A survey conduced by Eagle Woodworking showed that 57.6% of people feel stress every day due to a cluttered kitchen, while nearly 42% have trouble finding things. If you didn’t have enough reasons to keep things in order before, there’s another one. But it’s often easier said than done. We asked celebrity chef and Peroni enthusiast Giada De Laurentiis how she maximizes her kitchen space and cuts down on clutter. For De Laurentiis, it’s all about drawer space.
“I love custom pull out drawers that are deep enough to hold your pots and pans,” she said. “I also love shallow drawers to hold pantry items. It makes it easy to access all your items while also keeping it clean and organized.”
Deep drawers can seem bulky or take up too much space during a kitchen remodel. But when it comes to finding room for those pots and pans, there are only so many clever storage spaces you can use. You can’t argue against the functionality of deep drawers. Taking De Laurentiis’ second suggestion, you can balance the space by pairing a deep drawer with a shallow drawer above it. We have some ideas for what can go in a shallow drawer here. The key is having a plan for how you’ll organize your drawer space.
Making the most of your space
In a standard four-drawer kitchen cabinet, each drawer is typically five inches deep. These are good for your utensils and smaller kitchen gadgets but not pots and pans. To store large items like that you’ll need at least twice that depth, ideally a drawer that’s 10 to 12 inches deep. In the same space as a stack of four five-inch drawers, you could easily fit one or two deeper drawers for pots and pans. This would also potentially allow for a shallow drawer on top for easy access.
Having the drawer space is one thing, but using it correctly is another. “Cooking in the kitchen should feel like a dance,” De Laurentiis said. “Wooden spoons should be next to the stove, the knife block should be in a drawer by the cutting boards. It should be organized so everything is easy to access for each step of cooking.”
De Laurentiis also makes it clear that standard drawers may not get the job done. She told People, “custom drawers for heavy cast iron skillets and tall pasta pots” are essential for making sure everything is where you need it to be. Keep that in mind for the next time you’re planning a remodel. Standard options aren’t your only choice. We have plenty of tips if you’re planning a DIY remodel, plus some of the things you can avoid.
