Dinner plates get stored next to the DW, not next to the MW. You need to look at the big picture traffic flow of the whole kitchen here here. Post your whole kitchen layout.

You will also need to have an electrician run a dedicated 240 line to the correct location for your project. It can’t be next to a wall, no matter what. It has to have proper clearances. That goes for the cabinets too. They all need the right fillers to be able to open the doors, or clear moldings, or both.

Yes, plywood is 20% more than furniture board from most cabinet sellers. Furniture board is what every KD out there would choose. It’s functionally equivalent. Manufacturers charge that 20% because they can. It doesn’t cost them anything different to use one material over the other. Pure profit. Just like extended warranties. It taps into people’s wood prejudices that they may not even realize that they have.

It’s money for nothing, but it makes people feel good to think that they “upgraded” to “ solid wood”. That’s just total marketing BS. Cabinets haven’t been made of actual solid wood since about 1900. Europeans have used nothing but furniture board cabinets for 70 years. They do not have kitchens that have all of the issues that Americans seem to think happen.

I agree with GreenDesigns regarding the cabinet configuration. I also agree with the recommendation to use a painted finish instead of trying to match the stain -- the difference will be noticeable so avoid the tried-to-match-but-failed look and go for a nice paint color that coordinates with what you already have in the room.

While I prefer plywood to MDF (and used plywood in my kitchen remodel), if I were on a budget and had to choose between upgrading to plywood or getting cabinets from a better manufacturer with a truly matching door, I would choose the latter.

Post the layout - that includes labels for doorways to surrounding rooms - maybe someone can come up with an idea that'll work for you

“Also microwave that I’m planning to put there opens like an oven pullout door. ”

That generally is a speed cook type built in MW that operates on 220 instead of 110. Post your exact model number of the MW. The vast majority of countertop MW’s are left hinged. They also require open space ventilation around them. Building them in requires a trim kit. If it is a high wattage MW, it may need a dedicated line regardless of it is 110. Unless you like blown fuses.

In addition to the layout with dimensions, post some pictures of your existing kitchen and showing the space where the planned new cabs will be.

There are sometimes ways to integrate 2 finishes into a kitchen that will improve the look of the existing kitchen. Depending on the situation, if the new cabs will be painted, it might make sense to paint some of the existing one as well. If done well, that would tie everything together.

To find out, people will need your existing layout and photos.

That needs a 21”Deep cabinet and a trim kit to build in. It can sit on the counter just fine. It’s too deep and heavy to put on a MW shelf because they have a tenuous connection to the rest of the adjacent 12” deep cabinets and this would be too deep and heavy for that. MW shelves are designed for smaller lighter microwaves.

Understood! Thanks for again for your advice. I would get another microwave.

Another thought -- it would be cheaper to just get the base cabinets, so you could buy the matching cabinets and put the microwave on the new counter. Then, for actual storage, you could use floating shelves.