I started my plans with 2 garages and nuked them both!
Hope I made the right choice.

a2gemini - why did you decide not to keep them? Are you planning on keeping the appliances you had originally planned for them on the counter?

We originally had one in our design, but I got rid of it. It took up a ton of valuable counter space, and I learned here how many small appliances can be stored in a super Susan. Anything I use infrequently enough that I'm okay putting away after each use can fit in the super Susan. Anything I use more frequently can just stay on the counter. I don't mind the look of a toaster or coffee maker on the counter.

I don't have an appliance garage and I do have a food processor sitting on my counter in an unused corner. I think the bulk of appliance garages looks worse than the actual appliance. If I had a nice KA mixer, I'd let it sit on the counter, too.

You can remove an appliance. You can't remove an appliance garage. Well, not easily. :)

I'm wondering the same thing right now. Anything that gets used every day can live on the counter (coffeepot and toaster.) I'm thinking the stand mixer will have to stay out because it's too heavy to get out each time and I also don't want to devote under counter space to it. I'm thinking the other less-used and lighter weight items (Cuisinart, waffle iron, blender) can go in a lazy susan below. At least, that's where I am at the moment!

We have one in our breakfast bar area and I LOVE it. DH makes smoothies with the blender every day and in our pre-reno kitchen I hated the blender sitting on the counter; he never put it back together, just left it sitting there, pieces apart usually, and in short it just drove me wild.

We went with the side-open door instead of the lift-up door for the simple reason that I know the lift-up door would never get lifted-down again (you have to know my DH, lol) and so it would just be like having the appliances out on the counter anyway. Love the side-open door. He pulls the blender or toaster forward, uses it, and actually shuts the door when finished. It's like a small miracle, haha.

I'll post pics of ours below, but it's hard to know what would work for you without knowing more details of your layout. You do lose counter space. Not sure if it's worth it or not, depending on your layout and your habits.

Can you post a layout?

Anyway, here is what ours looks like:

Although IMHO, it would make me feel boxed in, my friend insisted on one--despite the fact that her contractor, husband, and cabinetmaker all tried to talk her out of it b/c she'd lose counter space.

She loves it, and is so glad she stuck to her guns.

My mom really wants one In the patio home my parents, DH and I are building for Mom and Dad to live in during the snowbird months. I secretly hope mom will change her mind, but don't want to burst her bubble, so it looks like we'll be including one.

Taggie, thanks for the tip about the door.

taggie- is that a vitamix in the garage?

taggie-I love your cabinets. Do you mind telling me who makes them?

My mom has a corner appliance garage, and it takes up so much space. Im glad I didnt include one. A kitchen aide mixer would be fine to sit out on the counter, i think.

It all depends on how much other countertop space, and what you would imagine prepping in that corner that an appliance garage would hinder. We're going to try one in what would, I think, be a deep, dark corner. Since we have other countertop, an island, and a peninsula, I just couldn't really think of what I'd need that corner countertop for.

Your mileage may vary!

bean

Taggie, what is your backsplash? It's gorgeous!! Can you show us a closer pic of it? Thanks!

Don't corner garages take up a heck of a lot more space than an inline one? A square one?

You can move and clean under a mixer, but you can't a garage.

That said, I hate crap on the counters! I'm over my head with visual clutter, so it's just me.

If it's some place you're not going to need the counter to prep for that mixer? Maybe it'll work for you. I'd think it'd depend upon what's next to it, too.

@a2gemini: it's a Ninja, which is considerably cheaper than the vitamix. It's dishwasher safe and has been a workhorse for us.

@miffy13: thank you. They're by a custom cabinet maker in the Toronto area called Concept Cabinets. Great company. If you're anywhere near Toronto I'd be happy to give you their contact info.

@babs711: thank you too! They're metallic glass from Saltillo Tile (http://www.saltillo-tiles.com/products/tile/glass-mosaics/metallic-glass).

I first saw them in Thynes beautiful kitchen: Thynes' Finished Kitchen. She has some good close-ups of the Las Vegas tile in her thread, and here is ours which is the Alaska tile:

My DB and SIL have one between the only sink and the range. It drives me bonkers cooking in their kitchen with that thing in the way. They store bread and toaster in there.

I briefly considered one when planning my kitchen for a place to store my stand mixer put of sight. Mine is a commercial model so weighs about a ton. After seeing DB's I knew it wouldn't work for me. I ended up housing mine in the corner, sans garage.

Messy cords are now cleaned up, but you can judge if this looks too cluttery for you. Btw, many here leave their mixers on the counter, and they are on display frequently in kitchen mags also.

I put one in to house my kitchen aid and food processer. I'm not very tall, so the corner isn't really usable space to me and I can't stand things living on the counter.

The kitchen aid mixer is too heavy for me to lift every time I use it which is quite often, so this was the best solution for my kitchen.

I put in a door that opens to the side, because any other option was much more expensive and it works just fine for me. I don't have an outlet inside it though- the door faces the counter and I pull it out and use it there.

if your mixer is old or you just don't like the color of it or looks of it, make or buy a cover for it.