We use ours mainly for reheating and the best location was in the island. It is on an adjustable shelf in case we ever wanted a larger one. It took about a week to get used to where all the buttons were but now it's so easy.

In my old kitchen, the microwave was about 18" off the floor. UGH. I got sooooo tired of leaning or squatting down to get the food.

My new kitchen has an OTR MW. But if I didn't have that, at least I'd get it UP where I could reach it easier.

DonnaR/CA

We currently have our MW on a MW Cart, about 52" off the floor...and it's a perfect height, at least for me (I'm 5'10", so it may be a little high for some people).

However, due to several factors in our remodel, we will be putting in a MW drawer under the counter. We "played" with it in the showroom and it seems like it will be fine since the controls are angled up, we'll see. I know that most people really like their MW drawers, so I have high hopes for it!

HTH!

Mine is built into an upper cabinet - but there are only a few models that are shallow enough to do that the GE JEM31 (I think it's now been replaced by the PEM31) and the Sharp R-1214. You can see pictures of mine on my homepage.

We put ours on a shelf in an upper cabinet. The cabinet is deeper than other cabinets to accomodate the counter-model mw. It works well in our kitchen.

We had a mw on a low table for 15 years and everybody in our family hated it. It was difficult to see the buttons and it was difficult to reach into the mw to pull out items or to clean it. It didn't seem bad at first but got worse as we got older and as we started using the mw more (as our kids went from being babies to teens.)

As far as a mw drawer, I can't picture putting my arms all the way into the drawer to reach around a hot item to pull it up and out. I just picture the top getting jarred and my arms getting scalded. I haven't heard of this being a problem but I prefer to stay as far away from the steam as possible. Maybe they are configured so that this doesn't happen?

I was going to put mine low in the island but finally got talked out of it by the new KD. We played with my design a million times and finally found a way to put it in an upper cabinet (mine are all 15" deep on top). It will be at eye level which is really the best place for it.

We don't microwave much, but when we do, it's dishes like artichokes that get hot (steam) so a drawer just wasn't attractive to me. In addition spending that kind of money on an appliance we rarely use seemed silly. I use it to heat water for tea (so I thought the same thing as zelmar about it). I don't like reaching into the oven to refill my steam pan, so I can't imagine I'd want to reach down into a drawer to pick up a cup of hot water either.

I also have a 2 year old and having an appliance with buttons at that level probably isn't the best idea yet.

For the upper cabinet install you are limited if you don't want it to stick out much, but if you deepen your uppers to 15" it gives you more options.

I'm going with the Sharp R-1214 Over the Counter MW. Its a bit like an over the range MW but without the range.

It is however a bit of a pain to get to fit and look right. I have driven my KD and contractor nuts to get it to fit right.

Our KD offered the over the range hood type of microwave but I hated it. The cabinets are being installed now. Fortunately my husband is the GC and knew we could steal some space from the wall so the microwave fits in a custom shelf in place of an upper cabinet. There's a short cabinet over it. The kitchen was gutted to the studs and the wall behind the microwave didn't have any pipes, electrical, etc running thru it. It will be wonderful not to have it sitting on the counter taking up space.

Mine is in the corner on the counter. I'm too short for an OTR mv and wouldn't want it there anyway. And I'm too short to easily access the deep corners (TV is in the other corner) of the counters so that was a perfect spot.
Monica

On one wall we ordered the uppers 16" deep instead of the standard 12". The extra depth and an outlet in the cabinet allowed us to put a counter top size microwave inside, and a real good exhaust hood over the range. We mostly only use the microwave to re-heat or thaw stuff, maybe some popcorn, etc. We do leave the cabinet doors open when using it. This has worked out very well for us.

On a counter in the walk-in pantry.
This works if you don't microwave much or the pantry is really convenient.

I don't like OTRs because they get steamed up when the stove is going, but I like them at eye level. So we put ours in a below-wall-cabinet box, with a landing space counter below it. I don't have photos yet because we had to reorder it.

Ours is going on a shelf in the island. I gave the cabinet maker the specs for the Sharp drawer and asked him to make the shelf the right size to accommodate that one, but I will just be using our current one for the time being. We don't use the MW much, so accessibility isn't a huge issue for us.

Ours is also in the island- we don't use it too often- we like heating things up on the stove top, but we wouldn't be able to live with out one, so the island was the best option for us to keep it off the counter.

weissman, do you know the width/depth of your upper cabinet that fits the GE JEM31? thanks.

Ours is in the walk-in pantry with the toaster. We only use the MW for heating food maybe once a day.

I put mine in an upper cabinet with a pull up/push back door. I didn't want it on the counter, and I didn't want my (then young) children to be able to attempt to use it on their own. I chose the door I did because I wanted to break up a stack of cabinets that looked too alike. Also, since it's been in use, the counter area just below the MW cabinet makes an excellent "landing area" for whatever is cooking. If you look at my kitchen pic's the MW cabinet is to the right of the refrigerator.

Like every other decision in this remodel, I agonized for a long time over what the "perfect" spot for the MW would be. Thankfully, it seems to have worked out very well for our family.

Rich

Here is a link that might be useful: kitchen pic's

thedinos - my cabinets were custom made - I don't know the dimensions off hand - I do know that with the trim kit, my GC had to recess the MW into the wall slightly to get it flush with the front of the cabinet.

IF I could "do over", I would get the microwave drawer and put it in the island, anywhere but over the counter. The counter space below my microwave is not easy to work at, the microwave infringes on the space too much. I thought about the drawer, but it seemed like a new item and I didn't know much about it. I thought things might spill or it would be hard to work with. Since then I've regretted not getting it. I knew that I definitely did not want a regular microwave installed beneath the counter, but wish I had gotten the drawer..

