@furniture re-born Do you have a drop down door or push button, swing open type? Any issue with bending over to operate or about the same as getting food out of an oven?

We put in a Sharp microwave drawer in our island and we love it! Is has been in for over a year and no problems, with daily use. In doing our research, we found that all drawer microwaves are made by Sharp. We like that it has a tilt out control pad that is easy to read (without stooping down) and is hidden when not in use.

I have a Sharp microwave drawer in my island for 10 years now and I love it. I've never had any problems with it. We are getting ready to build a new home and the microwave drawer will again go in my island.

Ditto what Mary said! Ours has been in over 10 years and no issues. When we build again, we're getting another one!

We have a shelf in our island for the MW. It’s just an inexpensive counter top model. I use it everyday but only for reheating things (coffee, leftovers). I can see the pad without bending but only to hit the add 30 button typically nothing complicated. Taking food out is easy too. Bonus my kids can use it safely :) the drawer MWs are really expensive (around $1500 if I’m remembering correctly) and we didn’t love them. If you use your MW a ton it’s worth the investment. Otherwise a counter model on a shelf in the island is all you need.

My MW drawer cost $899. Have they gone up that much?

ETA: < $950 on AJ Madison (https://www.ajmadison.com/cgi-bin/ajmadison/KB6524PSY.html)

When we priced ours out, it cost the same as a built-in "regular" MW (including the trim kit).

That’s a much better price buehl! I wonder if the one i looked at was larger? No idea. My countertop one was $80 ;)

I use the various programs, so an inexpensive one doesn't fit my needs. The drawer was one of the better things we did -- my entire (quite tall) family agrees!

@ michelle puglia in my own kitchen it is on the counter but for my guest house and rental they are on the shelf because of limited space. They are both push button, door swing. Personally I use it very little, I am a minute person heating things up.

We redid our kitchen last year and I sprung for the microwave drawer in my island. I use it numerous times a day, had back issues all last year and this is great. It doesn't take up any counter space and there is no bending required, just tilt out the controls and press the buttons, it slides in and out of the cabinet and you place food into it from the top. Easy to use for the kids as well and now that they are older I don't worry about them playing with it. I read that the drawers had a tendency to break so I bought the 5 year extended warranty and so far have not had any problems. This is the Sharp one we have. https://www.bestbuy.com/site/sharp-24-1-2-cu-ft-built-in-microwave-drawer-stainless-steel/4259700.p?skuId=4259700

We have a microwave on a shelf in our island that has a big drawer underneath (i.e. microwave right below island top.) Bending over to put things in and take them out is not an issue. I use it a lot but don’t put a giant stew pot or similar items in it. I fractured a vertebrae a few years ago and am not so keen on the front loading washer and dryer now - the microwave is still no problem.

We redid our kitchen in 2013 and decided to put our microwave in the island. We were going to leave it in an open shelf but decided to put doors back on so you don't even see it. Ours is used to warm stuff up, pop popcorn, etc. so it's never been an issue for us to have it there. Also a lot less than a microwave drawer.

It's in the cabinet on the left end of the island, behind the two doors.