Have you considered a "spacesaver" microwave that you'd hang in the area your husband wants, but below instead of inside one of your upper cabinets? It would place the MW a little higher than on the counter and would leave your upper cabinet free.

I have my MW in the island. It's a Sharp microwave drawer. I love it.

How about sacrificing the message area and putting cabinetry there that is full height. Put the microwave in that stack at a height everyone can agree on. Put doors above it (put trays, etc. there) and drawers below (put the charging station in one of the drawers -- that's what we did). That way the MW is built-in and not hanging from a cabinet. Move the message station around the corner into the mud room -- that looks to be where everyone comes in and out, anyway.

My other solution would be to move the MW into the pantry. That way you can use an inexpensive tabletop one, and it will be out of sight. The pantry is near the fridge, so it could work if it is mainly the kids using the MW.

Do the microwave drawer and then the bending isn't so bad. He can just reach down to remove stuff from the island.

Microwave drawer solved my problem. It was much easier to find a base cabinet and to not chop up my limited uppers, but I hate the idea of bending and reaching into a cave. The drawer is great. The price is still higher than I think it ought to be, but as a problem solver we justified it -- and as long as it works great, I won't complain.

Thnaks for the replies. I was all excited about the microwave drawer until I saw the price - $5-600?!? Seriously! DH would flip! We are already looking for places to cut costs as this build is seriously pushing our budget. The hanging sapcesaver MW is an idea. We'd have to get dimensions and check it out, as that space (under the cabs on that side) was going to be for the coffee maker. I personally like the pantry idea, but not sure DH will go for it. I'll bring it up tho. On the updated plans it looks like the pantry has been whittled down to 4'10 by 5ft and has a chunk taken out of the corner, so I am not sure how much space will be in there. I don't want to get rid of the message center all together. It IS full height (it is going to house slots for mail for each family member, cook books, recycling can underneath for mail recycling, and our cordless phone) and only 12 in deep I think so not sure a MW could go there anyway. I linked the updated plans below. SIGH. This is so hard....all for a stupid MW. Grr.

Here is a link that might be useful:

Hi fiveunder,

There seem to be quite a few of us here who went ahead and put their microwaves in the island. I just didn't have any other options, and several folks advised me that it worked well for them, so I decided to just stick it there. For us, (tall, somewhat infrequent MW users--just reheating) the perfect spot would have been in a walk-in pantry but I definitely don't have one of those! When I was shopping, the MW drawers were around $925. And they definitely ate up more space than what I ended up with. I had the space made for this particular MW ($109.) but could stick any cheapie in there if it breaks.

DH and DS are both 6'3" and no complaints yet about bending. But that could be because they don't use it several times/day.

HTH!!~Amy

Thanks for the pic and the comments. I will def leave this up to show DH. He, unfortunately, IS one of the primary users, as his job often requires him to come home and eat late so he frequently heats up dinner. BUT, having said that, I like the looks of it in your island. What do you store in the drawer underneath? And how deep is that open space for the MW? Do you have anything on the adjacent side of the island (facing your sink/DW?). I think we are planning on having seating on that side of the island, so ours would need to go on the "long" side, but that would also be directly across from the fridge, so not out of hte way at all. Thanks!

We got the GE Spacemaker MW. I had so little base cabinet space that I didn't want to give it up by having a MW drawer. I was concerned with the depth, but I can fit a large plate of food in it for reheating.

Being very counterspace-challenged, we went with a GE Profile Spacemaker microwave that was shallow enough to hang under a corner cupboard. It makes great use of an awkward space. This was the only model of any brand that we found that would fit.

Here is a link that might be useful: GE Profile Spacemaker

Five, ours is directly across from the fridge, also. I have drawers on the longer, sink side. The drawers on the left, with the MW behind them, are fakes.(-8 The drawer below MW holds plastic storage containers--Gladware/Tupperware.

The depth of the cubby is 17", which allows for the outlet box and plug.
(I'm sorry the pic is so huge, I cannot figure out to resize without risizing ALL of my photos!)

ok. So at least I have some options. I like the looks of the spacemaker, and I am glad to hear you can get a full sized plate in it. That was definitely one of my concerns...that an MW popcorn for the kids :) I still like the island idea and am hoping I can float that past DH. If not, it may be the pantry option.

Can you make one end of the island higher?

Here are couple links showing such islands with raised microwaves:

Hawthorne Kitchens

Scroll down to photo #6.

Here is another:

Kraftmaid

Hope this helps.

I think the island is going to be about 4ft x 9ft so I am not sure how that would work. I'd like to keep it a flat surface as I anticipate using it as a buffet or kids seating for our frequent (1-2 times a month or more) large (30+ people) family meals. I am fighting DH on putting a prep sink in because I don't want anything breaking it up...though he may win that battle. I don't think I want a chunk of it raised up. Though thanks for the pics...I'll show hubby and see what he thinks