I just use the sort of bubbly shelf liner and never had the stuff move at all Ialso use the Intersdesign organizers for all my little gadgets and utensils in my shallow drawers these are just a couple I have had mine for 15 yrs they still look like new are a nice clear plastic with little chrome feet they come in all kinds of sizes I also use them in the batrhoom

I have a giant drawer with most of our dishes and no dividers or liner, and they are fine. They don't move around at all.

Just Say No to Dowels. They are more annoying than helpful. Put non-adhesive drawer liner in your drawers, and it will keep things from sliding around and also keep items from marking up the insides of your drawers. I like the clear ribbed kind by Lifeliner, but there are several others that are popular.

I find most drawer organizers too confining - you are stuck with their configuration. I have two exceptions that I love. A wooden knife drawer insert - means no big bulky block sitting on the counter. And the Rev-a-Shelf inserts for spices. Once you have the spices lined up in a drawer so easy to see and to access, you’ll never want your spices any other way again.

For plates, IKEA sells racks for plates that also have handles to lift out when ready to eat/set the table/etc. - very handy.

ETA: VARIERA plate holders

I have the wooden knife drawer insert and I LOVE it! I hate clutter counter

Don't get the dowels. I had then and removed them within a week of moving in. Besides being unnecessary (with a liner, the dishes won't move - they are heavy), the dowels obstruct your freedom of movement when placing or removing the dishes. To remove a dish, you must lift the plate up and over the dowel, rather than just pulling the dish towards you. If you are near the bottom of the dish pile, that's a lot of wasted motion. If you don't fully clear the dowel, you'll chip or break the dish. That's a lot of wasted dishes.

But, make sure you have extra heavy glides. Dishes are generally much heavier than pots.

I have my dishes in a drawer with no dowels and no liner. They do move a bit, but not enough to be an issue. I thought about adding the dowels, but I don't really have room for them. Good idea about a non-sliding liner...thanks!

I put dividers in a deep drawer, allowing me to store cake pans and pie plates on their sides, instead of stacked on a shelf.

I am also a big fan of Lee Valley drawer insert clips. It takes a little bit of skill with tools (cutting and measuring), but you can completely customize your flatware and utensil drawers.

Here's my utensil drawer. This was taken 6 years ago - and because the arrangement makes sense, it's easy to put things away in the right place.

I knew I'd get good answers. No dowels. The glides are heavy duty already. Knife insert! I forgot about that and I hate that big ugly block (although it is handy). I'm gonna use that spice thing for the medicine cabinet. Thank you all! And especially thank you AnnKH. My husband is a furniture builder. I can make him do the cutting and measuring. Currently in my shallower drawers I have off-the-shelf "adjustable" dividers that I don't love.

Here is the link to the Lee Valley drawer dividers:

Drawer dividers

I love my knife drawer insert too! One of the goals of our kitchen remodel was to get stuff off the counters, including the knife blocks (yep, we had 2 of them).

Do full extension glides and soft close... no dowels

My plates and bowls are in a 48" wide drawer on a non-slip liner. No dowels. I considered them, but don't want them now. Mine never move.

The knife insert above is a godsend for me, and I have one.

AnnKH mentioned the Lee Valley dividers - we're still remodeling, but soon as everything is unpacked and I do a bit more cooking, I am using those. I will surround the drawer with wood as well, so later on it can be altered if needed - the dividers won't be affixed to the actual drawers.

I'll most likely use the dividers in my pots and lids drawers too. But again, no, no dowels. If it doesn't move or goes in stacked and stays put, no dividers or dowels.

I'm hoping to do a custom type drawer similar to rev a shelf. My cabinet builder said he could do it just fine so I'm hoping so. Looks like such great storage! Something about things being vertical versus horizontal in a drawer... :)

Also, a vote against dowels. We will also be storing plates/cups/etc in drawers in the new build & I plan to put rubber or no-slide drawer liners. Haven't decided on a brand yet but am going to look into some that was suggested on here!

love love love the vertical storage

Our cabinet maker gave us standard inserts (like the space rack) that he made, or from RevAShelf. I wasn't exactly sure where I would end up putting everything, but in one of these threads, I read about a company that makes custom inserts, and I recently ordered one for my desk. It came out GREAT. I love it. The width of the divider wood was definitely bulkier than I thought it would be - but they must have a reason! The company is https://draweressentials.com and I'll try and post the pictures:

Trying again

I am so glad I asked the original question! Many great ideas! Thanks, thanks, thanks! I'll post pics when the kitchen is done.