I am on the same page as you. This house is my forever house and I will live here for the next 50 years or so, god willing. I didn't want to devote space to built ins. I know I will replace or get rid of appliances in the future so the only thing built in is my double wall ovens. Instead of going with a cook top, I went with a standard 30 inch free standing range. I did not enclose my refrigerator, in fact I purposefully had no cabinets built above it so if I want a taller fridge, I won't be limited, and my microwave sits on the counter. I bought it 7 years ago for 100 dollars at Walmart. It is starting to go out and needs to be replaced soon and I won't have to agonize over finding the right size to fit the space. Right now with 4 small children, I need a large microwave. When they have all moved out, I will probably buy a smaller one. My kitchen won't be appearing in any magazines for being the latest and greatest with specialized built ins but it is functional and will be for a long time.

Aries61, yes, I think you are right about all appliances having a relatively short life now. Fortunately ranges and dishwashers have standard sizes so at least replacement isn't too challenging. I'm trying to figure out how to configure my cabinets for some flexibility in replacing the refrigerator, since it is like the microwave and size is not standardized, especially as I want a very small size due to my tiny kitchen. Graywings, I agree completely. I also have young kids and would prefer that the microwave be where they can reach it (my ten year old can make himself oatmeal and popcorn and such already). But I hate to give up under the counter drawer space to the microwave, especially as for me it is not a very frequently used appliance. If I put it up on a shelf, I will be able to reach it, but it will be much harder for the kids--the ten year old might be okay very soon, but I have a four year old who will probably have a few years of being able to operate the microwave but unable to reach it safely if I place it so high. It's frustrating that there doesn't seem to be a good answer.

Thank you all! isabel98 - I agree about the extra steps. It's nearly 20' across the kitchen from the prep area to the pantry, and that's a lot of ground to cover with a hot dish. sjhockeyfan325 - That picture is perfect. Thank you so much. Meganmca - Nope, there wouldn't be a landing zone if we put it in the pantry, and you are right, that's a really nice thing to have. In the kitchen we just ripped out the microwave was above the wall oven and there was only a small landing zone at counter height next to it. It was problematic. In our last house it was in the bottom of a deep corner wall cabinet and having the landing space directly below made a big difference so that was my rationale. My 11 and 7.5 year olds are beginning to use the micro, and the latter needs a step stool but she always asks for help getting things out. nancyjwb - I agree that hidden would look nicer, but I think I'm going to go with function on this issue! Karenseb - Thanks! I'll have enough width on the shelf that I will be sure to give the microwave some breathing room on the left where the vents are.

@acm I hadn’t thought about into the sunroom then out the side. That would be easiest, but would mean two bends. I’ll have to look into that. For wall cab plans, If you can make out my very hastily (not to scale) drawing. We have one hanging cabinet planned between our front door and window and an easy reach corner wall cabinet (the kind that wraps around corner, not angled) in the corner next to the range. The picture with the MW on the metal shelf is where that first wall cabinet would be and I agree that is the best spot. I’ve liked it there. It’s very accessible, you have a place to set things when you take them out. Its close to my cooking area but not right in it. This morning I told DH we absolutely could not hang a MW under the corner cabinet. It’s such a bad spot. You can’t actually get in front of things in that corner. I can’t imagine trying to pull hot things out of a MW from to the left or right of it. That does sound dangerous. He has agreed to put it in the wall cabinet that corresponds to where I have it now, but only if it can be inside the cabinet. The cabinets are shaker but he is definitely throwing in some craftsman elements and he really wants to try to get that uniform look that you see in craftsman furniture. This has been really hard because our space is odd and in order to make it work symmetry has had to go out the window. He is wanting to try to make the uppers as uniform as possible. I’ve done lots of sketching trying to figure out how things will work. Here is one when I was trying to imagine how to make the microwave not look completely out of place there above the range ending at the window. I just could not do that to my satisfaction. A hood will not only be more functional but it will look so much nicer in that spot. Here I adjusted a drawing to make the wall cabinet have an open shelf for the MW. He doesn’t like how that it would make our only two wall cabinets no longer match in style, which I get. I’m not super excited about the idea of having to open a door to use the microwave, but I’ll do if I have to. I’ll work on him some more first and see if I can get him to come around to either an open shelf or a built in. GE does have a smallish MW that can be built in or hung and would fit on that shelf and we decided to make them slightly deeper to accommodate a MW more easily. Since our prep areas are under the windows the deeper cabinets won’t affect us. I could hang it under the cabinet but then I’d have to move my coffee pots and I really like them there. @kaseki I hadn't thought to try that, though the MW is currently in a box. I was going to call GE however since its been decided to put the MW in the wall cabinet, no need to figure it out I’ll just sell the MW. Thanks for the tip about wind direction. I’ll keep that in mind.