A plain stainless range hood, to me, is not a touch of silk.

A fancy copper one with brass trim, or an elaborate carpenter-built enclosure is silkier.

Do you want it just for the look, or do you need the exhaust? If it's for beauty's sake only I think you could add different and better appearance-enhancing touches that wouldn't take up valuable counter space.

Like maybe a glass-fronted cabinet with pretty things inside, or decorative tile.

One problem with an operating chimney-style range hood is that you have to make a different place for the microwave.

I have a small kitchen I'm redoing. My neighborhood isn't the greatest but I decided that I'm doing want I want regardless of resale value since I don't plan on moving soon.

My kitchen designer preached to me the problems with the microwave/hood combo. I wasn't fond of the chimney style hood at first, but now I like the way it breaks up the space. Although I am now dealing with the issue of where to put the microwave. My current stove is a white GE, eventually I will replace it but it will still be a stainless stove, nothing fancy.

Thanks for your thoughts. Our microwave (OTR) went out so we are replacing it. DH had an idea that if we switch around some cabinets, we could install the OTR next to the fridge, and then put up a chimney hood in place of the missing cabinet over the range.

I did a lot of searching and found that the chimney hoods I saw all were over nice gas ranges, not the electric, so I didn't know if it would look funny.

jamies-I guess for me it's the look, trying to update a little. Our microhood doesn't vent to outside so DH is going to add a vent during this process.

nap101, do you know which hood you are going with? They can be pricey!

I'm redoing a kitchen, and the contractor wanted to put the microwave next to the fridge, and I wouldn't let him, because then the microwave and the fridge would share a landing space. So if DH is getting something out of the fridge, or if I'm trying load groceries, and the other wants to heat water for coffee or make popcorn, we would both be standing in the same 2 square feet of space.

In photos you often seem fridge and MW side-by-side, but I wanted to avoid that.

Thanks for pointing that out, Jamies. I don't want to overlook any potential problems so I appreciate that. I don't think that will be an issue in my kitchen. I always put groceries and things from the fridge on the island or the counter on the other side. The counter that would be below the microwave is not used for anything, other than to display pictures/decor.

My main concerns are that this is a 30" cabinet so I hope the microwave doesn't look too big and out of place. The other thing is that in this builder grade kitchen, there isn't the vertical wood pieces next to the fridge so I'm afraid the appliance right next to appliance without a wooden divider might look a little weird. Thoughts? But the main focus is the stove area, so maybe it's not a big issue.

Worse case senario is DH will have to put the cabinets all back in their original places and that's a lot of extra work for him.

Hey guess what, I was in the grocery store today and on the cover of a kitchen magazine was a kitchen redo that had an OTR microwave!

I personally like the idea of the microwave being close the fridge/freezer. Generally, I take things out of one and into the other. It seems convenient to me...

I'm redoing a kitchen, and the contractor wanted to put the microwave next to the fridge, and I wouldn't let him, because then the microwave and the fridge would share a landing space. So if DH is getting something out of the fridge, or if I'm trying load groceries, and the other wants to heat water for coffee or make popcorn, we would both be standing in the same 2 square feet of space.

In photos you often seem fridge and MW side-by-side, but I wanted to avoid that.