Measure the gap please.

A piece of metal trim - same color as your micro.

Did you change your cabinets? Whatever you decide make sure ther is proper microwave ventilation.

Would you consider a short cabinet above the microwave with a vertically swinging door. It might be the right size for storing spices.

Will update with dimensions asap.

@Angel 18432, Is it easy to match metals to appliances, in your experiences? GE could not provide info on the metal color/tone.

@Valinta, not we did not change our cabinets. We moved in and the microwave was too high for my fiance to reach comfortably.

@Norwood Architects, That's an interesting idea, but I have read that it is very hard to match cabinet colors without the original maker (we don't have a way to get that info). Do you have an idea for what could work?

Is the current location to high for you? I think that the height that some of the micros are mounted is way too high for many people.

I dont have a microwave and probably wont get one and dont want one.

I have never found the over the stove top ones to be very accomodating. If too low over the stovetop, how would I lift canning jars out of the hot water? And, they just seem to be in the way.

If they are higher I run the risk of spilling hot stuff while trying to get it down from there.

As so much of our population ages it is a bit difficult to imagine that more are not putting the microwave in a better place that allows older people to use them more safely I not only get shorter as I get older, I get less able to safely pull a hot dish down out of the microwave.

It seems that most people just use them to heat things up and I have found other ways to do that.

My kids tell me to update my kitchen and put in a microwave and a dishwasher. I want neither!

We have resigned ourselves to stay here until we just cant and whoever buys the house will want to redo the kithchen anyway.

The world is in free fall, we are both getting old and I am not going to worry about resell value.

After deciding not to sell and move this past summer, I neglected to actually get a dishwasher put in as we were going to do for selling value. Instead, just yesterday I worked another bit of shelving into that empty space and I now store my cast iron cookware there where it is so handy that I can just grab for it an put it away just as easily, along with some attractive chrome shelves and some nice looking bowls to put on there, it is quite respectable looking. Now, can find and use the bowls and not one day goes by but what I dont access my cast iron. It works beautifully for me! At this point, that is all that matters.

I have decided that I am not going to squeeze my life into something that conforms to what the world wants, but not what I want just to please some future would be buyer. Years ago that would have been a different story. Now the world has gone to hell and I just dont care to serve any but what works for me.

My kitchen is small and it matters how the space is used.

Plus, I have a real vent that really vents to the outside of the house. I wish I had one of those old fashioned exhaust fans that is mounted right in the wall and that really pulls the hot air and fumes out. We had one in a vacation rental that was fabulous and I looked for one some years ago but could not find one like that old fashioned one. They used to be quite common.

If you lower the MW it will be too close to the cooking surface so IMO no. I agree with Shannon . The hood will aslo need to be higher than where you plan on putting the MW

Please don't plan on storing spices near your vent MW. The heat and steam will deteriorate herbs and spices quickly.

Can you find another home for the microwave? If yes, I would paint the bottom of the above cupboard and the space where the micro was in a matching colour to the backsplash. Then add two shelves which can hold useful items such as dishes, glassware, spices or decorative items.
If you definitely want to keep the micro in that space then you can always get a strip of mirror that fits in (you’ll still have to address the bottom of the above cupboards). It’s not perfect, but being high, deep and small, no one will notice it.

Use the MW for ventilation and light only (if it’s vented to the outdoors; if not, replace it with a ventilating fan that IS). Get a new M/W for the counter that everyone can reach, for cooking. Temporary solution, but finding a trim piece is going to make you crazy and as someone else said, will interfere with the exhaust fan.

"I would paint the bottom of the above cupboard and the space where the micro was in a matching colour to the backsplash. Then add two shelves which can hold useful items such as dishes, glassware, spices or decorative items."

Do not do this! @oreet's advice would be a fire hazard. It would also be violating Building Code, because it is a fire hazard. There must not be a combustible material located above the cooktop. @oreet - if what you suggested is what you have in your own home, I would remove those shelves right away, and certainly anything that is painted from above the cooktop. That is very dangerous. Each year, there are about 119,000 fires involving cooking equipment, with 250 deaths and 3880 injuries from these fires. Many of them are due to having combustible materials close to the cooktop.

Shannon_WI
I agree with what you said Re: fire hazard, but from the picture it looks like there is a counter below the micro, not a stove.

@Shannon_WI @oreet, thank you for the perspective! My electric stove will be directly below the microwave.

when you say "flush with cabinets" do you mean you're lining up the bottom of the microwave with the bottom of the cabinets? why? that is ridiculously too close to the stove.

if reaching it is the issue, then it sounds like you need to just get a countertop microwave, and get a real vent hood for your stove.

@Rachel Lee, the dimensions of the space are 30"W x 7.5"H x 13"D.

@wynterwynd, thanks! I am a bit concerned about that search, which is why frosted glass seemed like the best fix.

@oreet, I think your initial suggestion of a mirror is aligned with what I'd thought

@Patricia Colwell Consulting, thanks! I'll set up some tape to test out the height of the microwave. I think I value open counterspace and safe access to the microwave, and more than easier access to the back to burners on the stovetop.

The MW hangs from 2 screws through the cabinet above. The wall bracket is a mainly a positioning bracket. The main weight is supported by that cabinet and those screws. Screws that are a specific short length to be able to not go through the mounting holes and into the MW.

Doing a non standard install where there is a big gap between the two, and you’d need to source specialty screws in a specialty length, is not a good idea.

Thanks, @User. You're right about the screws. We're currently looking for longer ones. Could you please share more about what makes it a bad idea, assuming we find longer screws that fit?

I cant imagine how the practice of reaching over a hot stovetop with things boiling or frying on it in order to take out another hot item is in any way acceptable practice! I have never understood why this became such a standard.