I have an OTR but I don't have it over the range. I have a Bluestar and the micro would melt over that. I have it mounted under a cabinet next to the Range and hood and I have it vented to the outside as well as the hood, it has a light on the bottom and fan so I can do counter work under it great for peeling and cutting onions, vents the fumes right out instead of in my eyes.

Under the raised part of the peninsula so it's a bit easier to access but still out of the way. We struggled with where to put it.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{!gwi}}

Mine is going to be over the counter in a 15" depth cabinet that has another cabinet directly below it as in the picture.

{{!gwi}}

boyurboy, that looks great! are you going to use a GE spacemaker or something else?

We have the Sharp MW drawer and love it! We installed it in the island DH made. I'm 5'7" and I don't have to bend down and into the drawer to take things out. No steam to worry about, no burns, no spills. I just lift things out and onto the island when they're done cooking or reheating.

Another thing I really like is not having to remove the dish if I need to stir the contents. Just lift the lid and stir. Leaving the dish in the traditional mw and stirring definitely presented a risk for a steam burn, so I would have to remove the dish/bowl, stir, then put it back in the mw.

One caveat, though, if you consider the drawer for your kitchen - it's not that deep. It's 5 3/4" deep. The overall interior space is 16"x17" so plenty of room for most glass bowls and pans. I'll link you to pics of mine so you can see what it looks like when open.

Diana

Here is a link that might be useful: interior of mw drawer

Like Diana, I, too, have a microwave drawer (Dacor) and love it. I find it much easier to reach into the drawer to stir, check on food and to lift the food out rather than reaching above me to do those tasks. It has a locking feature so I can lock it when our granddaughter is at our home (it's not been an issue, so far)and has a warming function, which I've not used yet but will for Christmas dinner. Ours is in our island.
{{!gwi}}

I have mine in my pantry, although unlike the other "MW-in-pantry" people on this thread, my pantry is not a walk-in. Still, I made room for the MW in my pantry, cause I didn't want it on the counter, and don't use it that much in any case. And let's face it, MW's are unattractive, aren't they? They don't look much different today than the one I had in my college dormroom umpteen years ago. So who wants to look at one after spending so much time, effort and money on a gorgeous kitchen re-do? I had an electrician install an outlet in my pantry, which was an easy thing to do, and really love that my MW is not intruding on my pretty kitchen.

BTW, my MW in the pantry replaced an over-the-range MW I had before. I replaced that OTR MW with a proper hood. I will never have an OTR MW again. Ugh. The OTR's don't exhaust well at all, they're too high up to remove sloshing hot dishes from, they're really expensive (vs. my pantry MW which cost $110), and as I noted above, their looks don't fit in with my lovely new kitchen.

A final note - I am hesitant on built-in MW's, cause MW's aren't made the way they used to. They break within 2-3 years, or at least get diminished power over time. If you build one in, it's a PITA to replace it, plus the cost of a built-in is so much higher than the countertop style. If you want a MW in your cabinetry, I recommend a shelf with an outlet behind it as some people on this thread have. That way, replacing it is easy.

we're putting our sharp microwave drawer in the island. the controls are on top and the drawer opens out and you lift things out from the top.

We are in the midst of a kitchen remodel. My first choice was to get rid of the microwave entirely as I am not a fan but DH voted that down. I then offered to have our walk-in coat closet in the foyer wired for an outlet. We ended up compromising. The microwave will be in the island behind a lift up door. Seems like an expensive solution in order to melt butter for the occasional batch of mashed potatoes but there you have it!

We have no upper cabinets to speak of so that wasn't an option. The only place on the island that would work is the first thing you see when you walk in the kitchen door so coverage of this unwanted appliance was a must (for me). There wasn't room for pocket door hardware. We decided it is important to have room in the budget to accomodate our respective personality quirks. Since we won't move for years and years to come, it makes sense for us.

I also have the GE JEM31SF. Its perfectly flush with the front of doors of my 12" deep cabinets (so the cab box is 12" plus door thickness). As you can see, we're not using the trim kit or anything.

Anywhere but over the range. Been there, done that, never again. I'd rather be microwaveless.

thedinos: we are putting a regular counter-size micro there. the cabinet has a 24 inch opening. the micro will actually be a bit higher than the picture, we opted for a taller two-door cabinet beneath it. I will try to take a pic tonight and post a link if you are interested.

-- Jon

Not too high; not too low.
We got a KA microwave top/convection oven bottom combo. Both doors open down like a standard oven door, so I thought the stock cabinets would place the access to the MW too high, reaching over the door awkwardly to pull hot things out to stir (like my SIL's combo).
So we had a custom cabinet made that dropped the unit down about 6" lower than 'normal' and it's perfect. The bottom of the MW sits at about 39" off the deck and the middle of the control panel is at 55" off the deck.
The oven sits at a nice height, too. We keep our hearthkit (pizza oven) in that one and it's perfect for manipulating the pizza peel without reaching too high (you have to hold it at an upward angle to get the pizza to slide off). And above the whole unit, we have vertical tray dividers that hold all of our cookie sheets, cutting boards, pizza screens & peel, all flat items. 18" tall interior to hold full-size sheet cake pan, and not too high to see what's inside.

Thanks so much for all your help. I think I may go with a micro-drawer unit but I would like to know where the controls are and how deep or how big of a bowl or whatever can you put inside? And you really don't need a turntable? Thanks for your helpful ideas everyone!!