I had one in my old kitchen and I loved it. I kept the toaster, hand mixer, hand blender, electric can opener, and electric knife in there.

As someone with a small kitchen who literally stores all her appliances (except toaster and coffee maker) in the garage, I'd kill for one. Hand mixer, emulsion mixer, stand mixer, cuisinart, pasta maker-- they are all in the garage and thus are rarely used by anyone but the spiders.

We have one in our summer cottage and I hate it because it takes up a lot of counter space. We use ours for bread... I don't know why, but it has become the most logical place to store it! We also keep the "garage door" open all the time. If it were in my main house, I would have gotten rid of it by now. BTW, your garage is MUCH nicer looking than mine.

When we remodeled our kitchen, I thought about getting one. My contractor talked me out of it, saying that I probably wouldn't use it. (And it would have been one more "cabinet" to pay for.) As it turned out, I now use that corner of the counter to store my huge cast iron pot, which won't fit anywhere else. So I'm happy I didn't get the garage.

Like you, I keep only my toaster and coffee maker on the counter, which are used daily (and too large to fit in a garage anyway). My other small appliances (hand mixer, food processor) are stored elsewhere and I get them out when I need them, which is rarely.

If you don't think you'll use it, take it out.

You might want to post your question on the Kitchens forum also.

Here is a link that might be useful: Kitchens forum

I love ours! I keep our coffee maker and toaster in it. I just pull them out a few inches from the garage to use them, then just push them back in when we're done. Is there an outlet in yours? There should be, so you can just use the stuff right there. The only problem I have is that a lot of coffee makers won't fit in mine because they're too tall, so I just stick with the smaller ones. But yours looks a lot taller than ours so I don't think that would be a problem for you.

Is the shape of the cabinet above going to look ok, and ok in the context of the rest of the area, without it underneath?

I love mine, and have used it ever since we built our house 19 years ago. Inside are my electric beater on it's stand, my Cruisinart food processor, three large oversized serving bowls and a small electric mini-chopper. I use one or two of these items several times a week, so it's nice having them plugged in and ready to go, yet not visible.

It could always be used for extra storage and not necessarily appliances.

I put the bread, rolls, and toaster in it. The coffeemaker is too tall, and I don't use other appliances regularly.

We pull the toaster out in front of the door (already plugged in inside) to use it, and then push it back in when finished. Works great! Your appliance garage looks similar to mine.

Pennylaney

We don't have the standard type kitchen appliance garage, but when designing our kitchen I wanted a more furniture look since our home style is Victorian. I'd link photos here, but for some reason when I try to all I get is a vista update link. I'm on my son's lap top since I'm watching our grandson.
On one side of our kitchen our wall cabinets set on the counter. Two of them have outlets. One holds the toaster and the other holds the coffee maker and blender. When using them we open the cabs, pull out the needed appliance and use them on the counter. I will never have a kitchen without this type of system.
I think, at the very least, I'd live with it for awhile to see if you'd use it. You may be pleasantly surprised.
~Becky

Thanks everyone! Sounds like most of you DO use yours, so I'll rethink taking it out.

squirrelheaven- I never thought about it not looking okay, but I think it would look alright. hmmm, now I'm not sure.

Kareen- I think that is what I really don't like about it the most. I never really did like the roll top doors. hmmm, maybe I could get a regular door put on it?

This has nothing to do with your question, but when I saw your user name a moment ago, I almost fainted! My dearest friend from 30 years ago was named Betty Rathke Lake! For a moment I thought she was visiting from the grave! :)

I'm having such pleasant memories right now - but I still miss her. Thanks!

I hope I never own a kitchen without appliance garages. I have two, each in opposite corners. They have electric outlets inside so everything that is stored in there stays plugged in. When I need to use something I just pull it out and it's raring to go.

I keep my small appliances in one and in the other one I store all my ziploc bags, reynolds wrap and stuff like that plus that's where I keep bread.

Start using yours. You'll be addicted soon. :)

Here is mine that we put in with our new kitchen 2 years ago....love, love, love it!!

I have my toaster, kitchen aid mixer & electric pencil sharpener (3 kids in school..it gets it's use).
Mine also has an electric outlet inside which to me is critical!

Another fan of the appliance garage. I keep my toaster in there too. DH keeps his daily vitamins in it as well.

Our kitchen had one with a tambor-type door. I think it must have been put in crooked because it kept getting stuck halfway up or down. One day I was in a hurry and really needed my mixer NOW and couldn't get the #$$%%#@# door open. Well, I took a screwdriver and ripped that door right off!! The opening is now covered w/ a vintage Vera napkin that goes w/ my decor. DH says don't get in the way of a woman and her brownie mix!!!

Oh, to answer your question, I store my stand mixer, toaster and blender inside.

