How about just having an open upper cabinet with an extended lower shelf, say 15" depth? Pop a countertop microwave or toaster oven in there (make sure to have an outlet installed in back of cabinet). That way the upper cabinet materials match throughout instead of being interrupted by a suspended microwave appliance. Those are generally much larger than necessary anyway.
e.g. https://www.pinterest.com/pin/274015958556927012/

Anonymous wrote:We have about 30” (or less) linear space to the left of our fridge. We used the upper cabinet there as a deeper space (18” I think) to put a countertop microwave on a shelf behind a lift up door that uses a Blum Aventos hinge. Because it’s only a small space, I’m ok with the deeper cabinet upper. And I LOVE not having a built in microwave because I can just hide it behind the cabinet door and it won’t cost me $$$ to replace it when it goes bad. We have 2 additional shelves above the microwave shelf so we can still store stuff there.

I actually have a space next to the fridge that fits this description, and where the microwave is currently planned to go. I think I can go deeper there and use a hinge on the cabinet.

The thing I am worried about is it will be annoying to left that door. I used the microwave a few times a day - mainly to heat up mugs of tea or frozen veggies. Do you use yours often? Does the cabinet door get annoying?

Microwaves are the hardest thing to find room for in a kitchen reno. Especially if you don’t have a tall 24” deep cabinet. My Dh didn’t want ours in a lower cabinet because of the low height and it would have used up valuable lower cabinet real estate for our dishes and pans drawers, so so I took a 27” wide wall cabinet next to my fridge panel and changed the depth to 16” with an open shelf on the bottom to be able to place a countertop microwave in it. I found a Sharp 1 cf microwave that had a depth of only 15”. I would have loved to use the 24” GE me that a pp posted, but the final width of my opening was exactly 24” wide and there would not have been any air flow around the microwave for proper functioning.

In hindsight I’m fine with it being in the upper cabinet although now that my kids are using it it’s just a little high for them right now. I opted not to add a door because we do use the microwave a lot, but do wish that I had installed the kind of door a pp had mention that hinges up to hide it. The thing with tabletop microwaves that don’t come with a trim kit is that you have to carefully design the cabinet opening to fit the microwave or else you will have too much space above it, so concealing if with a door helps visually.

Do a drawer instead.

PP Here - FYI we have a Panasonic 1.6 cu in our upper cabinet, model NN-SD745S. Love it.

We have about 30” (or less) linear space to the left of our fridge. We used the upper cabinet there as a deeper space (18” I think) to put a countertop microwave on a shelf behind a lift up door that uses a Blum Aventos hinge. Because it’s only a small space, I’m ok with the deeper cabinet upper. And I LOVE not having a built in microwave because I can just hide it behind the cabinet door and it won’t cost me $$$ to replace it when it goes bad. We have 2 additional shelves above the microwave shelf so we can still store stuff there.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You don't want a 12" microwave--that's so tiny. Either float the cabinets out further, pick larger cabinets, or find space for the microwave in the bottom.

Are you designing yourself, or do you have a designer? Our designer did all this for us--just told us the specifications of the microwave to purchase.

OP here. So you have a microwave in your upper cabinets? Which microwave did you buy? How deep are those cabinets?

It’s in the wall between our 24” pantries. The actual microwave is 22” from the wall, flanked by tiny 12” cabinets and the huge pantries. It sounds odd but the varied depth really breaks up “massive wall of cabinets” look.

These are all around 12 inches. You might be able to cheat another inch or so by making the microwave cabinet backless.

https://www.ajmadison.com/b.php/Depth%3A+12%22+-+12.9%22%3BMicrowaves/N~28+406

This one should fit in a 12 inch cabinet and comes with a trim kit. Many people just don’t need a large microwave.

https://www.amazon.com/GE-PEM31SFSS-Stainless-Countertop-Microwave/dp/B01C8582Y0

Anonymous wrote:You don't want a 12" microwave--that's so tiny. Either float the cabinets out further, pick larger cabinets, or find space for the microwave in the bottom.

Are you designing yourself, or do you have a designer? Our designer did all this for us--just told us the specifications of the microwave to purchase.

OP here. So you have a microwave in your upper cabinets? Which microwave did you buy? How deep are those cabinets?

You don't want a 12" microwave--that's so tiny. Either float the cabinets out further, pick larger cabinets, or find space for the microwave in the bottom.

Are you designing yourself, or do you have a designer? Our designer did all this for us--just told us the specifications of the microwave to purchase.

We have to finalize our kitchen cabinet plans for an upcoming renovation. We are doing a range hood so need to find a space for the microwave elsewhere. We don't have room in lower cabinets, so we want to install it in an upper cabinet. Problem is, most non-over-the-range microwaves that are intended to be built in require a minimum depth of 18". Our uppers are 12 inches deep. I'm trying to figure out how to achieve this look: https://www.houzz.com/photos/kitchen-traditional-kitchen-denver-phvw-vp~96938. Any ideas???