Drawer Base Cabinet Sizes, Drawer Heights and Real Prices

A drawer base cabinet is a 34½-inch-tall, 24-inch-deep base cabinet with drawers from top to bottom instead of a door and a shelf, built in widths from 12 to 36 inches in 3-inch steps with two, three or four drawers. In the lines we sell, a 24-inch three-drawer unit currently costs $462.00 in US Cabinet Depot Shaker White (RTA) and $705.25 in Fabuwood Allure Galaxy Frost, roughly 35 to 50 percent more than a door base of the same width. That premium buys back every inch of the cabinet's depth without kneeling.

We sell cabinets and design kitchens for a living, and when customers ask for kitchen base cabinets with drawers, the all-drawer stack is the unit we add most often between first sketch and final order. This guide puts real codes, interior box sizes and spec-book prices on the table, then works through a designer's decisions: how many drawers, how wide, where they go, which slides and boxes you are paying for, and when a door base with roll-outs is the better buy.

Key Takeaways

• Three-drawer units come in the widest range (12″ to 36″ in Fabuwood Galaxy, J&K, KCD Premier and US Cabinet Depot). Two-drawer units start at 24″; four-drawer units stop at 21″ in Galaxy.
• A two-drawer pot base does not have taller boxes. In Galaxy, every lower box is 7″ deep inside whether the cabinet has two or three drawers. You get more headroom above the box sides, and one fewer drawer.
• The drawer box is 19⅝″ deep inside in Fabuwood Allure. Measure your longest skillet, handle included, before choosing the drawer it will live in.
• In Galaxy Frost, a DB24 costs $705.25 and a B24 door base costs $471.25. Fitting that B24 with two full-extension roll-out trays brings it to $997.75, so the drawer base is the cheaper way to get pull-out storage.
• Narrow units cost the most per inch: a Galaxy DB12 is $51.46 per inch of width, a DB30 is $28.17.
• Drawers need clearance. Next to an inside corner, a refrigerator or a wall, plan a filler so the fronts and pulls clear.

Table of Contents

• Sizes at a Glance: Widths, Height and Depth
• Every Drawer Stack We Sell, Line by Line
• Two, Three or Four Drawers: How the Stack Changes the Storage
• Inside the Box: Interior Heights, Widths and Depths
• Pots-and-Pans Drawers: Which Width and Which Stack
• Drawers vs Doors: The Price and Storage Math
• Where Drawer Banks Belong in a Layout
• Slides and Drawer Boxes by Line
• Inserts That Fit Drawer Stacks
• Specialty Versions: Cooktop, ADA, Bench Seat and Vanity
• What a Drawer Base Cabinet Costs
• Ordering Checklist: Codes, Finished Ends and Fillers
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Get Your Drawer Plan Drawn Up

Sizes at a Glance: Widths, Height and Depth

Every framed line we carry builds these units to the same outside envelope as its door bases, so they drop into a run without changing the countertop. What changes from line to line is which widths exist for each drawer count.

Because every base type shares the 3-inch width ladder, a drawer stack can swap for a same-width door base late in a design. Our explainer on 3-inch increment cabinet sizing covers why the steps exist, and the kitchen dimensions guide has the counter, aisle and upper-cabinet heights around it. Sink, corner and specialty bases are in our types of base cabinets overview.

Every Drawer Stack We Sell, Line by Line

This is what the manufacturers' spec books and our own finish Specbooks list. Codes differ more than the cabinets do: Fabuwood Allure writes a bare DB for three drawers and adds -2 or -4 for the others, while Illume, KCD and J&K always state the count (DB24-3) and US Cabinet Depot puts it first (3DB24). The rest of a quote is decoded in our cabinet SKU code guide.

Two practical notes come out of that table. First, a four-drawer unit is a narrow-cabinet product; none of these lines builds one wider than 21 inches, because four short drawers across a wide box would each hold very little. Second, KCD's spec book marks the two-drawer bases and several wide three-drawer sizes as not available in its Essential finishes, so if you want a pot drawer in KCD, it is a Premier-series decision. The full drawings are in the KCD Shaker spec book, the Fabuwood Allure spec book and the US Cabinet Depot Shaker spec book.

