matter who puts them away).

I have that organizer. It fits an entire set of pots and then some. It’s not expensive. Best of all, it fits in a 24” base cabinet. I don’t have room for massive drawers to lay out all my pots with their lids on them. I hate stacking things. The dividers are adjustable. However, they don’t stay put. If several pots are missing, the dividers might slide and another pot will fall. If my husband puts the pots away in the wrong spots, the lids might get tangled. When I have enough money (ha) I’m going to replace it with this:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B002XOT9WG/ref=ox_sc_saved_image_8?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1&th=1

I have that organizer. It fits an entire set of pots and then some. It’s not expensive. Best of all, it fits in a 24” base cabinet. I don’t have room for massive drawers to lay out all my pots with their lids on them. I hate stacking things. The dividers are adjustable. However, they don’t stay put. If several pots are missing, the dividers might slide and another pot will fall. If my husband puts the pots away in the wrong spots, the lids might get tangled. When I have enough money (ha) I’m going to replace it with this:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B002XOT9WG/ref=ox_sc_saved_image_8?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1&th=1

For cpartist and others, I posted a layout last night. Here's the link: Kitchen Layout