When I have questions like this, I do a mock up. Everyone here will have an opinion, but you need to physically prove to yourself whether this arrangement will work for you. Is the arrangement easy to access. Personally I like the idea of moving one of them to the side over an oven, but I understand needing the counter space. Three 18” boxes can help you decide.

How low do you plan on starting the steam oven? Do you have kids or pets? How tall are the folks that will be using these? Do you really want to open it and have steam rise across the fronts of the rest of the appliances?

My double ovens today are set at normal height. I despise using the lower oven. I am moving to all counter height Gaggs.

Also with the side opening of the Gagg, I would think it would be more awkward to have things lower than just a few inches below counter height, but maybe that's just a familiarity thing as they certainly make double ovens.

I'd start with mocking things up (think cardboard boxes) and setting the lowest appliance at the height recommended for a double oven stack..

IMO the coffee maker makes no sense in thta stack since I like to have a coffee station area to have the coffe cups etc. The other appliances have install directions so read those . I would probably not go built in MW too many changes in sizes every year and the MWs do not last forever then you are stuck with a hole to fill.

Agree on the microwave item. The Gagg is super expensive. We did a BASIC sharp or similar and have a nice built in kit for it. The kit fits multiplate microvamces (and in fact, we bought a spare because we like the kit so much)

@Jeffrey R. Grenz, General Contractor - thank you very much. Just seeing it visually installed gives a lot of perspective!

Everyone that responded so far - thank you also. Many great points raised. I'll do the cardbox box cutout exercise, but the image that @Jeffrey R. Grenz, General Contractor is exactly what I needed to see from an aesthetic and practical perspective.

I responded in agreement in the past to some other question about the combi-microwave being so expensive to be used just as a microwave - so,I was already a bit iffy about that particular appliance. I'll re-think. Thank you for the push to look at basic microwaves with a built-in kit. Practicality says that's what I should be doing.

I'm 6'1 and wife's 5'1. I might be asking for trouble with a 3-stack :)

As @just_janni pointed out (thank you!) having the lowest appliance too low is also going to be a pain also and I didn't think about the steam venting all over the upper appliances. We do have young kids; point well taken.

Appreciate everyone's inputs! Certainly, plenty of food for thought. I'll report back with what we decide.

I think as long as the coffee maker is just above counter-height, it should be fine! It's probably the appliance you'd use most often so it should be the most accessible.

@Sabrina Alfin Interiors, correct! My ordering was based on usage. Coffee Maker multiple times a day (we do a lot of hot water for dip and green teas, etc. - not just coffee), Microwave perhaps once or twice a day when quick reheating of leftovers is necessary, and the Oven occasionally, perhaps weekends if we aren't out. We have promised ourselves that we'll make a conscious effort to use the steam oven more, but we just aren't used to using ovens at all (south Asian).

I don't have a steam oven myself, but people swear by them. Enjoy!

In my previous house I installed the Miele CSO XXL under the counter. It was ok.

In my current house I installed another Miele CSO XXL higher up with a Miele coffee machine above it. Much prefer having the CSO being a bit higher. We came up with the exact height by figuring out how high we could place the coffee machine and still be able to use and clean it comfortably. We aren't tall.

You can see the positions on the right side of this photo. We have a Sharp MW drawer in the island, opposite the CSO and coffee machine, so every appliance was placed at a comfortable height for its intended use.

After much consideration, we decided *not* to stack three appliances. As someone pointed out, it isn't part of the Gaggenau installation options. In fact they specifically state that no appliance should be above the combi-steam oven.

We ended up with a stack of Combi Steam Oven above a Combi Microwave Oven, and then we're doing a Coffee Maker separately on the other end of the counter rather than right next to the first ovens. We're still undecided on a warming drawer under the coffee maker - we may go either way.

By not having the stacks right next to each other, they can be placed at just the right heights without the need to complete a fully aligned square look and adding more filler appliances. I think this is what @Patricia Colwell Consulting and @chespa were also alluding to - to have everything at height they're most comfortable to use.

Our decision to pay for the more expensive Combi-Microwave has come with the trade-off that we've given up on the regular oven, with the hope the convection features in the Combi-Steam and Combi-Microwave would together provide enough cavity space and flexibility for our needs.

Thanks again for everyone's inputs! We're going to find another way to get some counter space back, now that we're committing to a second 'stack'.

Unless you have a very modern minimalist kitchen, I wouldn't worry about having 2 separate stack that aren't placed at the exact same height. Yes, symmetry can look nice sometimes, but placing appliances in the best ergonomic position should take priority over just looks.