Do you have a corner? I store mine on the counter. IMHO, it's too heavy to be lugging around and I would not be comfortable using it on a mixer lift shelf b/c of vibration. Also, those mixer lifts take up quite of bit of cabinet space just for the mixer.

Here's mine...

I also stored it on the counter in my old kitchen despite the definite lack of counterspace. It's far more likely to be used if it's stored there.

In our new kitchen, it will sit in the corner (like Buehl's first photo). That space isn't super usable anyway, and we don't have the cabinet space to devote to it. When we have a functioning kitchen, I use it a lot, so I like it to be easily accessible. Where the food processor will live is a bigger issue for us. I only use that maybe once every few weeks compared to the multiple times a week for the KitchenAid, but it's heavy enough that I don't want to have to lug it around...

After toting mine around for 20 years, I finally figured out it was too much bother for the number of times I used it per year (would rather mix and knead by hand). So somebody shopping the Goodwill got a deal and I got an immersion blender with heads for blender, chopper, two beaters or a whisk.

It actually had dough hooks thrown in, I just laughed at them and sent them to recycling.

Mine used to live on the counter, but I don't use it very often and got tired of dusting it and moving it to wipe the counters down. I went back to a small electric hand mixer for 90% my mixing and the KA behemoth lives nearby in my island.

Our DeLonghi stand mixer is stored in a lower cabinet in the island facing the range. During the planning process, I had some concern about lifting and moving it around, but it is actually no problem. I did not want to see it everyday until I need to use it. I place it right on the island and line up the baking pans or cookie sheets next to it, so it is convenient to rotate the sheets right into and out of the ovens.

Everyone smiles and gathers around when they see the mixer come out, guessing what treat is about to be prepared. (We store our Cuisinart in a high cabinet over the pantry since it is not used everyday, as we utilize knives and cutting boards more often.)

We have a small kitchen with very little counterspace, but I have to have my KA out. I use it almost daily. I actually bought this little antique cab just so I'd have room for the KA to sit out. You don't need a big space for it - the top of this cab is just 14" deep.
{{!gwi}}

A while back there was a thread about the colors of everyone's mixers and I had mentioned it to DH. At that time I didn't have one. For Valentine's Day, DH got me the imperial black KA with a note in the card stating he would be making me homemade pizza and bread. He surprises me even after 42 years!! The mixer will sit proudly on my new granite countertop-most likely in the corner but still in plain sight. I will use it for the desert baking but can't wait for DH"s pizza and bread!!

Mine is in a cabinet in my island. I deliberately made that the mixer-cabinet, envisioning the island, specifically, that side of the island, as a great mixing/baking prep area (I can see the TV or look out the window from that vantage point). However, the island counter is not my preferred prep-zone. My utensils, measuring cups, flour, sugar, spices....are not close at hand there (by necessity and by choice). And, without a sink in the island, I can't just dump dirty stuff (into the sink) as I go. So, when I want to use the mixer (which isn't very often), I carry it over to the perimeter counter. Although it's not the most convenient arrangement, it's certainly within reason.

This is the first kitchen I've had where my mixer actually resides in the kitchen. In the past, I had to store it elsewhere and then carry it to the kitchen. The few steps I carry it now are nothing! I'd rather not keep it out, so this arrangement works for me.

Mine is currently in the corner as well. I'm planning a remodel also and wonder if the mixer will then be too close to the range. Anyway, here's one solution I found from Rev-a-Shelf. I think, however, that I'll keep mine in the corner.

Here is a link that might be useful: Mixer lift

We keep it in counter-height open cabinetry and move it to the island when we need it. I find it's a pain to lug it out of a lower cabinet, but don't have an issue with moving it around all at the same height.

On the counter , which is 30" deep so there is plenty of room for it.

{{!gwi}}

The Cuisinart is now on the shelf of the island , which we didn't have initiially, and the canisters are in the glass cupboard above so I have lots and lots of space for all the breads etc that I make. Love this arrangement. c

I don't use mine a lot (maybe 6 times a year, especially at Christmas) so it lives in a closet in the pantry. If it was red or stainless I might leave it on the counter but it's white so I hide it away.