Two, Three or Four Drawers: How the Stack Changes the Storage

The three configurations share one box. What differs is how the 34½-inch height is sliced, and the slicing is published. Fabuwood's Allure spec book gives the drawer-front heights for each version:

*Allure's spec book (V.01.20.25) draws the two-drawer unit at 30 and 36 inches. The 24-inch DB24-2 is on Fabuwood's price list and sold on our site, but it is not drawn in that edition, so confirm its front split with us before you plan around it.

Read the last two columns together. A two-drawer unit is often sold as the "pots and pans" version, but in Allure its boxes are the same 7 inches deep as the lower boxes of the three-drawer unit. Swapping to two drawers removes the shallow top drawer and gives each remaining drawer about 3⅜ inches more front, which becomes headroom above the box sides. It does not add box volume; it subtracts 3 inches of it. US Cabinet Depot's numbers tell the same story: its 2DB and its 3DB lower drawers both use an 8¼-inch-tall box, the 2DB simply behind a 14½-inch front instead of an 11⅛-inch one.

So the choice is about the tallest thing you store, not about total capacity. If your tallest pot, with its lid on, stands well above 7 or 8 inches, the two-drawer version lets it ride above the box sides without catching the drawer overhead. If the tallest thing is a 4-quart saucepan and a stack of plates, the three-drawer unit stores more and gives you a utensil drawer for free.

KCD publishes openings rather than boxes, with one detail worth knowing: in its three-drawer Premier units the middle opening (9½″) is taller than the bottom one (8¾″), and the top opening is 5¾″. In its two-drawer units the openings are 13″ and 12½″. That is how to read the "10 to 12 inches" often quoted for a pot drawer: fronts and openings reach that or more, but the box sides behind them stand 7 inches in Allure and 8¼ in US Cabinet Depot. Whichever line you choose, measure the pots themselves, lids on, before you pick the stack.

Inside the Box: Interior Heights, Widths and Depths

The outside of the cabinet tells you whether it fits the wall; the inside of the drawer tells you whether it fits your cookware. Here is what the spec books publish.

US Cabinet Depot does not say whether its box widths are inside or outside measurements. If they are outside, as box sizes usually are, ⅝-inch solid-wood sides make the usable inside about 1¼ inches narrower again by our arithmetic, so the box in a 3DB24 gives you roughly 18¾ inches of usable width and the one in a 3DB12 about 6¾ inches. That is the number to hold in mind when you picture a 12-inch drawer: it is a spice or towel drawer, not a utensil drawer, and a standard cutlery tray will not lie in it flat.

Depth is the other limit. Allure's 19⅝ inches of inside depth is plenty for plates and pots but tight for anything long. A 12-inch skillet with its handle can run close to 20 inches, and sheet pans, cutting boards and rolling pins vary just as much. Measure the longest item and either lay it side to side in a wide drawer or plan it for a tray base or a pegboard drawer instead.

Frameless boxes give more. Because there is no face frame narrowing the opening, a frameless unit of the same width carries a wider drawer, which is one of the reasons people choose Illume or Ovela. Our framed vs frameless comparison has the full trade-off.

Pots-and-Pans Drawers: Which Width and Which Stack

Cookware is the reason most people ask for drawers, so it is worth sizing the drawer to the set rather than the other way round. Three rules cover most kitchens.

1. Width first. A 30-inch unit is the sweet spot: wide enough for a 12-inch skillet to lie flat beside a 10-inch one, and wide enough to lay a long handle sideways. A 24-inch unit takes one large pan per layer plus a few lids. A 36-inch drawer holds the most, but a fully loaded wide drawer is heavy, so put the cast iron in the bottom drawer and keep the lighter pieces above it.
2. Stack second. Choose two drawers when your tallest pot with its lid on would hit the drawer above in a three-drawer layout. Otherwise keep three: you get the utensil drawer, and nothing in the lower drawers loses height that it needs.
3. Lids last. Lids take more room than the pans. Stand them on edge in the back of the bottom drawer, or order a pegboard insert, which holds pans and lids upright between pegs.

