oakleyok, I used to have the same setup under my sink. In my new kitchen, I have a much smaller sink base (30"), and most of that space is occupied by garbage disposal, cleaning supplies, dish soap, and trash bags. My favorite part of the trash pull-out is the recycling bin. We used to just pile up recyclables on the counter until someone got around to hauling them out to the garage (our house is a split foyer, so it's a trip down the stairs). Now we just plop cans, bottles, and cardboard in the bin until it's full - out of sight!

Here ya go gardenweb discussion on electric trash pullout I thought mine was Hafele but it's probably the Blum servodrive shown in the video referenced in that link. I think the cost installed with Dutchwood was $250. Ikea used to have a Utrusta (also referenced on that website) for much cheaper but I've heard that the installation is a little tricky. I don't know if it is still available or not. You will need to have an outlet in your sink which you may have anyhow for the GD. HTH

The finish on the wood is moisture and stain resistant, most likely a catalyzed finish. It cleans relatively easy with soap and a damp sponge or rag. The finish should not stain from basic food or waste, however artificial dark colorants can stain almost any wood finish if allowed to sit around long enough. The trash cans themselves can be easily removed from the holder due to their tapered shape. So removal should not be an issue. If you ever need to replace the cans due to staining or breakage, you can find online retailers that sell replacements. You can usually find the can info on the can bottom (capacity, size etc.). Another suggestion I would make is to explore some of the pull-out trash offerings from Rev-A-Shelf. They offer some trash unit with aluminum frames that will not stain and are easier to clean that wood. No rot or rust concerns either.

Hi there, I have a larger family as well (five kids ages 17-21, all still living at home for the meantime) so I also have a busy kitchen. I have a trash compactor in my island instead of a pull out bin and that works great for us! It still gets emptied every 1-2 days, and I use regular trash bags (they’re the heavy duty Costco brand bags, found them to be the strongest) instead of special compactor bags, but without the compactor we were having to empty a full sized kitchen trash can twice a day. Since my compactor gets emptied so regularly, I don’t hesitate to put “stinky” trash in it... most people who use a compactor don’t do that because it might be weeks before it gets emptied... but I really like having a compactor. (I can’t crush it TOO many times though because stuff gets too heavy, and since I don’t shell out for the special compactor bags, the bags break if I try to cram too much into my compactor) I still usually get several crushes in per bag though. I also have a regular countertop microwave under the counter in the working side if my island. Like a previous poster mentioned, we don’t use our microwave constantly, and we tend to use the same couple of buttons each time. We don’t find it to be a problem getting stuff in our out, but it is a hassle if you wanted to actually see the digital display, the angle is bad for that. But we don’t need to see it if we are just pushing the same couple of buttons all the time. Now, the countertop microwaves are made to have plenty of air circulation on the sides... my hubby custom designed and diy built all of our cabinetry, and our microwave is just sitting on a shelf area under the island counter, but there is enough open space on each side of the microwave so it gets enough air circulation, we wouldn’t want it fitting snugly inside is my point. We did consider the drawer microwaves, but we just felt that we don’t use any microwave enough to warrant the cost of that. If I had enough room in my small walk in pantry I would’ve rather had the microwave in there, but that wasn’t an option for us, so under the counter has been a great alternative for us. Fwiw, my island trash compactor is directly behind me when I’m standing at my main kitchen sink where I do dishes, it hasn’t been much of a problem at all to turn around to throw stuff away. It was a good compromise to have it there at the island which is also my main prep space.