Kitchen Reno Minus Microwave?
Anything to be said for not putting in a microwave? We don’t use ’em. Prefer cabinet space or larger hood. Am I ruining resale value?
Anything to be said for not putting in a microwave? We don’t use ’em. Prefer cabinet space or larger hood. Am I ruining resale value?
The microwave is totally invaluable. Why would I waste all the electricity and all the time it takes to reheat left over food in the oven when I can get it done in about 3 minutes in a microwave? Not to mention all the wasted hot water you’ll use if you have to clean out pots and pans used to just reheat something.
I use to reheat left overs, cook vegetables and to reheat coffee or tea if it’s gotten colder and various other things.
I loved the fact that my place had a built in microwave. Saved counter space and made it look more clean.
1. my dad has always wanted one of those panini presses but somehow ended up with a waffle iron through confused communication with his wife
2. pigeon, just add a tablespoon of water to the container of rice before microwaving. not as good as fresh but less dry
3. i find microwaves a waste of space for the most part but also dont mind cold leftovers if I’m too lazy to use the stove.
4. a lot of people probably wouldnt even notice in an open house the lack of microwave.
5. those recirculating microwave exhaust fan things are a waste of time and most people would strongly prefer a real exhaust vent and a microwave on a cart.
microwaves are gross. i don’t understand why people just don’t turn on their fancy stoves, use their fancy pots and heat things up. i would never buy an apartment/house with one and we own a house that doesn’t have one and never will.
When we were looking for a new construction condo, I actually started to get really annoyed at the lack of a microwave. One broker told me that a microwave only cost $80, and I said yes, but there’s nowhere to put it. We eventually bought a place with an over the range microwave. I use the microwave alot for steaming vegetables. My last rental place had an obvious spot where an over the range would go, but the landlord apparently didn’t need to spend the couple of hundred bucks to get the apartment into the free market range, so I had to buy a countertop model. If you think you might be selling anytime soon, make sure there is room for a microwave in your kitchen, but don’t buy something you won’t use.
We were confronted with the same decision and compromised. We are using about the smallest microwave we can find and putting it into an open shelf of a 20″ wide wall cabinet that is 13″ deep. Keeps it off the counter but does not hog as much space as a conventional built-in. We hope the next owner will like the solution. Otherwise, there are built in, pull-out, under-the-counter models the next owner could opt to install (30″ and 36″ wide models, I think) into one of the existing cabinets.
Don’t sweat it. Make it work for you.
Pigeon, I cannot comment on the warming up the coffee, but to have rice hot and not dry, you can get one of those Japanese rice cookers/warmers with fuzzy logic. They cook rice and keep it warm for next day or two. You also can steam things right on top of the rice in the rice cooker.
If you’re worried about it, I would put a cabinet in a convenient location where a standard-size microwave could fit and have an outlet in that cabinet. Use the cabinet for whatever you want and at the point you sell, point out that a microwave could be placed in the cabinet.
I’ve never owned a microwave.
I use one at work, though.
They’re indespensible for warming your coffee or tea.
Warming your bread (for 5 seconds).
Heating leftover rice.
And preparing those pre-made meals that come in plastic trays.
At home, my tea is tepid, my bread is chilly, my rice is dry, and I can’t eat those meals that come in a plastic tray.
Life is cruel.
Yeah, there was even a 30-rock joke about how GE sold us these unnecessary devices, kind of like Williams-Sonoma with panini presses.