Fabuwood's version is its Drawer Pegboard System, DPS-18/27 ($256.75) and DPS-30/33 ($302.25) in Galaxy Frost. It is cut to the box at assembly or shipped loose to trim on site, and it is listed for the lower two drawers of a three-drawer unit and either drawer of a two-drawer unit; the largest board covers drawers up to 33 inches, so a 36-inch stack needs another solution. Peg layout and the other insert options are in our drawer organizer guide.

Drawers vs Doors: The Price and Storage Math

The objection to drawers is price, so here are the numbers side by side. All are current site prices in two lines we sell: Fabuwood Allure Galaxy Frost and US Cabinet Depot Shaker White (RTA).

That premium looks large until you price the alternative. A door base keeps its shelf at the back of a 24-inch-deep box, so most people who buy one end up wanting roll-out trays in it. Price that out and the order flips:

• Galaxy Frost: B24 ($471.25) plus two ROD-B24 BLUM H full-extension roll-outs ($263.25 each) comes to $997.75. With the partial-extension BLUM E trays ($214.50 each) it is $900.25. The DB24 is $705.25.
• US Cabinet Depot Shaker White: the factory kit with two roll-out shelves behind the doors, SW-B242RS, is $501.60. The SW-3DB24 is $462.00.

A roll-out tray behind doors also costs you twice every time you use it: open the doors, then pull the tray. Allure's roll-out trays are 4 inches tall (19¼ × 4 × 21 inches for the 24-inch size), shallower than the 7-inch boxes in the drawer unit. Where the door base still wins is bulky, light things that do not stack well in a drawer, like a stand mixer on a shelf or a recycling bin on a pull-out, and in budget runs far from the cooking zone. For trash and recycling specifically, see our trash pull-out cabinet sizes guide.

Where Drawer Banks Belong in a Layout

Drawers earn their premium where you reach most often. A designer places them by work zone, then fills the remaining base run with door bases. In order of priority:

• Either side of the range or cooktop. Pots and pans on one side, utensils, spices and oils on the other. If the budget allows only one unit, put a 30-inch two- or three-drawer base on the side you plate from.
• Beside the dishwasher. A three-drawer unit for everyday plates, bowls and glasses means unloading is a single turn. Within a step of the dishwasher is close enough; it does not need to touch it.
• At the prep zone. Knives, cutting boards and mixing bowls belong between the sink and the cooktop. A 15- or 18-inch four-drawer unit fits there when the run is short.
• On the working side of an island. Island drawers face the cook, while the seating side gets panels or shallow storage. Our kitchen island cabinets guide covers the island combinations, prices and the aisle you need for open drawers.
• Not under the sink. Plumbing occupies that box; sink bases use false fronts or tilt-outs instead. See sink base cabinet sizes and types.

Two clearance rules prevent the most common install problem. Drawers cannot open into a perpendicular cabinet, so a drawer unit beside an inside corner needs a filler (usually 3 inches) for the fronts and pulls to clear the cabinet on the return wall. The same goes for a drawer stack against a wall or next to a refrigerator whose door or handle sticks out. Our guide on installing cabinet filler strips shows where they go, and the blind corner guide covers the corner cabinet itself.

Slides and Drawer Boxes by Line

With all-drawer cabinets, the box and the runner are the product. Here is what each line's spec book states for its standard drawers.

The line that matters most in this table is extension. A ¾-extension drawer leaves the back quarter of the box under the counter, and in a deep pot drawer that is where the lids end up. If you are comparing KCD Essential against another line on price, add the slide upgrade to the KCD quote before you compare. The mechanics of each runner type are explained in undermount vs side-mount drawer slides, the damper and load ratings in soft-close vs self-closing drawers, and the joinery in our guide to dovetail drawers.

