Galaxy Horizon Microwave Wall Cabinets

The short box is GH MW3018, 30 inches wide and 18 inches high at $360.75: it hangs above an over-the-range microwave and closes the space to the top of the run. The tall boxes are 30 inches wide and 21 inches deep, with an opening for a built-in microwave, at four heights. Displayed prices on the review date: GH MC303021 (30 inches tall) $757.25, GH MC303621 (36) $708.50, GH MC303921 (39) $724.75, and GH MC304221 (42) $773.50.

The rule for the tall box is simple: take the height of the uppers either side. A 36-inch run takes GH MC303621; a 42-inch run to an 8-foot ceiling takes GH MC304221. The tops line up, crown runs straight across, and the only thing that changes is the depth. Note that the 30-inch-tall box is displayed at more than the 36-inch; that is what the grid showed, and it is worth a call before ordering the short one. Where the microwave opening ends up above the floor depends on the box, and Fabuwood does not publish the aperture or its height, so send us the microwave model and the run height and we will check it. The whole range is on the microwave wall page.

Cooking releases steam, and with it a fine mist of fat that settles on the first cool surface it meets. Over a range with an over-the-range microwave, the first surfaces are the microwave itself, the underside and front edge of the box above it, and the face frames of the uppers either side. Whether that film is heavy or light depends mostly on ventilation: how much air the microwave’s fan moves, whether it vents outside or recirculates, and whether you run it every time you cook.

Run it every time. It is the single habit that protects the cabinets over a cooktop, and it costs nothing. Our range hood CFM guide sets out how much ventilation a cooktop needs and why ducting outside beats recirculating; if you cook hard, a proper hood from the hoods page with a microwave elsewhere may suit you better than an over-the-range unit at all.

Fabuwood’s warranty is worth knowing on this point. It lists smoke among the causes of colour change it does not treat as a defect, alongside sunlight and certain household cleaners. Cabinets that sit in cooking smoke for years will change. A good fan and a regular wipe keep that change slow and even.

The difference between a paint and a stain matters here. Grease on a smooth painted door sits on top of the coating. On a stained face the grain is part of the surface texture, and a film can settle into the fine lines of it, so the aim is to lift it gently and often rather than scrub it hard and rarely.

1. Weekly, after cooking: a soft cloth dampened with warm water and a drop of dish soap, run along the underside and front edge of the box and along the face frames next to the range. Follow the grain, not across it. Dry straight away.
2. When the film is heavier: repeat rather than press harder. A second pass with fresh soapy water lifts more than a scouring pad, and a pad will cut the sheen off a stained finish in a way that shows.
3. Never: oven cleaner, degreasing sprays aimed straight at the wood, or abrasive creams. Fabuwood’s care guidance is to use mild cleaners and never spray a cleaner directly onto the cabinet; put it on the cloth.

If a mark does appear — a chip from a pan handle, a scratch from a cleaning tool — stained finishes are repaired with a touch-up kit (fill stick, marker and scraper, $62.40 in this finish) rather than a spray can, which Fabuwood does not supply for stains. The full care routine is in the cabinet care guide.

A built-in microwave puts a rectangle of glass and metal into the middle of the upper run, at eye height, which makes it the most prominent appliance face in the kitchen after the fridge. How it sits against this grey-taupe is worth a moment of thought.

Stainless steel is one of the pairings Fabuwood itself shows with this finish, so a stainless microwave and trim kit are the safe choice, especially if the range and fridge are stainless too. A black glass microwave is a reasonable alternative in a kitchen with black counters, another combination Fabuwood photographs with this finish. What we would avoid is a third appliance finish that matches nothing else in the room; the eye reads it as a gap in the run. That last point is our general advice.

Leave the vents clear. Built-in microwaves breathe through the front grille or trim kit, and the kit exists partly to route warm air out rather than into the cabinet. Buy the trim kit the microwave maker specifies for that model, and fit it as the instructions show; heat trapped in the box is a slow way to age the finish around the opening.

The tall microwave box is 21 inches deep against 12 inches for the run either side, so it stands nine inches proud and shows a strip of its side above and below the neighbours — and all of its side if it ends a run. That side needs a finished skin. GH SK MC, the microwave cabinet end skin, is $50.05, and it is sized to the deep box rather than to an ordinary upper, so do not substitute a standard wall skin.

On a stain that skin is another visible surface with its own grain, set at ninety degrees to the doors and often facing a window. Order it with the box, not later, so it comes off the same batch, and ask us which way the grain runs if the side is large and in full view. Skins and what they cover are explained in the skins and gables guide; the part itself is on the cabinet skin page.

Choose the microwave first and put its model number on the order. Pick the box height to match the run, add GH SK MC for every visible side, and order the trim kit from the appliance maker. Each box is the standard Allure build — ½-inch veneered plywood with a natural wood-veneer interior, a solid wood face frame, and Blum soft-close hinges — and ships pre-assembled in about 2 weeks.

For the whole cooking wall drawn with the microwave, hood and uppers in place, ask for a free 3D design; a designer replies within one business day and the design and quote follow in 24 to 48 hours. Hold a door sample next to your appliance finish before you decide on it. Trade buyers use Captivating Pro. The rest of the uppers are on the wall cabinet page and the finish on the collection page.