Have you thought of a microwave drawer? They are expensive, but can be a good solution.

you could bump out your peninsula a bit and install the MW as an under-the-counter model on the end of the peninsula.

still in walkway and might be awkward oppposite the fridge, though. it's hard to tell how big that walkway is from the diagram.

I personally would move the trash cabinet from cabinet #3 to cabinet #4 and have a microwave drawer installed in place of #3 facing the aisle.

What are the benefits of having the MW under the counter? My husband is already not happy that I plan on putting the dishes in a drawer so I canÂt see convincing him that bending over for the MW is a great idea. ;) Plus, I have 3 young children and IÂd rather they werenÂt able to push buttons as they run by. That layout isnÂt quite to scale but there will be at least 48" from the fridge handle to the peninsula and we plan to recess it in the wall so it could be as much as 54".

I have no plans for the cabinets above the DW and there will be a 12" set of drawers to the left of it so that leaves me a decent space for the MW. IÂm just concerned about the distance from the fridge and putting it in the furthest corner.

What do use the MW for?

I like mine right by the coffeemaker cuz I reheat several cups of coffee a day.

Think of the steps you're going to take to get whatever's going in there, and where you're starting/ending from.

Like you, I can't imagine a MW under the counter being convenient- and in your case- definitely not so! I think over the DW next to sink seems doable.

I think I only suggested it because my kids are 8 and 5 and just coming into the age where they are more self sufficient and we're beginning to teach them to make things like easy mac, easy stroganoff, oatmeal, and leftovers. I much prefere them lifting hot things out of a drawer rather than above their heads. The microwave drawers have keys that lock kids out - you can do that during the yonger years and then you're at a good height for when your children are at an older age.

What are the benefits of having the MW under the counter?

i think the one and only benefit is that you don't have to look at it!

other than that, i can't imagine doing one either. it seems like it'd be really awkward and uncomfortable to have to squat down every time you wanted to push the buttons and take stuff in/out of the darn thing.

but if you do go that route, i like mo sgal's suggestion better than the one i made.

A MW Drawer is different than a regular MW. The controls are angled up slightly and you open a drawer & lift out whatever is in the MW (or stir). Actually, it has some benefits in that your children can safely use the MW w/o worrying about them reaching a MW that's really too high for them to use. (Probably the worst is an OTR safety-wise.)

Here's as picture of it installed in my not-yet finished kitchen:

If you're worried about kids running by & pressing buttons, you could use the lock out function.

IÂm not sure I have a lower spot to put one in, aside from the end of the peninsula and then IÂd have to move the trash down to where I stand to prep. Can they squeeze in a 24" cabinet and how much do they cost?

The kids growing up and making some of their own food in a few years is why IÂm trying to be flexible now. We planned to keep the MW in the current location (which will eventually be the snack area) but it seems inconvenient now, though it might work better work in 5 years. Since itÂs just sitting on a shelf in a cabinet, we can easily get full sized doors and use it as a regular cabinet or vice versa with any pantry or wall cabinet thatÂs 30" wide.

Or maybe IÂm fighting it because I donÂt want to give up any drawers.

Have you checked out ikeafans dot com for ideas? I love looking at the modifications people come up with to make the Ikea cabinets fit their needs.

Location: I like the idea of putting the mw in a modified pantry cabinet to the right of the fridge since it would then be accessible for cooking and quick snacks. You could either have a narrow space next to the mw for a landing zone or a partially empty shelf above or below it.

FWIW, I hated having a mw on a low table for 15 years (with really strong emphasis on the word, 'hated'.) The mw drawers seem to solve a lot of problems but I wouldn't like the lack of flexibility in what it could be replaced with--both in dimension and cooking technology. Also, one of my favorite mw dishes is fairly tall.

I never felt tempted to teach my young children to use the mw---probably for the same reason we turned the water temp down so that it wouldn't accidentally scald them. They seemed to have plenty of options for unsupervised diy meals with sandwich making materials, dull knives, and yogurts.