Our kitchen was remodeled about 2years ago....it's about 29" -30" from counter to bottom of cabinet over the sink. We have an OTR MW and it is 35"-36 from counter to bottom of that cabinet.

critical thing is what is your venting over stove-if you are redoing your kitchen you should vent ...options are under cabinet hood or a wall chimney hood or over the range microwave....your choice will dictate the cabinet above. Above the sink can be 18 inches but at reduced depth or without a door to make more ease of function while at sink, if it were my space. If you can achieve it, along your sink run, 21 inches above sink is better-then a regular doored cabinet, at the typical 12 in depth, in synch with that entire run, will work. Many people do open shelves above sink-can be very nice if you don't need the regular storage of a cabinet.With the large amt of constructed cabinetry you will be building and installing, I'd think about an airy look over sink-open shelf or two, and/or tile backsplash up high, right there.

Consider a plate rack for over the sink if you don't need the cabinet space for other storage.

Consider bumping out your sink run 3" or so to give you more space b/w the cabinets above the sink and the face of someone working at the sink. It also gives you more space behind the sink for faucet, etc. and, more importantly (to me, at least), deeper workspace all along that wall. 3" makes a surprising difference! To do this, either build deeper base cabinets (27" instead of the standard 24") or pull them 3" out from the wall.

Note that if you bump the sink cabinet run out 3", you can have 13" to 15" deep uppers for most of your upper cabinets (I would still do 12" deep above the sink).

If your sink and stove are along the same wall, that's fine - they can all be bumped out.

Here's an example of a plate rack from Houzz.com

[Traditional Kitchen[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2107) by Ottawa Kitchen & Bath Designers Julinda Balca-2Go Custom Kitchens Inc.

Bottom alignment height for cabinets is 54" above the finished floor. That's 18" of clearance between the counter and the bottom of the uppers. That's standard, and works with standard sized appliances. 15" is much too short. An OTR is usually 16 1/2" to 17". With 68" to work with, you've got room for 5" of molding, 15" stacked on top of 30". That would work proportionately as well.

For above the range, the cabinet needs to be the top 15" cabinet, and then a 12" cabinet below that. If you're using glass in the uppers, put mirror in the upper to conceal the vent pipe.

For above the sink, I personally also like the symmetry of using the 15" with a 12", and then doing a plate rack the same height as the MW. That's a good look, and it's functional as well. You could actually do cabinets straight across with no rise in height and it would be fine. It's not in your face at all. Lots of apartment kitchens do that.

WeedyAcres - did you move? I remember your Thanksgiving week remodel a few years ago.

Wow, I never realized you didn't have to have a jog up (or not much of one) at the sink. I'll have to mock that one up on the wall and see how it feels. We do have a pretty tall faucet, so that might push us into a jog up.

Unfortunately, this is a small (15 linear feet of cabinets) kitchen, so cabinet space is at a premium, and I don't have particularly pretty dishes. :-) So it's all going to be doored up.

We're doing laminate counters, so a jog out at the sink is out. But I'm going to remember that for my next kitchen, as I like the idea and now understand the utility of it.

18" of space? I always thought it was 15", and that's what we did in our last kitchen.

Joanie: Did you really mean the bottom of the microwave is 36" above the counter? That seems too high to reach.

Buehl:
Yes, we sold Weedy Acres (finally closed about a month ago) and moved to a town 100 miles away that I've been commuting to for 4 years. I'm impressed by your good memory of our thanksgiving week kitchen blitz back in 2007. This one's going more slowly, as it's a completely different scenario: tiny fixer with a budget to match: $10K for the whole house.

Here is a link that might be useful: our current project

I, too, had the same question and well remember WeedyAcres 1 and you sprawled on the floor after that gargantuan work effort. You guys are so not work wussies. I loved WA 1er, lol.

You are a kitchen star in my book. Good luck on your new house. (Shhh, I think I even remember what state WA 1 was in! talk about minutia)

WeedyAcres....I well remember your marathon remodel! I was watching it closely. I loved all that you did. In fact, after I saw your drawer/door hardware, I knew what I wanted on my cabinets!