Location of dish drawer relative to dishwasher. Help! :)
Sarah R
4 years ago
Hi all, you have been so helpful so I have another question. I have never stored dishes in drawers but love the idea and will do so in our new kitchen. My question is how close should dish drawer be to DW? Is immediately next to it ideal (would you stand in front to unload?) or is it better to have a little space in between to stand? Here are two options— the wide stack of drawers will be for dishes. The smaller stack (will be converted to a stack of drawers in either plan), will have cloth/paper napkins/overflow. Maybe kids’ plates. To the left is the kitchen table. I feel like it looks a little better to have the wide stack closest to the table so it’s underneath the uppers of similar width but don’t want to regret removing it over if it’s more convenient to have it right next to DW (but I’ve never had a drawer for dishes so maybe that isn’t most convenient and better to have space between the DW to stand!). Let me know what you think! Thank you!!
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sushipup1
4 years agowilson853
4 years agoRelated Discussions
18' wide Dishwasher or one Dish Drawer?
Comments (5)I have experience with the benefits of both if that counts? One drawer is about half the internal real estate so it's best suited for singles or a couple who don't use a lot of pans making dinner or prefer to handwash cookware. Otherwise, you'll need to run it twice if you're also washing plates, flatware and cups. A single drawer may leave room for other kitchen storage which is a huge plus. A family of 4+, heavy cooks or folks who entertain often would prefer a full machine at 18" to one drawer in terms of perceived use. I have two drawers in my apartment and I've not wanted to change it in 7 years. At the summer house it's a full-sized machine and b/c we cook and entertain more, it's ideal -- though I'd be happy with two drawers there too. My feeling is an 18" machine would appeal to more peeps for everyday use than a single drawer, unless you know it's for a groovy bachelor pad or non-cooks. Meh, hope that helps....See More2 Dish Washers Different Locations?
Comments (14)I don't have a dog in this hunt: One DW has always been enough for me. But I do know crazy making kitchens. Unlike Loves2cook4six, Jeri is, if I'm not mistaken, talking about a second DW in a different aisle from the other DW, with a barrier island (her words) in the way. I think the problem, more than the dishwashers, is the barrier island! As others have pointed out, a lot of the same prep and cooking utensils get used over and over, even during one day, let alone long enough to have enough to run a whole dishwasher? I totally get the whole use in place, wash in place ethos, but does it work? Let's say you cook an old fashioned breakfast. A saucepan of oatmeal, with stirring spoon, a griddle with meat, pancakes, or whatever, using a spatula and fork. Cut fruit with knife and board. Cook a lunch with a griddle for sandwiches and a saucepan for soup. And a spatula and wooden spoon, cutting board for the veggies plus knife. Dinner salad fixings and cooked veg, cutting board, knife, saucepan for rice, stirring spoon, meat board for cutting up chicken, poultry shears, pan. When do you run the DW? Do you have half a dozen cutting boards for once a day? A few prep knives? (Assuming you put these in the DW.) How many saucepans? And spatulas? Perhaps for your way of living having double and triple of everything and running a moderately populated DW once a day, makes good sense. Otherwise, won't you be tempted to put the breakfast dishes in with the cooking items? Feed the family, fill your plate, eat while it's hot, carry all dishes to the cleanup sink and fill DW, walk around to prep sink and do the pans, etc. I would hate that!! And the kids won't always be around to divide up the tasks, and sometimes the husband has to run--or you do. I'm a clean as you cook-er, but I'm not letting the food get cold doing the dishes at the end, and there isn't always time to put away the ones in the middle while cooking either. And if you leave it to another family member are you sure they're going to be perfectly trained to do these dishes here and those dishes there? My menfolk would remove the spare DW while I was out to get rid of that one! Maybe you could have the second DW opening on the cleanup side of the island, so that you could fill it from the island without having to carry things across, and unload it onto the island so you only have to go around once. Then if things did get into the other DW it would be easy to sort out. Or maybe a drawer dishwasher would suit in the cooking area so that you could just run a little load of cooking utensils, midday, and let the rest of the day's dishes accumulate in the bigger DW? Or maybe rethink the kitchen layout, and make the whole works of the kitchen on one aisle. That is, stove and fridge on the wall, clean up sink and dishwasher(s) across from them on the island. Either a single sink, or even what I just saw in a magazine picture, a cleanup sink and prep sink both, with a few feet of workspace between them. Center the prep area on the window if the view is pretty. Then the whole other aisle can be for storage and extra work areas. I could really like a kitchen like that. That way you get all the function of a galley, instead of all the pain of a barrier....See MoreDish drawer next to dishwasher?
Comments (12)I included a couple of photos so you can see where my dishwasher is. The large bank of drawers to the right of the dishwasher holds my silverware, a lot of the bowls... the cabinet above that holds my glasses, coffee cups, plates, more bowls. The first time I went to unload the dishwasher once I stood in front of my open silverware drawer I had a sudden "uh oh!" moment and for a few seconds I had a sinking feeling I'd made a big mistake and wasn't sure whether it was going to be uncomfortable to unload or not. Fortunately it didn't turn out to be awkward at all. WHEW!!! LOL! I tend to stand in front of the drawer area and reach into the dishwasher... it's close enough to the same angle I'm at when I'm loading the dishwasher while standing in front of my sink. I'm a bit further away from the counter, but not enough to really make a difference. (And yes, I've dealt with pretty bad back problems... when my back is flared up I can load or unload the dishwasher from any angle anyways.)...See MoreNeed Help Measuring for Panels for Fisher Paykel Dish Drawers?
Comments (3)dadoes, Thank you for the response. One clarification. So if your cabinet doors and drawers are the style that overlap the cabinets then I guess the top drawer doesn't match the rest of your drawers if you leave the space. I just have seen a lot of pictures and have not noticed a space at the top. I think there is likely a little room for adjustment when attaching the panels, but I am trying to be as exact as I can be. With regard to the toe kick, I think it is made of plastic and could be trimmed more on my existing dishwasher in order to avoid the hitting of the floor. You are probably right that it is not quite level as well. I notice on the new models when I was calculating the size of the drawer fronts, there is a measurement for a toe kick that you can order when you order your panels. Or maybe the panel ready models don't come with the plastic toe kick and it is something they assume you will order along with your drawer panels. Seems that the point of getting a panel-ready model is to match the cabinets and so I am trying to determine with the information available how best to do that. Seems like there are a lot of unknowns and things could be better explained in the manuals. Again I do appreciate your reply....See More
stillpitpat
4 years ago
bpath
4 years agoSarah R
4 years ago
Annette Holbrook(z7a)
4 years ago
beckysharp Reinstate SW Unconditionally
4 years agofelizlady
4 years agosushipup1
4 years agostillpitpat
4 years agoSarah R
4 years agoberty2121
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