Drawer runners
Full-extension runners so the back of the drawer is reachable, with soft-close where applicable. Load rating matters on deep pot drawers and on wide island drawers — we specify for the drawer, not for the invoice.
Storage & hardware
Kitchen storage and hardware that suits how you cook
Storage is where a kitchen is won or lost. This is how we plan it — and the hardware that decides whether the kitchen still feels good to use in a decade.
Planning first
We plan storage around what you own
At the consultation we go through the kitchen you have now: what's crammed in, what lives on the bench because there's nowhere for it, what you have to move to reach something else. That conversation shapes the cabinetry more than any style preference does.
Because we manufacture the cabinetry ourselves in Mitchell, storage isn't limited to standard module sizes. A drawer bank can be the width the wall gives us, and an internal layout can be built for the appliance that's going in it.
Storage decisions
The choices that decide how the kitchen works
- 01
Drawers instead of cupboards
A base cupboard puts everything you own behind everything else. A drawer brings the contents to you. For pots, pans, crockery, containers and pantry goods, drawers win almost every time — which is why most of our base runs are drawer banks rather than doors with a shelf inside.
- 02
Where cupboards still make sense
Tall or awkward items — trays, boards, stand mixers, small appliances you want out of sight, the vacuum — belong behind a door. So does anything you reach for rarely. Design is deciding which is which, not applying a rule.
- 03
Drawer bank planning
A three-drawer bank suits crockery, utensils and pantry items; a two-drawer bank with a deep lower drawer suits pots. Getting the split right means measuring what you actually own — we ask about your biggest pot and your tallest bottle for a reason.
- 04
Pantry design
A walk-in pantry needs a door swing and a metre of floor you may not have. A tall cabinet pantry with drawers behind doors usually stores more in less space and keeps everything visible. Both work; the honest comparison happens against your floor plan.
- 05
Bin storage
The bin is used more than any drawer in the kitchen and is planned last more often than anything else. It belongs next to the sink and out of the main walkway, sized for your council bins and the recycling you actually generate.
- 06
Corners
Corners are where kitchens quietly lose storage. Depending on the layout the answer is a corner drawer, a pull-out unit, a blind-corner fitting or — sometimes the right call — a blank return and the storage recovered elsewhere. We show you what each option costs and holds.
- 07
Overhead cabinetry
How high they go, whether they run to the ceiling, and whether lift-up doors suit a low ceiling or an island bench behind you. Overheads to the ceiling remove a dust ledge and add real storage; they also need a step for the top shelf.
- 08
Internal fit-out
Cutlery inserts, knife blocks, tray dividers, spice storage and under-sink layouts around plumbing. Small decisions, made during design and manufactured in, rather than bought later and made to fit.
Hardware
Blum and Hettich, and why we specify them
Runners, hinges and lift systems are the moving parts of a kitchen. They're also the parts most easily downgraded in a quote without anyone noticing.
Hinges and lift systems
Soft-close hinges as standard where applicable, and lift-up systems on overheads where a swinging door would be in the way. Both are adjustable, so doors can be brought back into line after the house has moved a season or two.
Serviceable, not sealed
We choose hardware that can be adjusted or replaced in place. If a runner is damaged later on, the fix is usually a replacement part rather than a new cabinet. Hardware is covered by the applicable manufacturer's warranty.
In practice
Three things we check on every kitchen
Nothing collides
Drawer fronts, appliance doors, the dishwasher and the bin all opening at once, checked in the drawing. A fridge door that can't clear the island is found on paper, not on installation day.
Daily items within one step
Cutlery, crockery, bin, kettle and the pan you use most, all reachable from where you actually stand. Everything else can be further away.
Handles chosen with the doors
Handle, rail or handleless fingerpull changes how a drawer opens and how the kitchen reads. It's decided with the finish schedule, not afterwards.
Keep reading
How we design your kitchen
Measuring, layout, storage planning, 2D plans and 3D drawings before manufacture.
Cabinetry and finishes
How the cabinets holding all of this are made, and how finishes are chosen.
Storage in finished kitchens
Genuine Canberra projects with drawer banks, pantries and island storage.
Get storage planned into your quote
Tell us your suburb and what your current kitchen can't hold. We'll design the storage around it and itemise it in the quote.