Storage Solutions: Kitchen Drawers
Every kitchen has them: kitchen drawers. And no matter how many or few you have, they contain all of the stuff you need and they can either be dysfunctional and hard to find things or organized and contained, keeping everything easily within reach. We obviously prefer the latter. Here, we are sharing our favorite storage solutions for all of the kitchen drawers in your kitchen.
Junk Drawers
Everyone has one and no one wants to admit it: the junk drawer. You’re lucky if you can get away with having only one junk drawer, have more, and have no shame.
One of my favorite ways to handle junk drawers is by using an in-drawer outlet, which we use in almost all of our kitchen designs. It not only keeps junk contained, but it also keeps devices hidden away and charged thanks to the outlets inside the drawers.
But aside from outlets, I am here to share a few other ideas for keeping those junk drawers few and far between, and as organized as they can be.
1. Contain the clutter. Try to keep all of the miscellaneous items you need or have in your kitchen in one place. This means you will need to take everything out of your junk drawer(s) and pair it down, organize it, and put it back. If there are items you can get rid of, it’s time to do so! If there are items that you don’t need in the kitchen, put them somewhere else — in an organized way of course.
2. Purchase organizing items like drawer dividers and small containers to keep the items that are going back in this drawer contained within the drawer. I also like keeping charging cables tidy using velcro wraps, or even just a rubber band works!
3. If you can, invest in an in-drawer outlet. We love using these because it not only keeps cords contained and hidden, it also keeps devices like your mobiles, headphones, and iPads hidden away and fully charged.
Utensil and Knife Drawers
Every kitchen has utensils and knives, and they can add up! Here are some of our favorite ways to keep the utensil and knife drawers in your kitchen organized.
1. Slats are your friend. Whether they are built into the drawers like the ones shown here, or if you purchase them after your cabinets have been installed, keeping your utensils and knifes separate is key not only for organization but also to keep them in tip-top shape.
2. Another way to organize utensils and cooking tools in a drawer is to keep them upright. This requires a taller drawer or pullout like the below. We also love this for keeping these items off of your countertops and contained.
3. We love an in-drawer knife block for both steak and chef knives. These can be combined into one block, or separated out with the steak knives in a small block with the flatware.
Drawers for Pots and Pans
Pots and pans can be hung on a rack, stacked in a drawer, or on a shelf, but we love a good pot and pan drawer made specifically to hold all those pots, pans, and lids. Here are a few examples of how we like to do it!
Dish Drawers
Long gone are the days when your only way to store dishes is in a wall cabinet with shelves. We love a good, deep drawer for dish storage, and we especially love one with removable pegs like these that you can customize to fit your dishes. No matter what size or how many, they will easily fit into a deep drawer and the pegs will keep them organized, but also from sliding around and getting chipped or broken.
Drawers for Pantry Items
A kitchen pantry is a beautiful thing, but a pantry with drawers may be life-changing. We have designed pantries with drawers for a myriad of things, and we want to share a few of them with you now in hopes it will inspire you.
1. Make sure, like with any pantry reorg, you take everything out you want to store in your pantry and assess what you need and get rid of what you don’t.
2. Take inventory of what drawers you have and plan what you want to use them for before you start to put items back.
3. Round up any items you may need to make these drawers work best for you and your needs. (I try to reuse food tins, boxes, or even old plasticware containers to avoid purchasing everything new.) If you are undergoing a kitchen redesign, now is the time to talk to your cabinet maker or kitchen designer about what your needs are for your pantry drawers.
Spice Drawer
If you like to cook, you can gather quite a collection of spices over time, but how do you keep them well organized and easily know what you have on hand? Enter the spice drawer. Ask your cabinet builder to include a spice drawer, or you can measure and purchase one on Etsy, Amazon, or Perigold.
Freezer Drawer
A freezer drawer may be one of the best-kept secrets in a kitchen. I love using them in pantries, coffee bars, drinks bars, or rec rooms. In my kitchen, we used them in place of the standard freezer column.
Here are a couple of examples of how we have used freezer drawers in our kitchen designs.
Specialty Drawers
There are a million other ways you can use drawers in your kitchen. Here are a few custom drawer designs that are home for vitamins, tea, oils, paper towels, candles, and more!
Pet Drawers
Last, but not least, who could forget about our pets? They are part of the family too, and use the kitchen just as much as the rest of us. That’s why whenever there is a pet in a home, I like to incorporate pet drawers into the kitchen design. Here are a few examples to keep their items hidden away, but within arm’s reach.
1. We love a pot filler for the dog’s water! It’s such a convenient way to fill up the bowl without having to walk to the sink.
2. Drawers are an unexpectedly easy place for a dog food bin, especially when it is custom crafted like this one to fit directly beneath the dog food bowl.
3. A toe kick drawer can serve as an out-of-the-way spot for your kitty to enjoy meals and can be kicked closed when not in use.
