Ideas will flow once you post pics of the space.

Without seeing anything, my first reaction is how much do you use your microwave? We use ours all the time, so having it behind doors would not be my choice. If you don't use it a lot, then it seems ok. But yes, photos and a floor plan would help.

I really dislke cabinets sitting on a counter and honestly appliance garage type cabinets are dated . Get a pretty colored mixer leavit out and I always prefer a counter top MW

Sorry, I thought I added photos. They are up now. I added a complete set of images for the entire kitchen to see what we are dealing with.

What Toronto Vet said ^^^^

The way the microwave is today, is awful. Perhaps a proper built in design, leaving it as it is today but flush with the cabinets as has been suggested would make the most sense.

Any other thoughts on the overall design? The counter top that would be over the sink, actually would extend for stools to go under it. We also looked at changing out the "desk" area too. That desk area, the design also has two cabinets down to the counter. By the responses, that seems to be a dated look. We are trying to get rid of a dated look, not introduce another one. haha.

you do not have a lot of continuous counter run inches relative to the size of kitchen. I would raise up the cabinets off the counter at the old desk area. I would probably use the ge spacemaker next to fridge which hangs under the upper cabs and leave free useable counter for the full inches to the right of fridge.

embed a microwave or hang it from the underside of wall cabinet. GE spacemaker or Sharp has a model that wedges between cabinet sides and vents down and eliminates need for extra inches on a ledge.

you also have a wall on the right so you can install such a model all the way over.

Mediterranean Kitchen · More Info

This is what we did:

@darbuka - is that your fridge, that's custom to match the cabinets? Btw, the color of your subway tile is fantastic.

@herbflavor - you have a point about the continuous counter space. We will have significant counter space by the sink and we are expanding the size of the island, but as they say, you can never have too much counter space.

Frosty, yes…that’s a Sub Zero fridge with custom cabinet panels. We also paneled the dishwasher.

Glad you like the backsplash tiles.😊 They’re handmade crackle tiles, in celedon green. Here’s a closer look at the backsplash.

We are looking to update our kitchen.

What are you looking to do?

There are OTR microwaves that are half height for you to consider.

More questions than answers.

1. No to the garage. Yes to the solutions others provide below so it is flush with the cabinets. You will not regret having extra counter space to the right of your fridge.

2. No to the cabinets sitting on the counters. Outdated and impractical.

3. What is happening between the range and the pantry?

4. Are you cabinets stopping just shy of the top of the pantry? They should all be the same height.

5. It would be great to see measurements of the space. The island looks shrimpy and the pathways around it an obstacle course. I know you are used to this layout but I wonder if something better can be done. Why the doors instead of drawers in the island?

The corner pantry is definitely dating the space. Any chance you'll consider a layout that removes it?

Your current crown and light rail should never have been done in a stark white with your dark cabinets. The toe-kick should also have matched the cabinets. You have white horizontal stripes that chopped up the space.

Please don't do a contrasting crown detail on the cabinets as shown on the elevation. It is a dated look and it adds an unnecessary horizontal line that cuts up the space visually.

In the new design, is that still showing your stove jamned into a corner?

How high are the ceilings? If 10 ft or less, I would definitely take the cabinets to the ceiling.

@chispa - The ceilings are vaulted in the kitchen, so going to the ceiling is too far. They are about 14" high. Otherwise we were looking at the over hood design that goes to the roof but it was too high.

I don't know what we would do with the pantry. Our kitchen space is quite large, it's about 22" x 15". The views you see don't show the kitchen table.

We are planning on redoing all the cabinets (boxes and fronts) so the crown molding will be changed to match the cabinets. All new counter tops as well, granite seems to be a dated feature but we still like the look. Hard marble has some great colors, but durability is a concern.

@jinwpg - Yes, the stove is still in the corner, it is moved away from the pantry wall in the new design with a spice cabinet on the left of it. Not sure where else we could move it due to the window location. There is another window to the right of the one shown, that's quite large as well.

@Kendrah - i'll have to get the measurements to show the sizes for some perspecitive. The island is about 54" long and 2ft wide. The reason we are going with doors instead of drawers, is that it's two sided with shelving on both sides for things like cook books, and dishes.

We will be going with 36" high cabinets, but I didn't notice that they were not matching the height of the panty. We will certainly ensure that is matched up. thx!!

@darbuka - we have been looking for similar color green subway tiles. We had seen some that were similar green but glass that were really nice.

This is the other view - keep in mine the counter top will overhang so there is more counter space, with some stools.

I'll find some of the other info and post.

There are some big drawbacks to your plan in addition to the outdated corner pantry.

Aisle clearances look tight--what are the measurements from the counter top on the island to the perimeter counter tops? Anything less than 42" is tight.

Island looks very small.

Dishwasher should be to the right of the sink. The area between the sink and range is the prep zone--a pullout trash would work better there. The dishwasher then is on the right of the sink, in the cleanup zone.

There's not much room between the range and the pantry. Eliminating the pantry and replacing it with counter space and upper cabinets would be more useful.

What are you planning for the wall with the open shelves opposite the island? That whole area could be a reach in pantry.

Frosty, you should really post the floor plan for the space with all measurements for walls, windows, doorways, etc. People here will come up with some good layout for you to consider. You don't have to do what they suggest, it is your house after all, but don't move ahead with your project until you have looked at all the potential options that could improve the space. It won't cost you anything, except some patience and answering some questions :-)

Some things to get you started thinking outside the box ...

Here is a post from 8 years ago with a poster who removed a corner pantry.

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/4649209/kitchen-reveal#n=66

More information and photos in the post.

Their before:

Their after:

If you are really bored ... here is a search with thousands of discussions related to removing corner pantries. Worth it to spend some time browsing to get as much information as you can before you put a deposit on your cabinets. Time spent on research and homework is never wasted.

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/query/remodel-that-removed-corner-pantry/nqrwns

the biggest bang for the buck by far would be removal of corner pantry...it looks very easy to take that one down.