I like the utensil pullout, although I don't have one. My spices lie flat in a drawer - easier to see. I use a pullout for all kinds of bottled things - oils, vinegars, soy sauces, etc.. It was one of two things I insisted on replicating from my previous kitchen (the other was the double trash pullout) and I love it.

I don't like my utensil pullout. Within a few weeks we noticed nicks in the cabinet from things moving around as it got pushed in. Ours doesn't have rails so perhaps that is the solution. I now only have plastic and wood items and sm careful closing it. This is a pic of ours:

I once had a spices pull-out like what is in the OP's picture. For me, I vowed never to have one again no matter what. I experienced a couple problems. First, I had to bend and peer to find any spices. Second, the bottles were loose and easily jostled and tilted over in the pull-out.

It's also not a good idea to store spices or oils near a heat source.

For my new kitchen, I copied Cat_mom's drawer spices idea, using the Rev-A-Shelf Spice Organizer for Drawers.

Here is an inspiration thread. Look for Cat_mom's pic to see what I copied. Every spice is easy to see, easy to check what you are running low on, and very accessible for the entire family. http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/2574021/do-you-have-a-spice-drawer-you-love

I've never been a fan of using them. They are okay for the top shelf, but I find it really hard to find things on the bottom shelves of the pullout. I keep utensils in drawers, oils/vinegars in an upper, and spices mostly in an old ironing board cabinet turned spice shelf. I like drawers or uppers for these as well though. We also have a small open shelf by the cooktop for our most commonly used oils and spices.

I had one and hated it. Many of my spices didn't fit where I needed them to, and in the end I used it to store foil, parchment paper, etc because they were long and narrow. I would have rather had a skinny cabinet with door to store cutting boards or baking sheets.

I have one for oils and bottles and I love it. I have a drawer for spices and a drawer for cooking utensils.

I have the Rev-a -Shelf spice drawer inset in the 24" cabinet next to my stove. Under that drawer, is a cabinet with a pull-out basket for lids and a butane starter, and beneath that is dividers for trays etc.

Next to that is going to be the small Rev-a-Shelf utinsel holder. I hate digging in drawers for utinsils and am trying in new kitchen to have fewer things on the countertop, thus this pullout.

i did not put it directly next to the stove as my vintage stove is deeper than the countertop and I tend to stand to the side if the stove when cooking - short arms - so I think it will work better for me. We'll see when it's all finished!

BTW, prices for things such as thus are all over the place. I paid less than my kitchen guy can by it - that was fine with him.

I have two 6" filler pullouts flanking my cooktop and I like them well enough. My main complaint is that the shelves are not adjustable - but that's not how most are, most do have adjustable shelves. Because my shelves are not adjustable, I was not able to fit oils in them b/c the bottles are too tall.

Regarding the comment about heat, if you have a cooktop - induction or regular electric, there is no real heat around the pullouts, so no worries about that issue. (If you had a range, that would be different b/c of the oven.)

Here are a couple of pictures

We have one pull out at the stove and it holds bottles. Oils and vinegars and a few pepper and salt grinders. Our spices are in a top drawer in the prep area. It works very well for us. I don't think I would like spices in a pull out. We have another pull out for cutting boards and baking sheets. We like that too.

I've had a spice pullout and it was completely unusable. The spices didn't fit and I couldn't read them.

Fast forward to new kitchen. I installed a Rev-A-Shelf pullout with adjustable levels. I only installed two of the four. I'm able to store my oils on one shelf and my vinegars on the bottom shelf. A complete success.

So, can I recommend it? Yes, but it was a learning experience.

Here is a picture of my pull out. I really like the result.

I put my utensils in an extra large drawer.

These are drop down shelves made by Tupperware and available on line at Target for $11.00 each. This is my spice cabinet solution.

I don't like my spice pull outs either. Mine are narrow and you can't read the labels. I won't do them again.

I bought my kitchen used. It has a pullout cabinet that I use for tall bottles. I really would not buy one of these now that I have had access to one. You would be better off combining the space with the adjacent drawers and putting some good interior hardware/dividers into those drawers. My pullout is not next to the stove as the oils and vinegars that I store in it could not take that heat.

You really need to think about where you are going to store the implements that you use at the stove. For me I have a three drawer stack next to the stove and the top drawer is full of those implements and it would be really helpful if that top drawer was just 1 inch taller. I did not want the visual clutter of having the implements in a container on the countertop. Other people only want those things on the countertop and still other people only want them attached (either hooked or magnetically) to the wall. You need to know your preference.

My kitchen also came with a permanently mounted spice drawer-the kind with little angled shelves so that you can easily see the spice names-It is very inconvenient because the slightly larger size bottles do not fit in there at all.

Regarding the heat comment, my pullout is next to the oven and there is NO heat transfer - I guess my oven is really well insulated!

I use the IKEA spice inserts in my drawer - any size bottle works, and they lay flat - pretty perfect IMHO.

I have one nearly identical to your first picture. Yes, I have to peer at the bottles to find what I want (because it is crammed full of so many different spices) but it is not a big headache to me to take an extra few seconds for that. My most commonly used are on the top level and I know where each sits. This pullout was the most practical use of that space in my small kitchen -- I don't have room elsewhere close to the range for a cabinet or drawer devoted to just spices and seasoning.

