I was worried about that, too, so I had the top drawer divided on my two 36" cabinets that flank my DW and sink. I'll be interested to see what responses you get.

Cheryl, I kind of wish I had done the same now but we were trying so hard to stay within budget and adding additional drawers would have put us over. I'll let you know what we end up doing :)

I do. It's our utensil drawer and I had an insert made by wood hollow. It keeps everything organized. Love it.

I'm getting the inserts from Wood Hollow as well! I was thinking i'll probably allot about 3/4 of the space to the silverware and the rest to knives. Maybe Wood Hollow can advise on sizing...

I have a hodge-podge of knife/utensil storage, but it works well and the drawer size is flexible, so I'll share. In the 18" drawer closest to the sink I keep knives. I already had a knife insert, but decided to get rid of the counter top knife block so I needed another. I couldn't find one to match the original, so I have 2 different things. It works:

Next to the stove I keep stove-type utensils in another 18" drawer. I really like the organizer in this drawer. https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B000X1JZR0/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Under the island I have two more drawers, this time 30". All the table knives must be in the dishwasher! I really like the 6 part organizer for silverware (https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B000I1UU56/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1), and the Rubbermaid one is just one I already had. As I mentioned, I have a hodge-podge, but it works.

Another 30" drawer next to the silverware holds what I loosely classify as baking stuff

The point is, using various drawer organizers you can divide up your 36" into usable sections that reflect how you use your kitchen. The other thing you might use part of one of those drawers for is spices. I used a Rev-a-Shelf insert for this (https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KWEQL9I/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1):

I have a 34" drawer stack. I divided the top into 2 separate drawers - one is potholders (next to the stove); the other is my tool/junk drawer. I went with 2 drawers since they have 2 very different functions, but I kind of wish I'd kept one big drawer and used dividers - I would have ended up with more space.

I built my own drawer inserts, using Lee Valley clips. I like that they are narrower than the Wood Hollow ones.

Just an FYI for wood hollow-you can draw out what you want and they will make it. My other 36" drawer I wanted as a combination spice and measuring cup/spoon, beaters, spatulas type drawer. I sketched it and gave them the widths and configuration I wanted and they made it-no extra cost.

AnnKH is correct-the wood partitions are thicker so do factor that in your choice. I really like my woodhollow though and my kitchen has plenty of space for the stuff I do have so that was not a worry for me.

Here is a link to my post about my drawer inserts from Wood Hollow. I have 36" drawers, too.

I would start with a knife block you like and design around it. That's what we did. Lay everything out and measure to find your best use of space. Wood Hollow is exact. We put our every day stuff closer to the dishwasher. I also have an 18" drawer near the stove for the most used large utensils.

After living in my new house for almost a year, I finally broke down a few weeks ago and built my own drawer dividers. I don't have knife storage in this drawer, but you could start with a knife holder and build around it. I have my larger spoons, spatulas, etc in crocks on either side of my stove.

I was all set to make own buy then I found a wood one at IKEA that's excellent:

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/images/products/variera-flatware-tray__0260299_PE404017_S4.JPG

@chellefnp that is very nice! What material did you use? How are they attached to each other. I'd like to do something like this, but the Ikea drawers are not square on the inside, and have curved edges, so it probably wouldn't work very well, but I'm still interested in this for some other things.

@cevamal, I bought that drawer insert but my small silverware pieces did not fit in the small slots. (My set is a little bit larger than some, so many would probably still fit.) They had to be put in at an angle, so I returned it and am using the Ikea plastic one instead. The bamboo is much prettier so I was disappointed, but the plastic ones do hold more and they are decent quality. I found I could store more knives in the plastic Variera holder versus the bamboo also.

You are so clever! Completely customized, and I love the clean look.

Thanks @chellenfnp. I may have to try this.

After coming across an article about diy drawer organizers, we made one for all our eating utensils. Love how it turned out. Now I need to find something for my knives, so I can organize the cooking utensils around it.

DIY Kitchen Utensil Drawer Organizer