I measured my pots, pans and skillets then used the dimensions. The bottom is bigger. Haven't finished yet so I don't know if it's going to work.

Part of it is beauty vs function. Do you want all of your drawers to line up across the kitchen? Since you have the pullouts on either side this might be less of a consideration. Then how important is function? It sounds like you really want to optimize space so in that case I think beachem's idea of measuring your largest pot that you want to put under the range top and having the bottom drawer slightly deeper than the top drawer will help make sure that you do that. I have two 9" drawers under my cooktop which work fine but I do store my 12 quart stock pot and 8 quart soup pot elsewhere which I'm fine with because I use them once or twice per year since we mostly cook for two.

Thank you both. In two kitchens I have had 36" wide rollouts for pots and pans, which worked really well for separating items by height. However, from the many photos I've looked at, it seems to be more typical to have drawers of equal size. This will be the only drawer base on this wall, so there's no concern about lining the drawers up with anything else.

How much space does the cook top take up? The drawers on my island are different depths by 1" or so and I don't think it's even noticeable. I did it so the stuff I wanted to fit would. Is there enough room to have one drawer so the frying pans can be stacked on their sides? Check out some of the pictures here. http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/2685330/where-do-you-keep-you-pots-and-pans I store cookie sheets, baking pans and frying pans in my pull out so they don't need to be stacked. (like this one: http://www.livingandkitchen.com/17097-frying-pans-kitchen-craftsman-with-none/frying-pans-kitchen-craftsman-with-none/) They also put a stationary shelf in there too on the top where I keep the cutting boards and a few platters, since it was wasted space. Then I have a deep drawer for pots. Good luck!

Thanks for the links beenzmail. The drawing currently has two drawer fronts at 10.6" high under the rangetop, but I am going to find out today what my usable vertical height will be and try to adjust accordingly. Otherwise, I may combine two lower drawers in the island to accommodate my fry and saute pans on their sides.