In order to save space, you have to hide the microwave. How do you hide the microwave? You can place it behind your cabinets, in an extra-large drawer, as a built-in unit that fits with the rest of your kitchen interior, and so forth. The sky’s the limit.
We’ve come up with at least 08 hidden microwave ideas you can use to store away your microwave in peace when push comes to shove.
Why The Need to Hide Your Microwave?
The microwave adds a ton of convenience for your kitchen, particularly when it comes to heating up or reheating food items without using up so much electricity from your conventional oven or gas from your stove.
However, you should find the proper placement for the appliance to maximize its benefits. You should know where to store or “hide” it, in other words. You can simply set your freestanding countertop microwave on the counter, but it leaves a sizeable footprint on it or occupies too much space.
See more this post to know where to Put a Microwave in a Tiny Kitchen?
In order to save workspace, you might need to mount it on the wall using galvanized pipe, built it into a cabinet (or buy a built-in microwave), or place it where you’d normally put a hood vent right above your stovetop.
The 08 Hidden Microwave Ideas You Can Try Out
Integrate your microwave into your kitchen layout to achieve a more organized, functional design by using the following microwave hiding spaces and ideas.
1. Use Over-the-Range Placement
A good hiding place for a microwave? Above your stovetop. However, you’ll need to shop for an over-the-range or OTR microwave for this placement. Why? You need a microwave with a 300 CFM (cubic feet per minute) ventilation fan inside it to specifically vent out the fumes from your stove.
The hood vent normally occupies the area above the kitchen stove. To “hide” a microwave there requires such a microwave to act as a hood vent or double as one. This saves you valuable counter space but such units typically come at ridiculous prices.
2. Hide the Microwave Inside a Cabinet
Install your countertop, built-in, or microwave drawer into your cabinet. This should hide the unit when not in use. You can purchase a special microwave that fits into your cabinet or uses it as the amount. You can also get something that fits inside a shelf, but those end up more visible.
The microwave drawer can be pulled out and used like certain models of dishwasher. You can also put a mini microwave into your cabinet without installing it into the cabinetry. Just make sure you have three inches of space all around the cabinet except the bottom and the back.
3. Put Away with a Microwave Cart or Stand
Hide or store your microwave away by buying a microwave cart or stand for it. You can shop for a microwave stand with shelves or partitions on it then set your microwave on the topmost part. Or you can get a microwave cart, which looks like a stand but has wheels on its legs.
This microwave table of sorts should have racks, cabinets, or shelves that you can place various kitchen accessories or appliances on. The wheeled version can be moved easily while the stand version acts like a multi-shelf table.
4. Save Space by Mounting into the Wall a Built-In
Store or hide away your microwave by getting a built-in version of the one you can mount into cabinets, walls, and whatnot. Unlike a countertop microwave, the built-in lacks a cover shell because the cabinet or shelf serves as the body for this device.
It looks kind of like a microwave that had its outer cover removed, actually. However, it doesn’t lack a cover. It’s supposed to look like that. It’s much thinner than its countertop counterpart, thus allowing you to slip and hide it into many a cabinet, shelf, or wall mount.
5. Appliance Integration to Hide the Microwave Among Its Kind
Another microwave hiding idea involves grouping the microwave with other appliances such as your coffeemaker, toaster oven, conventional oven, or wall oven. Put the microwave with other appliances and use trim to make them match as a combo type deal.
Make sure the appliances match with each other in some aesthetic way to make the trim kit method work. For example, the appliances should all be made of stainless steel or have white finishes.
6. Trim Kit Your Way to Hiding Your Microwave in Shelf Spaces
Even non-built-in or countertop microwaves can fit into cabinets or shelves with the assistance of a trim kit. This kit typically includes a plate or additional accessories that cover or hide the visible gaps left when putting your microwave inside such spaces.
Manufacturers might even provide such kits for certain freestanding microwave oven models they have on sale. They recognize the importance of saving space in smaller kitchens with unused cabinets, after all.
7. Recess a Microwave into a Wall to Hide It
Hide your microwave by recessing it into a wall and then putting a trim kit over it so that it’d look like a wall oven in and of itself. You can use a built-in microwave or a countertop microwave with a trim kit that could make recessed wall mounting possible.
This can get expensive though because you need a construction worker, builder, remodeler, or demolition expert to cut or break through the masonry to fit your microwave through. It kind of works like air conditioner or A/C installation.
8. Small Microwaves are Easy to Hide
Get a smaller microwave that can fit into your existing cabinets in case you have smaller cabinets to fit into a smaller kitchen space. The detriments to this include being forced to buy 12-volt microwaves (those should be reserved for RV use) or 700-watt microwaves that take forever to cook things.
On the flip side, the AmazonBasics 700-Watt Microwave features compatibility with Alexa and Amazon Echo to allow for voice commands. That can work as an easy-to-hide mini microwave.
To Be More Specific
Each hiding method features their own pros and cons. Consider which ones serve as the perfect fit for your needs before deciding which microwave hiding space or placement works best for your specific kitchen.
This should save you space you’d otherwise use for meal preps and ingredients as well as storing easy-access kitchen utensils. Reclaim that valuable countertop space by putting your microwave away in cabinets, walls, or as a hood vent replacement (among other options).
