Kitchen planning - drawers or cupboards for crockery?

[FlossieFrog]

We're planning our new kitchen to replace the 20+ year old kitchen that has been in since before we bought the house.

Trying to decide whether deep drawers are better than cupboards for storing crockery (plates, bowls etc not serving dishes and platters, which most likely will be in separate cupboards).

I think drawers are better, DH thinks cupboards. What does everybody think?

[321zerobaby]

Deep drawers, its so much easier to see what you have, and to lift things in and out.

[limesoda]

Drawers for sure. You can fit loads more into the space.

[SellFridges]

Drawers. They're even better than the cupboards with the contraptions that swing out. I wouldn't ever have cupboards below the counter again.

[PigletJohn]

crockery is very heavy. I suppose you mean pan drawers with racks or dividers?

[Piscivorus]

I replaced my cupboards with deep drawers and would never change back

[FlossieFrog]

PigletJohn - yes strong heavy duty drawers that can take pans. Of course it depends if the kitchen designer can fit them in. Otherwise it will be shallower depth cupboards so at least we shouldn't need to fumble around at the back of the cupboard.

We also have 3 corners to contend with . Need to work out if we can do without Le Mans type contraptions.

[JT05]

Drawers every time! Just got my first kitchen with drawers, they're wonderful for pans, dishes and baking pans/trays.

I have found that corners are best accessed with doors that open, with right angled shelves. I also had the all singing and dancing pull out corner units, they were useless. Things fell off and jammed the mechanism.

[RaisingSteam]

Is one of you tall and one short by any chance?
Deep pan drawers with internal plate racks - look in any Ikea kitchen display. You don't have to have an Ikea kitchen to have the racks. Ask for heavy duty drawer/runners or you will have palpitations when someone yanks it out with your £400+ collection of Denby in it. Serving dishes stack up well in one as well TBH.

Corners, personally I think L shaped unit with offset shelves is most accessible and no mechanism to go wrong or waste space. I've only ever seen these in Magnet but it's a very easy hack for the fitter to do, we had it done for ours at the cost of two extra shelves about £10 each.

Can you design one out? You'd not lose significant space by running one set of units into the corner, 80-90cm gap and then a new run of units. Then all the worktop can be stood in front of, and all the units are properly accessible. I can lose rarely used gadgets and bulky baking tins in one corner unit, but not sure what I'd put in three.

[tootiredtothink]

We don't have any cupboards in our kitchen. Pan drawers for everything and would never go back to cupboards.

[PigletJohn]

steamy

your L-shaped corner unit looks very easy to use. I had walnut units to match the doors, but they make the insides dark. Also it is easier to get into the cupboards with your full-height doors and no drawers in the way. This also applies under sinks where the drawer fronts will be dummies anyway.

[JoJoSM2]

Same here. Drawers all the way. Cupboards are awkward.

[FlamingoSnuffle]

I have drawers for everything, so much easier to get to stuff at the back. Mine are larder base units so the bottom drawer is attached to the door and then I have hidden drawers.

Each drawer could take 25kg so I just weighed a plate and times it by 12 to see how much that weighed. Same for bowls etc.

I have 1 corner unit, L shaped and we put batons inside it and laid a strong piece of wood across it so we have the bottom of the cupboard plus the shelf running in one direction.

[FlossieFrog]

Thanks all.

[YelloDraw]

RaisingSteam love your curved corner unit!

My mum has wide pan drawers - they are ace.

[thisisbloodyridiculous]

We have 2 le mans2 corner cupboards from diy kitchens in our kitchen. One stores crockery and the other pans. We have plenty of drawers too, it just worked out the best use of space for us.

[RaisingSteam]

Its a brochure picture, i don't have a curved corner btw but it works just as well on a standard 90 x 90 corner cabinet. No real kitchen would have so few items in a cupboard!

[helenatroy]

I have cupboards specially sized and they are brilliant. However someone loaned me an apartment for a holiday recently and they had drawers and they were amazing. Had major kitchen envy.

[ShortLass]

helenatroy, can I ask how you find the Le Mans units? The ones by Kessbohmer look really strong, but people up thread don't seem to like them. I'm looking at having one in a tricky corner.

I don't get the modern fad for pan drawers. I like cupboards. No one seems to agree with me, so I may have to agree before ordering my kitchen that I am wrong .

[DeepInFrance]

Drawers for everything. Didn't know what I'd been missing until we installed them as part of the reno. No more time on your hands and knees rooting around at the back of cupboard. Only cupboard is above the wall oven. Used for cookery books and platters.

[lauraknightc]

drawers everytime! I store everything in drawers food, pans, plates, trays... can see everything and I don't have to reach up high with a stack of plates!