I had the same paralysis. I think a range hood looks more "high end" than an OTR Micro. I was able to pick up an incredible stainless kitchenaid range hood for $300(floor model someone ordered & never picked up) then bought a simple small stainless microwave at HD on sale($88- Sharp)that I am incorporating into a upper cabinet microwave shelf next to the refrigerator.

Hope this helps!

I say get what you want and what is important to you or you will regret it. Our OTR microwave was placed low and is fine for me now, but we are remodeling now and I am a bit worried that "proper" placement will be too high for me as well as I am also 5'2. But we don't have a choice...I have a galley kitchen with not much counter space so OTR is the only option that makes sense. Even with our low microwave, there was room for a stockpot on the front burners. We live in an average tract house neighborhood and don't cook or entertain a lot, so getting high-end appliances did not make sense for us. I have had a GE Profile electric stove and OTR MW for 14 years without a single repair needed, so we went with GE Profile again...I also liked the looks more than other brands. Cabinets and counters were more important to me than appliances (my analysis paralysis was counters!). If you really have your heart set on GE Cafe or Bertazzoni, etc. then go for it! Otherwise you will look at your plain jane stove every day and wish you had gotten the model you really wanted. BTW--I bought my stove, MW and DW (Bosch) from Number1Direct.com and saved about $1,000....they carry the high-end brands as well. Everything arrived on time and was well-packed and crated.

Hmmm - maybe the counters and backsplash are far more important than an OTR microwave. I didn't even have one for the last 2 years. I purchased a small $60 microwave at PC Richards to see if I'd even use it. I've learned that it really does come in handy.

My Breville oven is also a wonderful appliance - great for toast, baking; everything that goes into comes out great. My new stove will be for bigger items, lasagna, roasts and when I bake my plum strudel. The top burners will get a lot of use.

Joanie Poanie (that's my favorite cousin's nickname!)- thanks for reminding me to pay attention to where I live. It's a nice but modest community. Anything new will certainly be an improvement over the original appliances and cabinets with that 1988 cream look with wood trim at the bottom.

Mobydog- in the new kitchen there will only be 3 upper cabinets (a 36", 30" and 50"), and no pantry, plus 2 base cabinets 36"& 30", maybe a corner lazy susan, a 15" trash door, and the sink base. I'm not sure if I can afford to give away cabinet space for a microwave. What do you think?

I had been planning to get an OTR microwave until I realized that the counter space my current MW sit on wouldn't really be useful for anything else. It isn't workspace and it would just be good for putting stuff...like a microwave! If counter and/or cabinet space is an issue for you, then OTR makes sense to me.

For my current kitchen design I am exploring, the microwave shelf is attached to the bottom of a cabinet...so I won't lose counter or cabinet (it will just make it a little smaller).

Can you take your cabinets to the ceiling with taller cabinets to gain more storage?

I'm short and had an OTR microwave briefly. Maybe it was mounted too low because I didn't like putting a stockpot under it. But maybe it was too high because I hated using it since it was too high.

If you do get the OTR microwave -- which I do not recommend as I have one now an HATE it --- make sure that it VENTS to the outside. When I cook with my GE Profile stove under the GE Profile OTR micro, the air/particles are just recirculated into the kitchen so I might as well not even turn on the fan.

I am going to the MW drawer. The 24" Sharp apparently is the one to get [somewhere I saw that wider ones have the same capacity, just a larger drawer front]. Good luck!

Flynnnj - I don't know if you made a decision already, but I can give you my 2 cents.
I had an OTR microwave for 15 years. It was plenty high for enormous pots. Mine was vented to the outside. I just think they aren't very attractive. When we remodeled, we changed up our pantry and added a counter area. We added electrical outlets at counter height and below it. We put a $100, nice looking stainless microwave on a shelf below the counter.

Over the range we installed a stainless vent hood. Our range is a Bertazzoni. We completed all of this a year ago and still love, love all of our choices.

Where are you guys getting nice looking stainless MWs for $100? I'm looking around, from Sears to my local appliance stores, and the $100 or less ones are either very small or look cheaply made. Since mine will actually be sitting on the counter, I want it to look good.

Ok, so I exaggerated! I was $135...I guess my mind rounded down as compared to the drawers and true built-ins we had shopped.
I am not a big microwave "cooking" fan, but use it daily. We reheat, fix frozen foods, and melt/heat butter, water etc. for cooking. It is plenty big enough for what I use it for, has a built in turntable, and I think it looks great. It is much more powerful than the one we had OTR.

Here it is in our pantry:

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Source: Uploaded by user via Marcella on Pinterest

Here is a link that might be useful: Panasonic 1300 watt