I think you might get bimodal responses-- some people loving them and others hating them. For me, they make the space feel cramped and the counter feel cluttered. I think they belong with popcorn ceilings and paneling-- I can see why they were introduced, but I hate them :)

I have a feeling it belongs in a more traditional kitchen than I am planning. My gut feeling is no. I just did not want to finish my beautiful new kitchen only to be disappointed that I did not hide the ugly stuff. I think a shiny new one may be in order.

I share Overlyoptimistic's opinion. The only kind I like are the kind that aren't diagonal, like Mamadadapaige's...They look just like the cabinet flowed down to the counter...more like a hutch than the 80's roll-up doored corner appliance garage.

I tried and tried when designing my kitchen to come up with a solution for covering our toaster oven, which was used all the time, but, I thought, ugly. In the end I decided that 1) we use it too often to hide it away, and 2) after use, it's too hot to cover for awhile, so the chances of the door being left open most of the time were very good. I just bought a nicer looking toaster oven. The previous one we had was white and kind of cheap, so the white had discolored from the heat, the chrome trim looked bad, and the knobs occasionally fell off. I replaced it with a black and stainless Krups, so that any discoloring or messiness not yet taken care of would be better hidden.

I was never fond of them, however, I have seen how they can be a good thing. The way our last kitchen was laid out, the things that lived on the counter were spread out  so no big deal. In our current kitchen, the layout is such that all the counter stuff must live in the same corner. This is really ugly and an Appliance Garage would be useful here. I too like the look of the cabinet going all the way to the counter and would try for that.

The one thing I would not put in an Appliance Garage is my toaster oven. I *love* my Breville Toaster Oven and use it more than my regular oven. :-)

I have one and love it. One of the best things about my kitchen. However, it's not a corner one, it's a straight one (opening is 36" IIRC). And it's not a tambour (roll up) door. It's a lift up pocket door. The pocket door was a requirement for me.

The door does stay closed when appliances are not in use. If you're going to just leave it open, don't bother getting one. My old kitchen had only one plug and all my appliances sat on the counter, plugged into a strip, cords tangled, and the whole thing looking messy and cluttered. I could not WAIT to hide all that but at the same time could not stand the thought of getting those appliances out of a cabinet. I use some of them almost daily!

The appl garage solved that problem beautifully. My kitchen is almost six years old and I still LOVE it. Pix are on the FKB.

Oh! I forgot to say, it actually IS in a corner which you can see in the pix. But it doesn't face out into the corner, it faces out into one of the legs of the L. This gives it the advantage of using a corner which would otherwise be very much underused while still having the wide pocket door.

To me a tambour door looks dated and not better than a nice appliance would. I find it's not that much trouble to haul our toaster oven out of the lower cabinets, which have pull-outs. Maybe tambour doors will be "in" again in a few years, who knows? But I say don't do it.

I like open counters with all of my daily used items out where they are easy to access. I don't like kitchens that have that impersonal and hotel-like feeling where everything is hidden and food prep takes a back seat to empty and lifeless counters. Don't be ashamed of your toaster oven. If it's like most toaster ovens I've owned, you'll have to replace it in a year anyway. I just threw out a 15 month old Sharp one that cost $120.

I had one in my old kitchen and when I redid my countertops, I got rid of it. That was over 2 years ago and I have not regretted getting rid of the appliance garage at all. My kitchen looks so much more open without it.

Thanks everyone. I think that I have been living with this kitchen design so long that I am second guessing everything. I just need to get moving on it. I am trying to set an order deadline for the end of June. I just can't take it anymore.

I like the appliance garages that are straight. I have figured out that I am not a diagonal girl.

jeri - that toaster oven is beautiful. I would not mind having that on the counter. We do use our toaster oven quite a bit and it looks exactly as rhome described - it is a pretty sad looking thing.

One decision made but I still need some help with my upper cabinet layout so I may post another thread later.

Thanks again.
Christine

I went looking for examples in the FKB... I haven't found any corner garages yet.

Here's lowspark's:

And here's mamadadapaige's:

Personally... I think the corner, tambour appliance garages are a bit late-1990s.

I have a corner appliance garage- on the diagonal, and it has a regular cabinet door on it. Big enough to fit the kitchenaid mixer, toaster, coffee grinder, and the shake maker. Love it.