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.

What are the dimensions on the pantry wall? You are smart to recognize how you really live, and plan for backpack space. I think the tidiest look would be a low built-in, open at the top. Eventually you could put a hinged lid and window seat, but for now, keep it open. Top access keeps things from spilling into the walkway, and dividers inside separates each person's stuff. In my upcoming remodel, I'm building what I call a "pantry wall", but it will function as command center, desk, and pantry. It will be 5' wide, floor to ceiling, 12" deep on one side and 20" deep on the other. On the 12" side, I plan to keep cookbooks, canned goods, small appliances. No pullouts. I'm adding 2 outlets inside one of the cabinets, for chargers. I would not use glass fronts, as you have shown, if it will be storage space. You said "I don't know how much I would store there". I suggest you go through your existing cabinets, and make a list of what you have. Then go through the new layout, one cabinet/drawer at a time, and figure out what is going to go in each space. Measure stuff. Decide what will work in your space next to the fridge; where the dishes will go; where to put things that need to be handy for cooking. That will help you determine what's left to go in the pantry shelves. One thing I asked my cabinet maker to do is add extra shelves to many of the upper cabinets. If the shelf will house cans of soup or coffee mugs, it doesn't need to be 12" high. I'll have more shelves, spaced closer together. Boxes of cereal need more space. I can see this being useful in your pantry cabinet.

I suggested just going deeper on the stove wall because with the hood breaking up the line, it would not feel visually too full. You could do the reverse and put it on the other side, now that I think about it more. If you prep a lot on the stove side, it would feel more spacious to put the deep ones on the other side. I am also a big fan of open shelving as it makes a visual statement and also makes reaching things easy. It saves money and preserves flexibility. If you went with deeper cabs on the fridge wall and did open shelves on the stove wall, it would maximize natural light and air flow. You could even have shelves wrap the corner for a very nice look. I was not crazy about the deeper cabs only on the end. That exposes the sides of 2 cabs and does not gain you much. If you went with more deeper cabs, then you will notice the storage difference. FWIW, I like bbtondo's layout for the fridge. It serves to make the chokepoint seem less a problem and since you have plenty of counter space, you would gain storage in the tall cab without losing function. You also have a good distance between the stove area and the wall opposite, so you would not be crowded when cooking. If you could still recess the fridge, I'd consider that a great idea.... if not, it is still a contender.

thanks, mathteachr, I thought about doing that....I also considered putting the sink in the island, which would solve this issue. What does GW think about sinks in islands? It would obviously make seating harder. I would probably have to do a second level of countertop for seating, away from the sink, right? We would also have to run plumbing into the island, which I know isn't THAT costly (we're over a crawl space) but we're renovating our whole house so even a grand makes a big difference...