Do you have a pantry cabinet? We are putting a microwave in our pantry cabinet, and the electrician will install an outlet inside the cabinet. Just one option.

Having had both, I'd recommend an upper rather than lower cabinet spot for the microwave. Just my personal preference, but I find it safer and more ergonomically handy to have it at shoulder height or so.

Don't feel bad. You are not the first and you won't be the last. The micro is oftenthe last thing to get placed adn can be a real Pain.

I didn't want to reach back into a cave for a micro in a base, but the micro was one thing we knew needed to move when we started(we thought we'd modify a cabinet or two instead of replacing them but it didn't work). When we tried to put on into an upper, it threw the alignment off -- balance, position of cooktop, bent between the joists -- the whole bit.

We went with the micro drawer. It uses the better half of a base, but the drawer opens so you don't have to reach into it. I have bad neck issues, so it was really the only way to put the micro in a base for me and it avoided awkward uppers. Our second place choice would have been to use a GE Spacemaker that fits into regular depth upper, but you are more limited on what size things you can put in it. I doubt my larger dinner plates would work and Iknow some of my casseroles wouldn't.

The micro drawer is more expensive than most other micros. I was hoping that as their numbers increased, Sharp would be able to bring the price down, but that doesn't seem to be happening so far. We decided it was worth the added money to make everything else work and we've been very happywith how it has turned out.

I'm putting mine in a 21" or 24" base on the inside of the island, where it's hidden from the rest of the room. (I plan to use my existing MW till it dies, it is just shy of 19" wide by about 10" hight.) My cabs are semi-custom so they'll just leave an open shelf 12" high and put doors below it. I had my MW in an upper in my last kitchen and I didn't like looking at it (although for sure it is easier to use in an upper!) We're on a budget so a MW drawer or built-in isn't feasible.... but hiding the shelf in the island base, out of sight, seems a good compromise. FWIW, we don't use the MW much either. Just for heating milk for my coffee, and occasionally warming or defrosting.

I have the MW drawer in a base cabinet. I think they require either a 24" or 27" base. It is by Sharp. Mighty expensive for a MW and not the most subtle looking appliance ...

If had a pantry I would have just gotten the smallest, cheapest MW I could find because I don't use mine much either.

I would suggest going to AJ Madison and taking a look at the MWs and figure out a size, this will help you determine if you will build it in or just try to shove it somewhere. Getting it off of the counter is key... I would forgo a MW altogether before I'd have it on my countertop for the limited amount of use it gets.

The nice thing about searching on AJ Madison is you will see a column on the left where you can search by size... this, I find, is very handy.

Here is a link that might be useful: AJ Madison

We were originally going to put our MW in a tall oven cabinet, but when we switched to double ovens that was no longer possible.

However, we wanted a full-size MW b/c while we usually use it for cooking frozen veggies & reheating, there are times when I need to fit a casserole pan in as well. Plus, it seemed that the full-size MWs had the widest range of functionality...and I use just about all the functionality available. [But that's me...I also avidly read all the manuals to my appliances to learn everything they do and then use all their various functions/features as well...and I heavily customize all my software applications! So it's the way I am!]

Anyway, we had no other place to put it (wouldn't fit in any of the upper cabinets) so it was a base cabinet or the counter. I nixed the counter idea immediately. I'm fairly tall (and now the shortest person in my family!) so a regular MW mounted on a shelf in a base cabinet was definitely out as well! We ended up with the Sharp MW Drawer (the 30" one) in a base cabinet.

BTW...the Sharp MW Drawer cost the same as the Dacor MW + trim kit that I had originally planned for the tall oven cabinet so it didn't cost us anything extra.

(It still had the protective plastic coating over the controls in this picture.)

Oh...and BTW, there's a new one out that has even more functionality and that's about an inch taller on the inside (same exterior dimensions). There's a current thread about it right now.

Here is a link that might be useful: Thread: New deeper Sharp microwave drawer

Like circuspeanut I've had experience with a low mw (on a low table--not as low as it would be in a base cabinet) and one above the counter. The low mw was fine for the first 5+ years but I detested it for the last 7 or 8 years. I couldn't wait to get rid of it since with each passing year it got more difficult to see the small buttons and more tiresome to stoop down load, unload and clean it. If you're considering a low mw I would suggest putting your current mw at the proposed height and try living with it for a while. Children grow fast and if you place a mw for their convenience be aware you're going to be the one stuck with it well after they reach an adult height.

The mw drawers seem like a great solution but because we've had some very short-lived mw's I would be afraid to build it in with very specific dimensions. I like the idea of having a flexible space for the mw since technology is constantly changing and I may want to replace it with another type of small oven.

I like the MW drawers, but they're expensive, and the OP already has his/her cabinets set up. I have mine on a shelf in my pantry which is a good spot when you are an infrequent MW user. But I think the GE Spacemaker II microwave which can hang from your upper cabinets is an excellent solution. Several members of this forum have this hanging MW setup and like it, although the capacity is not that large at 1.0 cu. ft., but the OP says he/she doesn't need a large MW.

I am linking to the GE Profile Spacemaker II PEM31SMSS in stainless steel. Please click on the small photo to see how it looks hanging from the cabinets. It also comes in white and black, which will be a little less expensive. I believe you have to buy the hanging kit separately. There's also another model of GE Spacemaker MW that can hang (it doesn't have the word "Profile" in the name) that is even less money, but I am not sure what is the difference other than it doesn't come in stainless steel.

Here is a link that might be useful: GE Profile Spacemaker II PEM31SMSS

Ours is in the pantry.

Mine is in the walk in pantry also. Since my induction cooktop actually heats food and water faster than the microwave, I find I'm using it less and less.

I'm a pantry person for the microwave. We rarely use it but when we do it's convenient while being out of sight.