Inserts That Fit Drawer Stacks

Organizers are sized to the drawer, not the cabinet, so plan them with the drawer count. Two of Fabuwood's fit notes are worth knowing at the cabinet stage. Its trimmable utensil tray (UT-15/24, $227.50 in Galaxy Frost) fits 15- to 24-inch drawers and has a 2½-inch interior height on a ⅜-inch plywood bottom, so it just clears the 3-inch top drawer of a three- or four-drawer stack; that is the stack to choose if you want a fitted cutlery drawer. And the charging drawer (CHD-B18 BLUM, $1,111.50) and the cutting-board-and-knife drawer (CBKD-B18 BLUM, $672.75) are listed for 18-inch cabinets only, replacing the cabinet's own drawer box, so plan an 18-inch unit where you want one.

Double cutlery drawers, knife blocks and DIY dividers are covered in the drawer organizer guide linked above.

Specialty Versions: Cooktop, ADA, Bench Seat and Vanity

• Cooktop drawer base. Fabuwood Illume builds a range-top two-drawer base 24 inches tall with a full top panel, so a cooktop can drop in above it: RTDB30-2 ($773.50), RTDB36-2 ($835.25) and RTDB48-2 in Catalina Bianco Matte. Always check the cooktop maker's installation clearance below the counter before ordering.
• ADA drawer bases. Galaxy builds 32½-inch-tall versions for a lower counter: ADA-DB15 ($724.75), ADA-DB18 ($744.25), ADA-DB21 ($773.50) and ADA-DB24 ($809.25) in Frost. Our ADA kitchen cabinets guide covers counter heights and knee space, and the units are on the ADA drawer base page.
• Bench seat drawers. A 16⅜-inch-tall, 24-inch-deep cabinet with one 11¼-inch drawer front, built as the base of banquette seating: DBS24 ($338.00), DBS30 ($383.50) and DBS36 ($425.75) in Galaxy Frost.
• Vanity drawer bases. Bathroom versions are built to vanity dimensions rather than kitchen ones; US Cabinet Depot's 3VDB12 to 3VDB24, for example, are 21 inches deep with 17⅜-inch-deep drawer boxes. Vanity sizing is in our bathroom vanity sizes guide.

What a Drawer Base Cabinet Costs

Prices below are current site prices, not list. Galaxy's twelve painted and stained finishes price identically to Frost; Desert Oak and Natural Oak run about 20 percent higher (a Desert Oak DB24 is $848.25).

Three patterns are worth knowing before you build a quote:

• Narrow costs more per inch. In Galaxy Frost, a DB12 is $51.46 per inch of width, a DB18 $35.93, a DB24 $29.39 and a DB30 $28.17. In US Cabinet Depot Shaker White it falls from $29.19 per inch (3DB12) to $16.45 (3DB36). Two 15-inch units cost far more than one 30-inch unit and give you less usable drawer, because each box loses its own side clearance.
• Two drawers can be cheaper than three. In Galaxy Frost, the DB30-2 ($835.25) costs less than the DB30 ($845.00), and the DB36-2 ($1,017.25) less than the DB36 ($1,030.25). At 24 inches it reverses: the DB24-2 is $724.75.
• Swapping doors for drawers is a few hundred dollars, not thousands. Converting a B24, B30 and B36 to three-drawer units adds $877.50 in Galaxy Frost and $326.48 in US Cabinet Depot Shaker White.

To see where these units fall within a whole-kitchen budget, use our kitchen cabinet cost estimator or read kitchen cabinet cost per linear foot. Line-to-line differences beyond drawers are in Fabuwood vs US Cabinet Depot.

Ordering Checklist: Codes, Finished Ends and Fillers

1. Confirm the code says what you mean. In Galaxy, a bare DB24 is three drawers; DB24-2 is two. In US Cabinet Depot the count comes first (3DB24). One wrong suffix changes the whole drawer layout.
2. Check every exposed side. An island end or the end of a run needs a finished side. In Galaxy Frost, adding one to a DB24 brings it from $705.25 to $767.65.
3. Plan fillers at corners, walls and appliances so drawers and pulls clear.
4. Order inserts with the cabinet, sized to the drawer they go in.
5. Confirm RTA or assembled. The US Cabinet Depot prices above are the RTA prices on our site; ask us for the assembled price before you order. Fabuwood cabinets ship assembled.
6. Budget for pulls. We don't sell decorative knobs or pulls; hinges and slides come with the cabinets. Every drawer front needs one pull, and wide drawers often look better with two.
7. See the finish first. Order a door sample before committing a whole run of drawer fronts to a color.

