When did this stop being a thing? (Kitchens)

[Stephisaur]

So we are looking at replacing our tired 1960s fitted kitchen. It's very robust but, frankly, could just do with dragging into the 21st century.

I've realised that, at some point, drawers above kitchen base cabinets (as in, between the cabinet and the worktop) seem to have disappeared from modern kitchen design entirely.

I hadn't really thought about it, but I've since realised that I hadn't seen it in a kitchen for YEARS until we bought this house.

So... when did they fall out of fashion? 😂

Mine is 17 years old and has drawers. Lots of them! It's a U shape, this is one side
Altogether there is 14 cupboards, 2 double drawers and 7 normal

I’ve got one of these, it is a wretched nuisance to open two things instead of one.

i really used to like some single drawer cupboards ,so useful for smaller things which you need during cooking but don’t want to leave out.

You can fit pullout baskets inside a cupboard , which is better than nothing.

I have a cutlery drawer under the worktop. Seems normal.

@2023shady you can never have enough cupboards. I kept telling DH that but he wouldn't listen, now he complains about no work surface 🙄

Thanks OP! I will try to dig one up for you. I am self taught artist/ diy of everything under the sun and take great pleasure (and time) in doing not showing!

My new kitchen (worktops going in on Monday) is mostly drawers. Its just how you configure your plan, but they are more expensive than cupboards as are the clever storage units.

New build here, drawer above each cabinet...

The trouble with a dedicated set of drawers is that (as shown in the photo of one above) the sides of the lower ones are open, so you can't store loads of smaller stuff in them without it all slithering out sideways. You know - random utensils, packets of crisps, freezer bags, cling film, pastry cutters, jar openers, string, the 'big' scissors, spare oven gloves etc etc. The endless kitchen clutter that has to go somewhere.

DIY Kitchens have definitely got units with a drawer above the cabinet, so they are available even if they're not very popular.

If you have an existing kitchen, you can just buy new doors

I have a drawer above each cupboard ( including the magic corner one) and the washer / dishwasher have doors on them which look the same, i.e. with a fake drawer front. Aesthetically it does work.

I have ALL drawers under my worktop (except under the sink) and mostly pull out larders elsewhere. It was VERY expensive... but totally worth it!

Last time we did ours I remember the man in Magnet making a big deal about the fact that our chosen kitchen had drawer-line units which he insisted was a sign of quality. I was a complete pain in the arse when we moved house later as I’d be side eyeing any kitchens without drawer-line units. Tbf, the budget ranges do tend to just have a cupboard then you buy a drawer pack. I doubt I’d have noticed when we were buying a kitchen if the salesman made such a deal of it, but once the kitchen had been installed minus the drawers I’d be all bereft wondering where to stash my tat.

Exactly the same as PPs! When we had our kitchen redone a few years ago, not a drawer was in sight.

I was having NONE of that, as a total 70s child this was completely wrong to me! The result was the biggest, fattest, widest drawers ever. And I bloody love them! (apologies - I should have wiped off the olive oil fingerprint that I only spotted after taking the photo).

my kitchen is a u shape. one wall is floor to ceiling- this stores integrated fridge and freezer. large double pull out pantry and oven with drawer storage underneath. Next row has three of drawers with three drawers in each. bottome 2 are large and top row is narrow. top rows hold cutlery and cooking utensils in 2 and other is actually a pull out plug that you can charge everything and hide all the wires (best ever) next row then is dishwasher pull out bins and two presses ( sorry cupboards ) under sink. all looks good . had narrow small drawers that you mention.in old rental and couldn't bear them. tiny and in practical for us. the wider narrower ones work best. alswel as big drawers like saucepan drawers can keep everything tidy and see things. currently building and kitchen will be one wall of floor to ceiling passers combination of pull out pantry storage for toaster etc. built in oven fridge and freezer then island combination of drawers with built in dishwasher.

We got our kitchen from Magnet 3 years ago and have plenty of drawers just below the worktop! I love them and they’re definitely available. Possibly more expensive than just cupboards but definitely still a thing!

@toomanyboxes my drawers all have sides, even the bottom ones. In my case it is glass on the sides

Ours are all drawers. The drawers have wooden sides on so nothing falls out. Pan drawers, cups in drawers, glasses, cutlery

Our small kitchen area in rental is all drawers. Even the dishwasher, fridge has three fake drawer fronts so aesthetically it all looks the same as it’s a small open plan area.

I like the old ones but DIY seem to do them still
https://www.diy-kitchens.com/kitchen-units/base/drawerline/

Every base cupboard in our kitchen has a drawer on top. It was installed about 25 years ago (at a guess) and I’ve never seen so many drawers in a kitchen. We have 9 base cupboards, so 9 drawers. I use each and every one of them to capacity 😀

I’ve only got base 2 cupboards on a 6.5m run, everything else is wide and deep drawers. Loads of storage.

Definitely. It's an apartment with no other storage so thankfully the builders went a bit mad in the kitchen!

It’s a cost thing - drawers are expensive. We have two sets of pan drawers and one 500mm drawer stack. We also have two over cupboard drawers as it made design sense, but it would be ££ to put a drawer in every unit, and so it’s fallen out of favour.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, when we recently moved we inherited a 15+ yr old kitchen with fake drawer panels on the base cabinets. You know the ones designed to look like they’re continuing a row of drawers but are actually just a cupboard with two handles on. Even on the dishwasher. Bloody silly. Can’t wait to replace.