Is this saying the drawer height is 2.25"? If so that seems too shallow for anything other than flatware...I would stack what you want the drawer to hold and measure the stack...

If it's all lightweight stuff it may be ok but I'd wait to see what the gurus have to say. I wouldn't put anything heavy in such a wide drawer, and a full flatware set may be too heavy. You're saying the drawers would be 42"?

Practigal, the drawers are 5 5/16" high and the top one is 4 3/4" high. the 2 1/4" is the reveal

Was there a reason you couldn't do two banks of narrower drawers? 42" seems very wide.

Unless you have specific items that need that width or two like items that could use that width side by side with little wasted space then IMO it's too wide. Personally unless you are storing pots and pans or a full set of dinnerware I see little use for a drawer that is wider than 24".

How about narrower pairs for the top two drawers and then two full-width drawers at the bottom. I could definitely see storing tablecloths in 42" wide drawers.

I would much prefer the 42" width to a couple of ~20" drawers (which is what you would have if you split them. I have a very wide drawer (50+) that I use for tablecloths, placemats, trays, etc. Love it!

Yes, the drawers would be 42" wide, with first drawer 4 3/4" and others 5 5/16".

I am afraid the set of silverware would be too heavy. But I had the whole set crammed into a 15 before and the drawer opened ok. The organization sucked because, well, there was none. Everything was on top of each other. But the drawer opened fine.

Sherri - how deep is your table cloth drawer?

Double top drawers and single lowers would be my pic. It's more of a furniture look, and it's sturdier for the heavy elements. I also wouldn't do a shallow top drawer. It throws the proportions off. Either do the traditional top 3 the same with the deeper bottom, or make them all the same. Take into account the adjacency of any other cabinets in the design as well. You might also utilize the toekick space into the lower drawer depth to ain extra storage.

I personally lean towards "heavy" dishes; that is, Pfaltzgraff and Fiestaware type stuff. I would not build a drawer wider than 30". More than that, I think you're setting yourself up for success. Look at a yardstick. That's actually rather wide.

And regardless of the width, I'd insist up on the heavy-duty hardware. We're talking pennies difference now, but if it breaks, you'll put up with it for weeks (months?) and when you call someone out to fix it, it'll be expensive.

@houserookie I'm not sure of the dimensions and I am on holidays now so cannot measure. I would guess about 4 or 5 inches.

Mrspete - the dishes will be stored in a 30" drawer in the kitchen. This cabinet will be more for the 'least used, but still want easy access to' items. And you are right, I was looking at a tape measuring thing yesterday, and it looked wide. Never had a drawer that wide in the kitchen.

Sophie - I like the idea of making the drawers even size, or having 3 thin and 1 deeper. More to think about.

I like funky's idea; split the top two, then two equal below. 42" wide x 5" deep drawers don't seem very practical to me, but may suit your needs better. I'd also recommend heavy duty slides on your 42" drawers, however deep you decide.

Here's my 36" drawers in a 39" wide cabinet...

I have a 100 year old oak sideboard with a bottom drawer that is 46 1/2" W and 6" D. It's full of placemats and napkins and works fine, even with only a center glide made of oak. So I think your drawers will be functional, but I'm not sure how four stacked drawers of that size will look. Your drawing makes the width of the buffet look more compact than it really will be.

The side part of my office desk is 42" so I just took a look at it from afar, and I think it will look great (I'd vote for one shallow top drawer and 3 even-height drawers below). I would definitely do heavy duty glides, especially if you're going to store dishes. We had regular (75 lb) glides in our 36" drawer and one failed. They were replaced with heavy-duty glides and work fine now (although we still keep the large soup bowls in a separate drawer, out of an abundance of caution, plus they're used much less frequently than other dishes).

A look from the other side of things. The "how things work" versus "how things look" side.

http://www.ovisonline.com/When-is-a-drawer-too-wide-or-too-big.aspx

Live_wire_oak - love this picture. Will have to analyze each one of these options...

Watchmelol- very interesting article. Technically, with standard glides we could go to 36". Since the drawers are not so deep (not for pots and pans or dishes), and won't be used very often, we can might get away with regular glides. But I need to talk to the cabinet maker about this.