Drawers vs. Cabinets in the Kitchen and the Obvious Choice

Last updated on August 13, 2023

Or is it not so obvious? We choose drawers for a better organization, but the decision isn’t always this clear-cut. Here’s our thought process.

Even though cabinets have their advantages, we think that the base cupboards should have all drawers for better kitchen organization and style (even though there are drawer alternatives.)

Many people switch to drawers for everything from pots and pans to dishes and coffee mugs to save kitchen space. Drawers are a popular choice because they can be stacked on top of each other, taking up less floor space than other cabinets and taking up less visual space since they don’t have doors as cabinets do. However, this comes with the cost that items inside may not be easily seen. It is up to you whether this trade-off is worth it.

What's Inside

Pros of Drawers

kitchen drawers

Most people prefer drawers for their cabinets because of space. Mid-tier to high-end cabinets may have storage with drawers versus a built-in rack that does not extend to all items and above, eliminating the use of those items. Drawers with easily accessible handles are more appropriate than a cabinet whose attachments and tools may be difficult to use. A peg system will also decrease clutter in the drawer and separate plates, bowls, cutlery, and spices – giving each section its own

Drawers are better for the use of space and keeping items in place, just because you don’t have to worry about the items falling over, and they can be pulled out all the way so that you can see what’s inside. The disadvantage is that drawers need to be emptied from time to time.)

Drawers are better for ergonomics than cabinets since you only need one hand to open them, while with cabinets, you need two.

Drawers are easier to use than cabinets and harder to reach because they are within easy reach. One advantage is that you don’t have to awkwardly reach for something on an upper cabinet or stretch for something in the back of a shelf.

Drawers can contain items such as dishes, coffee mugs, or utensils. They also have a variety of inserts, such as a peg system that keeps the items organized. The benefit of drawers is that they offer less traffic flow in the kitchen, and it’s easier to gain access to them without opening an entire door and pulling out a shelf like one would need to do with cabinets.

Drawers are more convenient than cabinets. The deep lower cabinets are a big inconvenience because it means one can easily lose items in the back of it, and it is time-intensive to go through all objects to find one item at the back. Drawers provide greater convenience because you will not have to crawl or kneel to get what you want, sliding out completely from under whatever else is in there.

Drawers are better than cabinets for organizing. You can put dividers in the drawer and stack plates, bowls, pans, lids, and utensils inside with drawers. This makes the drawer much easier to organize as each item won’t be all jumbled together, making it more difficult to find what you are looking for Drawers are better than cabinets as they allow for more organization. Dividing items inside a piece of the cabinet can cause dishes to fall over.

Drawers make better use of space. Drawers have many advantages over cabinets because they are stackable and usable-space maximizing, which means that you could replace them with two shelves of drawer space wherever you would put one shelf. Drawer space is more accessible too because most of them come with a track at the bottom, which makes organizing easy – pull open the drawer to find whatever’s inside easily instead of having to clear away other objects on a shelf, which has been coated with years’ worth of dust from lack of cleaning.

Drawers can be a more modern option. If the design has deep drawers, this is more visually appealing than lower cabinets. Different designs of drawers offer new trends and an updated feel when choosing draws in place of lower cabinets. This will help break up your design’s monotony if you plan on keeping traditional taller upper cabinets or choosing open shelving to fill in for the extra space lost in storage at the top.

Pros of Cabinets

kitchen cabinets

Base cabinets with doors and rollout shelves are more suited to storing pots and pans, but the shallow shelves suit small appliances such as mixers. If you’re trying to store kitchen items that don’t fit well into a drawer or on a surface top, then rolling shelving is the safest bet for your design needs.Cabinets have deeper containers than drawers, making them better for storing things that can’t fit on surfaces or in horizontal drawers such as a mixer. If you

Cabinets and open shelving are easier to access for storage.

Shallower drawers cannot store large things. You can stack pots and pans in deep drawers, but it isn’t easy to find them. In this case, the cabinets are much better to store large items.

One of the advantages of cabinets over drawers is that when storing food containers, cupboards with shelves are better than drawers because there is more room in a cabinet. Drawers have four sides, while cupboards only have two, meaning that they take up more room.

The durability of cabinets is better than that of drawers because drawers often come off the rails or become stuck. We had a drawer in our kitchen where the face had completely broken off and would need to buy a new drawer altogether. With cabinets, IKEA only sells whole units for repairs if needed, and it’s hard to get just one drawer with these big-sized ones.

Since using doors can show the contents more easily, they are great for storing jars or spices. Drawers may not be as practical because of their size; however, they can also offer customized options such as installing a rollout shelf for pots and pans. Consider all your storage options before making a decision.

There are many reasons people like cabinets better, but the main reason is that they are cheaper than a set of drawers. They get their name because drawers have to be stripped of the frame before installation.

How to Keep the Drawers Organized

kitchen drawer organizer

Use drawer organizers. To keep the dishes in place, add dividers that segment the drawer into zones. They keep items organized and look like they are built into the drawers. In deep drawers, you can stack them to create deep dividers for your pots, pans, and bowls because the dividers are short.

FAQ

Are kitchen drawers more expensive than cabinets?

Kitchen drawers are more expensive than cabinets because there are more of them and they use more expenmsive hardware to function.

How many drawers should a kitchen have?

Experts suggest that we should have at least one drawer per cabinet.

Can you turn kitchen cupboards into drawers?

Yes, you can turn cupboards into drawers by adding the required hardware and getting the drawers themselves.

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