IMO get a proper hood and forget the MW which BTW will be usless for venting. As for the rest once you take cabinets to the ceiling you need to do it everywhere.

I have a microwave above my stove, and I use it for storage because I don’t like lifting hot food down. I know it saves counter space to do it that way. I did it for the included hood/fan because all the other hoods stuck out too far.

Thanks Patricia, We're planning on starting with left of the window then moving over to the right and finishing off the wall cabinets after we move in...

Well the microwave is in! Unfortunately even with 1/2 an inch of clearance for the door it still rubs against the backsplash when opening the door. I've ended up taking off the 3 rows of backsplash so the door now has clearance. I'll use a filler piece to clean up the edge between the wall and the cabinet/microwave. The nice thing is the range has plenty of clearance with the microwave above it. Very easy to cook on!

I also have some scribe molding to go on the top of the cabinets where they meet the ceiling. Still a work in progress but at least its fully functional. I also need new hardware with the cabinets. Everything has turned out quite well. Just need to do some finesse the details now.

Matt T what kind of microwave is it i have a similsr ptoblem nect to recrigerator wall did you use zero clearance microwave? if so what make?

Matt T we have a similar problem with installing a microwave next to a refrigerator wall . what type of microwave did you use? Zero Clearance? what brand? Ive installed two so far and beither open because of wall! Need help!

IMO the range is not in the best place to start with and I think leave this space as is until you have used it for at least 3-6 months You can put a MW on the counter .