Microwave location

last year

Ideally our (small, countertop) microwave would be near the fridge (since we mostly use it to reheat leftovers or defrost things) but there is no good spot for it there. Our designer suggested putting it in a shelf cabinet as part of our 12” deep pantry cabinet (the MW shelf cabinet idea came after he drafted the initial plan below).

Does it make more sense to instead split the pantry cabinet into an upper wall cabinet (33” tall) and a shallow (12” deep) base cabinet, with the standard 18” between them and a shallow countertop (13.5” deep, 33” wide)? Aesthetically that seems nicer than a dedicated microwave shelf cabinet.

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Comments (3)

herbflavor
last year
last modified: last year
show the entire space. you want it near the fridge. you arent even showing the fridge. we cant draw conclusions or suggest if the space isnt shown. Based on the one image you provide / I would get the GE spacemaker and hang it under the cabinet left of window...but there are probably other options.....A. 34 in double door pantry is too wide in my opinion so the plan probably has a few possibilities for tweaks ....so , whether mwave drawer or open ledge in upper cab or a standard 24 in unit in a better proportioned vertical unit......there are numerous ways. There is no gargantuan microwave to fill 34 in width in your posted vertical set up....There are some 2.0 cu feet units for full multi staged cooking and full features. But you dont describe the need/desire for that .

its hard to understand why your list of appliance specs was not provided in the planning of your kitchen

1st pic the type of unit you describe for your needs/ taking minimal space. 2nd pic is one of the wider units i've seen @ 30 in..Wolf drawer unit....not sure if you can find 32 in or so to fill up the width you show.....but I''d never get a 34 in pantry cab anyway...

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Isaac thanked herbflavor
Isaac
Original Author
last year
last modified: last year
The pantry cab is there because of a doorway to the mudroom. I wish it were narrower as well.

We want the microwave at or near countertop level so the kids can use it (also my wife, who at 5’ tall is not comfortable lifting hot things near head level) and don’t want to spend $$$ on a built-in microwave.

The plan is a first cut - the range will move left 9”, we are not sure about the island (and the clearances are too tight), trash should be near the prep sink not the cleanup sink, I am not sold on the Magic Corner, etc. The designer initially suggested the MW location over the prep sink but tgat was before we realized it was too high for my wife.

Other countertop appliances are: toaster oven (likely to the left of the prep sink); Instant Pot (to the left of the range); and stand mixer (between range and window in the prep area). Coffee prep (Chemex, kettle, grinder) will probably be to the left of the dishwasher.
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herbflavor
last year
last modified: last year
if you are moving the range to the ?left? 9 inches.....I'd take the prep sink away from the spot shown...skooch fridge to the left and create counter to the right of fridge.....you have 68 inches from edge of left counter to right side of fridge.....put a small prep sink on island....skooch fridge to the left ...so starting left and working to the right....... 9 in tray cab/ 33 in french door fridge and at far right, mwave drawer @ 24 inches by SHARP USA ..2 inches left over......RE Island ---try reduction of width by up to 5 inches ....if you must have prep sink get a 21 in sink base at end for a small sink ..if you have prep sink the 36 in dimension for cleanup sink is oversized....reduce that sink size and give inches to the drawers near dishwasher. Its questionable whether a prep sink is needed ..... you want it , but dont interrupt the counter flow between range and fridge......thats a horrible spot for it... you always want landing by fridge....esp in a smallish/ kind of tight kitchen. the prep sink behind the cooktop allows cooking activity w sink/prep and counter w a pivot to the isalnd ..even if smallish.....okay in this case because someone can use fridge for retrieval [ the most frequent activity] and have counter there and not be bumping w cook also in corner for use of prep sink if you were to leave sink in corner. .