If I were to have one for utensils, I think I would try one that is one side pegboard with hooks to hang them.

I absolutely love ours, which you can see [HERE.[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/cary-traditional-traditional-raleigh-phvw-vp~15071273). One is for oils and vinegars, the other is utensils. The lower shelves are for bulk spices, like boxes of salt & taco seasoning.

We thought about a pullout but realized that the lower shelves would be hard to access without stooping down (we are 5'7" and 5'8" tall). We are going with a drawer configuration instead so that it is easy to see the labels on the spices. Likewise we realized we preferred utensils flat in a drawer rather than upright. Oils and vinegars sit on a plastic tray in the pantry which works fine for us (plastic tray keeps drops of oil from pooling on the shelves). Definitely a lot of personal preference involved.

Thank you all for the feedback, links and ideas. Yes, much of it is personal preference but having never had the pull outs, I just am not sure. I do think I'd prefer to have spices in a drawer...just need to see if I have room. I like the idea of oils/vinegars/sauces/bulk spice in a pullout though. And, cutting boards is a good idea. I think I would prefer to have utensils in a drawer, as that's how I store them now but still undecided.

MizLizzie--your kitchen is beautiful. Thank you for sharing. Where do you store your spices?

Stan Z is right. If you're going to store oils in a pull out, you do need to be concerned about drips. I think a greasy olive oil bottle would ruin the wood pretty quickly. I used an Oxo Stemware Mat inside mine. Easy to pull out and wash.

Tall spices like seasoning salt and popcorn salt are in the pullouts, as is my flour shaker, my sugar shaker, and all my flavorings. But for small spice storage, I did this:.

I have 11.5" wide, 3-drawer base cabinets on each side of the stove.

The top two drawers on each side are shallow depth for utensils, knives and pot holders. The bottom drawers on each side are deep drawers: one for cutting boards and my most used baking sheets and the other is for oils and vinegars. Both drawer base cabinets are 26" deep.

I am remodeling and added them to my new kitchen. In my current kitchen, I have spices in drawers on either side and oils and spices in cabinets above that have solid doors. In the new kitchen, which is smaller, I have glass cabinet doors on either side of range top, so it wouldn't work to have ugly oils there. I don't think I will like pullouts as much as my current set up, but I had to work with the space I have in new kitchen. I am fairly certain my pullout shelves are adjustable. I hope to still have some spices in some drawers and mainly oils in the pullouts. I will put the most used things on top.

I too was thinking a drawer for spices but a pull out for oils. Not sure what to do with the pull out on other side. I guess either keep unsymmetrical or put cooking utensils in the other.

You can have a cabinet for trays on the other aide to keep it symmetrical.

Ok: So I'm really happy that I found this thread. Especially DIY2Much2Do's post. I still love my pull outs, but I'm stealing some ideas here.

The built in spice holder on the doors is genius: definitely doing one of those!

The pull out that we had was adjustable and we put our oils at the bottom and spices up top. I'm thinking we'll break it into two units on the new one: Put spices in the top two pieces and then leave the bottom taller for oils.

Maybe on the other side putting a deeper space for utensils up top and then the bottom one for cutting boards...

I have a pullout identical to the OP's first photo (albeit a different drawer front). I use the top shelf for most-used spices. I found a tiered organizer so I can put them label side up, and I keep them alphabetized so I can grab what I want easily.

The second shelf in the pullout holds less-used baking items in the front: baking soda, baking powder, dehydrated minced onions, the big container of lemon pepper I use to fill up a smaller one that stays out all the time (DH is on a low-salt diet). In the back are some stacked unusual-sized ramekins I occasionally use.

On the third lowest shelf, because it's the most inconvenient to reach, are other ramekins and things like egg poacher cups.

The remainder of my spices are in an 18" wide upper cab, standing on another tiered organizer set on the first shelf. I have them in a particular order and it's only one short step from my stove/prep area.

The shelves in my pullout aren't adjustable, so I keep liquids in either of the two opposing Lazy Susan corner base cabs. My kitchen is U-shaped with the range in the middle of the base of the U, so it's two steps to either side to reach anything in a LZ cab. It's safer for liquids as the LZ trays are a solid heavy-duty plastic.

I have a very pretty oil can for cooking oil which I refill, that I leave out on the counter by the range.

The best organizer I ever bought, however, was the drop-down cookbook holder. I LOVE this thing! It's mounted on the cab to the right of the range. Flips back up when I'm done and almost disappears. I have room to prep underneath and can more easily read a recipe (yeah, I wear glasses....).

We are in the process of building a new house. I love to cook, and one of the options apparently is to put pullout cabinets (for spices/oil) next to my Gas Cooktop. Trying to figure out the pro vs con of doing this. I believe that is the only pull out option that the builder is offering. We will add other pull out cabinets down the road outselves.

I see this is an old post. However, can those of you with the pullouts next to the stove, please tell me how does that work out being so close to a heat source?

Colleen, I haven't noticed any issues with my spices. I also have not noticed that the interior of the pullout, or the bottles in it, get warm when the oven is in use. I suspect that the stove's oven walls are well insulated enough to prevent a problem.

I only have oils on one side and on the other pullout I have utensil. My spices are in a drawer that is not too close to the heat.

What size is the utensil drawer

8.5"