Ready to browse? Three-drawer units across the lines we stock online are on the three-drawer base page, pot-drawer versions on the two-drawer page, and narrow stacks on the four-drawer page.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a drawer base?

A drawer base is a base cabinet with a stack of two, three or four drawers instead of a door and a shelf. It matches a door base's 34½-inch height and 24-inch depth, so the two swap freely in a run, and every drawer brings the cabinet's full depth out to you.

What sizes do drawer bases come in?

Standard drawer bases are 34½ inches tall, 24 inches deep and 12 to 36 inches wide in 3-inch steps. Three-drawer units cover the whole width range, two-drawer units usually start at 24 inches and four-drawer units stop at 21. The 24- and 30-inch widths are the ones most kitchens use.

How tall are kitchen drawers?

In a Fabuwood Allure three-drawer base, the top front is 6¾ inches and the two below are 11¼ inches each. The boxes behind them are shorter: 3 inches for the top drawer and 7 inches for the lower two. The two-drawer version uses two 14⅝-inch fronts over 7-inch boxes.

How deep are the drawers inside?

Roughly 19½ to 20½ inches inside a 24-inch-deep cabinet. Fabuwood Allure publishes 19⅝ inches of interior drawer depth, and US Cabinet Depot's framed drawer boxes are 20⅜ inches deep. A 12-inch skillet with its handle can run close to 20 inches, so measure long-handled pans first.

Are two-drawer or three-drawer bases better for pots and pans?

Three-drawer units usually store more, because in Allure both versions use 7-inch-tall lower boxes and the three-drawer one adds a utensil drawer on top. Choose two drawers only when your tallest pots, lids on, would hit the drawer above in a three-drawer layout. A 30-inch width suits most cookware sets.

Is a drawer base worth the extra cost?

Next to the range and dishwasher, yes. In Galaxy Frost a 24-inch DB24 costs $234.00 more than a B24 door base, but $292.50 less than that B24 fitted with two full-extension roll-out trays. Door bases still suit bulky, light items and low-use runs away from the cooking zone.

How much weight can a cabinet drawer hold?

It depends on the runner and the box. US Cabinet Depot rates its framed dovetail drawers at 70 pounds, and Fabuwood rates Illume's Blum MERIVOBOX drawers at 75 pounds dynamic load. Whatever the rating, keep cast iron and stacked plates in the bottom drawer rather than the top one.

Can a drawer base go under a cooktop?

Usually not a standard three-drawer unit, because a drop-in cooktop's body sits below the counter in the space the top drawer uses. Use a range-top drawer base instead, such as Fabuwood Illume's 24-inch-tall RTDB30-2 with a full top panel, and confirm the cooktop maker's under-counter clearance first.

What does DB mean on a cabinet?

DB stands for drawer base. The number is the width in inches, and a suffix or prefix gives the drawer count: a Fabuwood DB30-2 is a 30-inch two-drawer unit, and a US Cabinet Depot 3DB24 is a 24-inch three-drawer unit. In Galaxy, a bare DB24 means three drawers.

Can I add drawers to an existing door base?

You can add roll-out trays behind the doors, which work like drawers once the doors are open. In Fabuwood they are ordered per tray: ROD-B24 BLUM H is $263.25 in Galaxy Frost. For a new kitchen, a three-drawer base costs less than a door base plus two full-extension trays.

Get Your Drawer Plan Drawn Up

Send us your wall measurements, where the range, sink and dishwasher sit, and what you want to store. A designer from our kitchen design service sends back renderings and a line-by-line quote within 24–48 hours, naming every drawer stack, insert, filler and finished side so the order is complete the first time.

For a quick question about one code or line, use the contact page or phone 609-900-3358. Our team installs kitchens as well as selling the boxes, so ask which drawer stack we would put beside your range and you will get a plain answer.