Plinth drawers in the kitchen

liberty_lily

FreeBear said:

travis-powers said:

I’ve fitted a couple,  normally under the oven I’m sure you have to have a decor panel each side for the running gear.

I have a drawer under my cooker. Not deep enough for anything more than a couple of baking trays.

I can see a bunch of problems fitting drawers to the plinth - The legs would get in the way, and there would have to be side panels added to take the drawer slides.. That said, it may be possible to get drawer units with an overhead runner system. Still don't think they would be practical though.

We deliberately chose a 90cm bertazzoni 'professional' range cooker with a drawer underneath (the cheaper bertazzonis have a fixed panel instead) so there would be little wasted space and we'd have additional storage for baking trays/tins. Ours can fit 1 x large and 3 x medium roasting tins, a couple of grill inserts, pizza trays, baking sheets and a few small foil trays. All my baking tins are in a deep drawer in the island immediately opposite the range they didn't fit 🙄

Our kitchen is entirely drawers except for some open shelving, one wall cabinet and a plate rack..oh and the cupboard under the belfast sink, which in a previous kitchen was also a pull-out drawer - a far better design imho.

Like Doozergirl, we are fortunate to have sufficient space for a large larder cupboard to store food etc, but even (especially) in a smaller room I'd be trying to find the most efficient use of the kitchen area rather than just replicating what you currently have. 

I can't imagine being able to fit a huge amount in plinth drawers, but otoh I appreciate that when space is limited any additional storage ideas are welcome!

grumbler

I have two in my 20y.o. small DIY Ikea kitchen.

I wish I could have more, but only 60cm were available.

liberty_lily

grumbler said:

I have two in my 20y.o. small DIY Ikea kitchen.

I wish I could have more, but only 60cm were available.

Those do look like they might be quite difficult to access/open particularly being so close to the floor....or perhaps that's just me with my antiquated knees/back, lol 😆 

scottishblondie

I got my Dad to DIY these into the kitchen at my old house.  Not sure if I have any pictures, but he built little pods containing drawer boxes to a custom size to fit to the space between the legs of each base unit.  I put them everywhere there wasn't an obstruction.  He cut the plinth up to make the fronts, using iron on edging to finish the raw edges.  I chose handles that fitted over the top of the front, so the handle was completely hidden by the overhang of the base unit above.

I found them really useful - yes, they are shallow, but I could fit all sorts of baking trays, cake decorating stuff, tea towels etc into them.  And they definitely blended in - the movers never noticed they were there and left all the stuff in them, and the new owners didn't realise they were there until I pointed them out.

In short, I think they're great.  Would definitely recommend for additional storage in a small kitchen.

deannagone

I've always thought of them as kickboard drawers but I can see online they are called plinth drawers.  I'd make my own to be honest.

GDB2222

Thanks, all. Some really used food for thought.

Edit: I meant useful.

TELLIT01

The tower unit for our double oven and microwave was specified to have one.  The kitchen installation was done when we were on holiday and it was only when we returned we discovered it wasn't there.  It was intended for storing baking trays and roasting tins.  Damn annoying and there was nothing we could really do about it by that stage.  Maybe they are a myth after all.  We didn't bother complaining as it really wouldn't have achieved anything.  The installer was adamant that there weren't any components left over after the install.