Ours is below the counter and we like it a lot. I was leery at first but I think it depends on what kind of use you need maybe. Ours is popcorn and reheating for convenience. Probably light use. But I prefer lifting the hot items up rather than bringing hot items down to the counter. Again that is preference. Because our microwave is used less than heavy microwave users I can see that it would be more difficult if you had to bend down to clean it often. I like the look of it being under the counter too. When my grandchildren are over I just lock it. Takes seconds and it's locked. So I can see both sides and only wanted to say it works great for us under the counter.

syllabus and bleigh - I am going to check out ikea - usually the stuff they have is in chrome or some other silver color which I do not have anywhere in my house at the moment, but I will take a look. Patser - that is one of the problems I have with the huge rack/basket I have now. I think it does leave bruises on things. busybee3 and southernfrenchie. I do love the idea of those hanging baskets. I would love to find some that are two tiered and shorter and hang them from under the cabinets. I could just see DH's face if I told him I wanted to hang that from the ceiling in our kitchen. :) I just don't think we have a good place for it. Hmmmm well maybe over the island sort of area. I will ask him what he thinks. oh and syllabus - I will link the item below. It is from a company named America Retold. I have fallen in love with half their stuff. Especially these.... Hopefully that thing I did order will be in soon and I can either decide I love it or rule it out and keep going on the search. I thought of about 4 other places I could use it if I love it so I am hoping it is not too small or to poorly made. Here is a link that might be useful: rack for syllabus

LOL - I agree! I live on the Northshore, and when I first fell in love with the idea of a walnut top for our breakfast bar, I also ran into the same problem. I now work at a kitchen showroon, but I know we're not supposed to advertise on here, so I guess I can't say which one. We do carry CraftArt, but I've never had anyone show me how we'd order from them, nor have I had anyone ask me for wood countertops. I will say that I did find a kitchen showroom in Mandeville who quoted me a John Boos walnut top - really not a bad price compared to two estimates I had gotten online from other parts of the country which were very $$$. If you go on John Boos' web site and look for dealers, the kitchen showroom I'm talking about should come up - that's how I found them. Now, she didn't look thrilled to work up the quote for me, but she did it.

@Jay Walsh- Its the CaesarStone distribution center in Perth Amboy, NJ (its called Caesarstone of New York) If you call them they'll let you make an appt to come in and view their slabs. https://www.google.com/search?q=caesarstone+of+new+york+%E2%80%A2+975+high+street%2C+perth+amboy%2C+nj+08861&oq=caesarstone+&aqs=chrome.1.69i57j35i39l2j0l3.9470j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8 @Cpartist- That was the hose that came with the actual hood, so thats what we used. The hood is actually finished and tiled in now to match the wall, so no going back. We did brace the flexi-hose so there wasn't a "droop" in it. @Monica- Our sink is the 36" Kohler Whitehaven tall apron front. My husband calls it the bathtub. You do have to build a wooden support for it, which comes in the Kohler sink directions. It will eat up some of the under cab space of the sink but I'm completely OK with that b/c thats the sink I wanted. It really is gorgeous. We had no issues with the dishwasher being right next to the sink. I'm not a contractor but no one presented that to us as an issue at all. I love it. Thanks every for the compliments, its a work in progress still, we hope to e done in the next few weeks. Will post more pics!