I had mine taken out. It took up counter space, appliances didn't really fit in it, and I never closed the door. Now I have lots more counter space next to the fridge, and the toaster and coffeemaker can be used wherever I want.

I Love mine too - I have little kids - when they were babies that is where I kept the bottles, formula, etc. now that they are 5 & 6, this is where I store their dishes, cups & lids, etc. as well as the baby wipes that I still use to wash their hands and faces after meals.

Love my roll top appliance garage, keeps our coffee, cuisinart, and mixer handy but out of sight and clean from dust! The point is to have one the correct size for you favorite appliances with electrical plug inside. Roll top really helps to save space.

Wow, thanks for all the replies! I think I will have to put off the tile backsplash for now & live with it at first to see if I'll use it. I just keep thinking I could use the extra counter space.

sherrmann- how sweet! I have a best friend named Betty & you made me think of her!

jrcfry- Beautiful kitchen! I love how your appliance garage looks!! Mine kinda reminds me of my Grandmother's old flour hutch with the roll top door! LOL But maybe I could get a different door put on.

Depends on how much you dislike or tolerate countertop clutter. It's a great place to keep everything already listed neat in your kitchen. I have also housed our kitchen TV in it in the three houses we've owned with an appliance garage. I wouldn't have a kitchen without one (or two!). If you're building, make sure they run cable to the AG.

Here is a link that might be useful: Nouveau Stitch Home Dec Sewing Forum

Our appliance garage is used daily. It's where we keep the toaster, salt/pepper/sugar shakers, open bags of chips, etc. It has an outlet inside. We have a large kitchen so we don't need the extra counter space.

When we redid our kitchen we did tile behind it so that we could remove it if desired; however I doubt we'll ever get rid of it.

I think you need to look at your lifestyle and see if you really need it. I had one just like yours and took it out when we remodeled our kitchen. Do you have the space to relocate the items currently in there? We love it without the garage. It took up the entire corner and we really didn't use what was in there. We are not coffee drinkers. My canisters and toaster was in there. The toaster rarely gets used along with the canisters. Now I have decorative canisters in the corner and that part of the kitchen looks much nicer.

We don't miss our at all. Word of warning-there most likely are screws going into your countertop. Can you live with holes or can they be easily fixed?

We also had one in a former home, and it seemed like an abyss and took up space. In our current home, we have an appliance pantry which I love. I only keep a coffee pot on the counter, and everything else is in the small pantry. And then we have the large pantry for food - I love the combo.

Hi. New here. We had an appliance garage for nineteen years and when we began our kitchen renovation it was the first thing to go. I didn't like the fact that it was angled and took up so much counter space. I could store several things in it, but pulling them to the front and out of the rather small tambour door was always irritating. I love the extra counter space we have now. I bought a new toaster and coffee maker to keep on the countertop. We could probably store the toaster in a cabinet because we don't use it every day. I found the tambour door inconvenient because it wouldn't stay up by itself. If I'd had the kind of appliance garage shown in the photo above, which looks as though it has no wasted space and has regular doors, I think I'd have liked it much better. I'd be tempted to try one like that.

We have one with the tambour-type door. I think that is a poor choice of door for many reasons. Since ours is in the corner it is fairly large, and is just the right size for our biggish Kitchenaid microwave. It has its own plug, so we just slid the microwave in there and leave that darned door open. :)

Mine is to the left of the window. I store a microwave in it and saran wrap/aluminum foil/sandwich bags, etc. stacked on top of the microwave. I keep it open most of the time but close it only when my MIL visits.

Love, love, love mine! Have been in this house for fifteen years. The toaster has always lived in there (it has an electrical outlet) and the can opener. When the kids were little I would keep a few boxes of cereal in there.

When I am preparing for a big party or lets say, Thanksgiving Dinner, I put my canned goods and "supplies" in there. My sister-in-law came over to help for a graduation party a few weeks ago and she was running around the kitchen wondering where I had put some of the party stuff. Open the appliance garage, I told her and there everything was. She doesn't have one and didn't think to look in there.

If a tambor door is like a roll-top desk, that's the type I have. Mine can stay open if I want but usually it's closed. The kitchen looks MUCH neater than it would without one.

Here is a link that might be useful: my appliance garage

jynxed23-You have a beautiful kitchen! I can't believe you can fit a microwave in your appl garage! Now that was great thinking!! If a microwave could fit in mine, I'd keep it for sure!

neesie- Beautiful kitchen as well!! Your appliance garage looks like & is in about the same location as mine. Thanks for posting pictures! I think I'll try to live with mine a while, since the majority really like theirs.

jynxed23 how do your doors work? Do they just open out, or do they slide inside the cabinet? Thx! Beautiful space!