I love your cabinets! What wood are they? Thanks.

Janet, thank you. The cabinets are walnut, and I love them. For me, the variation and movement in the grain is delightful. The wood is a little soft, compared with maple or oak cabinetry, for example, but in 4 years, so far, we only have a few small dings from hitting the bottom edge of the face of a middle drawer with a pot from the drawer below when removing it.

https://expertofhome.com/best-24-inch-built-in-microwave/

I agree with Chicagoans - if it's below the counter, a drawer is the best option both ergonomically and aesthetically.

Every appliance and manufacturer has lemons. Sometimes, it's not just the manufacturer, though, it can be user error that can cause some of the issues. (I'm a poster child for that - I ruined my first MW drawer by heating water & vinegar for too long when I was trying to get rid of burned popcorn smell!)

I had my first for many years (11+years) and the second (6+ years) was still going strong when we sold the house last year. When we partially remodeled the Kitchen in our current home, we put another one in (and got rid of the built-in one above a single wall oven - I really disliked it and not just for it's lack of features - my 91-year old mom was worried about using it b/c of its height).

Note that Sharp makes most, if not all, drawer microwaves. They rebrand their drawer MWs for others by making some cosmetic changes and maybe adding/subtracting a minor option here & there.

Oh, and installing a drawer MW is pretty easy if you have the setup already (which you do), so shop around for your best deal - both online and at brick & mortar stores.

Your kitchen is so pretty ! We just got a drawer mw in the middle of a Reno so haven't used it yet. Hope it lasts longer than 3 yrs tho!

@Buehl: "my 91-year old mom was worried about using it b/c of its height" I so agree with this!

When my parents moved into their retirement / assisted living condo, they were able to have the kitchen remodeled and I insisted on a MW that my mom could reach easily. (She's now 92, has arthritis in her hands, and likes her tea and soup piping hot.) The original design from the living space "designers" had the MW over the range, and she would have been pulling things out at face level. Kind of falls into the "what were they thinking" category IMO.

In case you need it

https://microtrim.com/microwave-trim-kits/

Agree there are sometimes just lemons - we’re had our Sharp drawer for 15+ years - no issues

Thank you all for sharing your thoughts, knowledge, and experiences. I am going to push to replace the drawer microwave, or get a second opinion on repairing it. My husband is offended by the price, though, for reheating coffee and plates of Chinese takeout, so... we'll see how I do. :)