And those are expensive microwaves, and a pain the butt to replace.

One that sits on a surface or is built into a wall cabinet is much easier to use and to replace.

With all the hot stovetop cooking that I do, that would be way too low over the stove and too high to use comfortably.

I just dont get it why this came to be the accepted norm. It makes no sense.

Plus they are heavy and if not properly mounted can be a real dangerous problem. I would not have one that did not sit squarely on a supported surface. If you put in a heavy and loaded item to cook in there, you have increased the weight of what is hanging off your cabinets.

I really dont get it, at all.

Plus, I think that they are highly over rated and really only used the one I used to have for baking potatoes. Other than that, I had no real use for it. So, I never replaced it.

As for finding long screws, you can find threaded rods of many lengths.

Wednesday morning,
While I agree that aesthetically, the over-range microwave cum exhaust fan is not always ideal, it IS a space saver. For everyone who doesn’t like the way it LOOKS, there is someone who doesn’t like having a giant exhaust fan be the center of attention. Putting in and removing something from an over-range microwave while cooking on the range is neither dangerous nor unwieldy. Unless your microwave is installed too low. But, they come with excellent instructions and there are building codes to follow.
They are not particularly expensive; I just bought a new one for $179, it does what I want it to do (heat water, steam veggies, melt butter, make popcorn) and nothing more. Installing is not difficult; it comes with a template, you use a level and it goes in quite quickly—DIY or by a contractor.
So…why? Because I need an exhaust fan AND a microwave and I don’t want to give up ‘real estate’ elsewhere in the kitchen. Bonus: it has additional lighting for over the stove.
If someone is putting something heavy in the microwave…then they aren’t using it correctly and need to think about using the range instead.
Good thing there is something out there for everyone’s tastes!

where is the ducting for the exhaust?

it should look like this w/proper ducting for exhaust.

I had this OTC microwave and it requires ducting to exhaust the cooking fumes/grease.

Check w/the specs on your range. normally there cant be anything lower than 30".

here's a GE that's pretty low. something like this won't get in the way when you cook? just make sure to check to see what the min. height from stovetop is for that model.

Regardless, you still need some type of exhaust. The previous owners didn't do it, and your inspection person missed it. If you just moved in, I'd contact them and ask for reimburssement to do this.

You could sell that, get a counter or built in microwave and put it elsewhere, and then do a regular fan over the stove

or, keep it at the proper height and cut a hole in those cabs it hangs from to run some ducting. hopefully that wall is an exterior wall. if not, you'll have to go up and out somehow

if the stovetop is hot it has a pot or pan as well...right? so the reach up to defrost a veggie or keep something warm in the mwave shouldnt be considered a hazard . i dont see why a pot of soup or grilling a sandwich means the microwave use is dangerous .

Most OTR microwaves can be set up to either properly vent to the outside or recirculate, I know ours had instructions for both setups. We are in a condo with no outside vent (adding one is a painful process requiring architect blueprints, committee approvals etc), so for the time being recirculating is our only option - possibly OP is in the same position.

Just recently I went to retrieve something from the MW at daughters house and there was a pot boiling water on the front burner for pasta. Before I reached up into the MW, I made sure to account for that pot of water. What if I accidently dropped what I was reaching up to get? What if a handle on it broke, or I reached for something not fully realizing how hot the container was and just dropped it? What hot liquid sloshed onto my hand and I dropped the coffee cup or bowl or whatever? There was a real danger to interact with that pot of boiling water and I vow to never again do that.

Some people put some pretty big casseroles in those ovens.

And, with a hot bubbling or sizzling stove top no one should be having to reach around and above it. to get another hot itme out of a high position.

I also feel so cramped when trying to use a stove top with the MW so close in my way. If it is high, I can hardly reach it.

I really just do not understand this, at all. It seems to defy so many safety measures about stove top cooking. It seems especially problematic if there is an open gas flame and you are wearing loose floppy sleeves or a long sleeved robe or some such.

I just cant get over that cramped feeling of cooking with something hanging over the stove top like that.

A countertop microwave is better than a wall-hung microwave. Removing a bowl of hot liquid from a wall-mounted microwave can be dangerous….risk of spilling. No such issue with a countertop microwave. When the wall-hung microwave dies, as they will eventually, you need to find a new one which fits the location….no such issue with a countertop microwave. The underside of a microwave mounted above a stove will need to be cleaned frequently.

The frosted pane of glass is a good idea. Might I interest you in an online store called GreatBigCanvas.com ; my initial suggestion is making an acrylic resin panel and submerging old 386/486 pentium motherboards in it or CPUs which ever. and then just hang it between the cabinets. With an aquarium backing sheet and various old PC materials you could go far on mosaic work. If not so inclined for DIY I found this print wall peel for a mere 30$

Mikki, make an acrylic resin panel? That sounds like a task that is fraught with failure. It would require the resin, some form to make it in and an old motherboard hanging around, just for starters.

I have welcomed the unconventional, original, and creative into my life and my home and have embraced many an unusual this or that. I have created and tried many things. But, most people will want something more conventional and I suspect that there are very few who would go the distance neededt to mess around with pouring resin.

The poster seems to be looking for a somewhat more conventional solution.

Do you have another location where you could put an undercabinet microwave without exhaust? They do make microwaves that can be mounted this way, and that may solve the problem of taking up counter space. The clearances of 24" or 30" that are called for by codes etc. are to the bottom of cabinets or flammable materials. They do not include microwave hoods, which are another appliance, some of which require to be hung around 18" above the cooktop in order to be even minimally effective. The ventilation provided by a microwave hood is better than nothing but not as good as an actual range hood would be.