Pull out shelves vs drawers

[Michael Weber]

Another thread here got me thinking about the above subject since I'm in the slow process of building my lower cabinets. What, if any, are advantages of building the pull out shelves vs real drawers? It seems drawers require only one operation to access (open drawer) instead of two (open door then pull out shelf). Due to the popularity of pull out shelves perhaps I'm overlooking something.

[Joe O'Connor]

I have all drawers in the kitchen I built and really like it.

[Garth Almgren]

I think it's purely an economic decision - it seems like it would be cheaper to mass-produce all the base cabinets the same with hinge doors and add pull-outs later if the customer wants them.
If you're building from scratch, I'd go with drawers for the same reason you stated (one motion vs. two).

[David Eisenhauer]

I highly recommend drawers instead of doors/shelves/pull out shelves. It is so much easier to access the contents of full-extension drawers vs shelves. Combined with the self-closing, soft-close slides......... heaven without dropping to bended knees to get the chili pot out that always seems to gravitate towards the back of a shelf.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

In the new kitchen we just finished, my wife and the cabinet maker decided on both. The pullout shelves/very low wall (2") drawers are handy for pantry type items and cooking pots/pans. The drawers are handy for storing things like towels, kitchen utensils, and other small items.

The thing that I insisted on was that if they pulled out, they be full extension, both drawers and shelves.

My wife loves them.

[Brian Tymchak]

In the new kitchen we just finished, my wife and the cabinet maker decided on both. The pullout shelves/very low wall (2") drawers are handy for pantry type items and cooking pots/pans. The drawers are handy for storing things like towels, kitchen utensils, and other small items.

The thing that I insisted on was that if they pulled out, they be full extension, both drawers and shelves.

My wife loves them.

+1. We have some cabinets with the pull out shelves with a low lip, maybe 1". A lot easier to "fly in" and "fly out" those pots and pans than to be restricted with tall walls. You can also get away with the occasional pot handle hanging out over the edge of the shelf.

[William C Rogers]

I redid (refaced cabinets with new doors) for my kitchen in my old house before selling with pull outs as drawers were not an option. The cabinets I built in my new house I went with all drawers below the counter where I could. For my pantry cabinet I did pull outs above two 12" bottom drawers. This works best for me, however for below the counter I much prefer drawers. The pantry cabinet is 6' X 8' with 8 pullouts.
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[Davis Young]

With pull out shelves, you can adjust the height and spacing of shelves. This is helpful if you are not sure what will be stored there now and in the future. Drawers and their drawer fronts limit that flexibility. There could also be an aesthetic consideration. If for example the cabinet is in the middle of a run of cabinets with hinged doors, then pull out shelves behind a full door won't interrupt the continuity.

[Bob Grier]

I am remodeling kitchen and have most cabinets installed for 3 months or so. The island is not finished yet. I agree with Davis and others that combination works well. What I don't like is shelves in base cabinets. Drawers along the top of base cabinets with stacks of drawers in certain locations works well. Short pullouts behind single or double doors for most of the base works well. I struggled with the question of all drawers or not because of my distaste of shelves and ended up going with the pullouts in 4 cabinets and drawers in 3 cabinets. The corner cabinet has something else. It is pullout contraption and I am thinking it is a nonstarter but we will see. I really like the sink cabinet. One side has trash drawer that holds recycle and garbage buckets. The other side is normal open the door to the under sink cabinet. The trash drawer opens as normal drawer or it can be touched with knee or hand and it opens. It has a flipper behind it that senses when to open the drawer. To accommodate the trash drawer, I installed a single 32" sink with the drain on one side so there wouldn't be a plumbing conflict with the trash cans. There are 17 drawers not counting trash drawer and 12 pullouts (3 in each of 4 sets).

Pullouts are easily adjustable if using the 32mm system or something similar. Just move the side mount standoffs up or down to a different set of holes. If undermount sliders are used, the bottom ones can be screwed to the bottom of the cabinet to save a little space and couple dollars. I am not sure if there is more usable space going with pullouts vs drawers. That might depend on type of construction.

[Michael Zerance]

Roll-out trays are great for a retrofit but the drawers are the best option if starting from scratch. Unless you have a pantry cabinet, in which case, I would go with the roll-out trays.

However, I think it is a more contemporary and modern look with all drawers vs a traditional look with doors. So, you may want to consider that as well. A base run full of drawers looks very modern (in my opinion):
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[Michael Weber]

Thanks everyone. Lots of good points. We're trying to keep it a bit retro looking (built in 1925) and Michael's point about all drawers looking modern is something I had not considered.

[glenn bradley]

Pullouts are great for bulky items like pots and pans, small kitchen appliances that get taken out and put away often, large storage containers that may change over time, etc. If someone in your family (who shall remain nameless in mine) has the tendency to over-stuff drawers and shelves, skip the pullouts. They lose advantage if things fall over the sides and block the tracks or get caught on the pullout below. I have learned that the condition that causes over-stuffing is incurable. Sad but true. Let us pity those afflicted and those that must live with them :D.

If you go with pullouts, use these (https://www.fastcap.com/estore/pc/viewPrd.asp?idproduct=44&idcategory=0) right off the bat. I'm confused by Fast-Cap's price. I bought them for about 35 cents each; must've been another supplier.

[Robert Engel]

When I built my kitchen I put pullouts in all the lower cabs.

One cab in particular is a double door and kind of a PITA. Plus the inside of the door end up getting scraped.

If I had it to do over, I would do drawers.

That being said, your design issues may not give you a choice.

[Richard McComas]

I'm in the all drawer camp. Did this on our last kitchen ( a couple years ago). Both the wife and I are very happy with our decision.

[Jim Becker]

I made the "mistake" of pullouts on my kitchen island initially and didn't repeat it with the rest of the cabinetry. For my situation, my doors are inset, so any pullout either had to be much narrower than the opening or the doors had to be able to open completely flush against the cabinet to allow the pullouts to be able to clear the edge of the doors. I much, much prefer real drawers...and am glad my kitchen is focused on them where they were possible. Pullouts are less of a physical problem if you are using overlay doors, of course, but that's not my style.

Oh, and when I did a little refresh of the kitchen a few months ago, two of the pullouts on the island were retrofitted to be drawers with new, shorter doors below them.

[Jeff Heil]

I agree with the other posts, lower cabinets with drawers are much more user friendly. When I started building all the cabinets for our house three years ago we did lots of research and visited many cabinet displays and cabinet shops. We built an entire wall of lowers with just drawers, all 12'. 36" wide units and 24" wide units. Also built two huge drawers under the pantry unit !4" and 12" deep for cereal boxes and the kids snacks that are the favorite drawers in our kitchen. I would do it over again the same way after living with them for 2 1/2 years. Full extension drawer guides make the entire drawer useable.