In a cabinet below the counter on which it is used. The doors are not on the cabinet in this photo.

I use mine at least 3-4 times a week, so it's right on the counter -actually on a section of counter all by itself. Now I don't find my coffee maker or toaster attractive particularly, but I LOVE the looks of my mixer, so it doesn't bother me to have it out at all.

Mine is on the counter too. Too heavy to move around.

Mine lives in a 15" cabinet on one of my perimeter runs. We have a funky shaped waste stack there that would have impeded drawers, so we had to have a cabinet there. It seemed to be a pretty logical place for our stand mixer.

I like the space and location, but it is a pain to pull it in and out of the cabinet. I'm going to start a hunt for a shallow pullout that won't whack the waste stack in the back of the cabinet, so at least I can pull out the mixer to put it up on the counter. Not ideal, but I can definitely live with it.

For 30 years mine has lived on a counter. But in the new kitchen I have a 15" cabinet for it. I may add an after market pullout - have not decided yet. At times it may stay on the counter, but I am glad it has a home for when I want to spread out doing something that does not need the mixer.

Ours is in one of the Rev-a-shelf mixer lifts in a lower cabinet. Love it! It stays plugged in and out of the way. The counter is right there, the island is right there, the pantry with my baking ingredients is right there. It works well.

We had a custom solution in our previous home. It was a butcher block pull-out sort of thing in a pantry cabinet. It stayed plugged in and our blender was in there too. The only thing I didn't like was that I could only access it from one side because the cabinet door was on the other side.

I can't post pics because I'm on vacation, but let me know if you want any photos and I'll post when I get back. :)

I have a KA Pro 5+ and she lives on the counter.

I keep my KitchenAid and my super-heavy Cuisinart food processor in my walk-in pantry.

I use the KitchenAid all the time bc I've begun to fresh-grind all our ground meat, so I store that a bit above waist height so I don't have to bend and lift. (I bend and hoist the Cuisinart, but not everything can be stored in the "best" spot!)

If you can possibly squeeze a pantry into your kitchen renovation, it is SO worth it! All food stored floor to ceiling in one little closet frees-up so much storage space in all your cabinets!

Mine's on the counter, too. I use it only a couple times a month, but wouldn't want to have to move it around.

On the counter in a corner...

Mine is currently on a small bakers rack and I have to lug it to the counter each time I use it (often). It gets heavier and clunkier each time.
In my new kitchen it will live in a corner of the countertop.
Finally!

I do not use my mixer enough to keep it on the counter, so I keep it in the roll out tray cabinet which is useful for height adjustability. I moved the top roll out tray up as high as it would go and keep the mixer on the bottom tray. The mixer is heavy, but Dynasty/Omega roll out shelves and glides will hold 100 lbs. Also love the Beater Blade and red Pourfect mixing bowls from Napa Style.

I keep mine on top of a black jellyroll pan that has little slider feet I mounted under the pan. It is stored in a deep, angled corner under diagonal cabinets. If I couldn't just grab the lip of the pan and slide it out, I doubt I'd be able to reach the mixer without a step stool.

By using the jellyroll pan as a sliding platform on top of the counter, it slides back and forth easily and I don't mar the contertop with rubber foot marks. Usually, if I have any spills, it is just in the pan and it wipes clean.

Beemer  Folks have become millionaires with less useful ideas. :-)

Would you post a picture of your DIY pullout? Does it stay stable (i.e. not sliding around) while using the blender?

Ours is also on the counter in a corner. It's red so it's part of the eye-candy IMO. ;) I don't know if the bowl-lift version (which I have) is heavier than the tilt head, but there's no way I'd be lifting it each time I wanted to use it. It would just sit in the cabinet and I'd do stuff by hand. This way if I want to whip a couple of egg whites or anything it's right there so I may as well use it.

I forgot to include a pic of mine:

I live in an old farm house on a dirt road - anything left out on the counter for any length of time will get dusty.

I use my mixer quite a bit and want it stored near my baking center. So it is in my hutch (and all my china is now under my bed).

Cathy

Having a counter designated for having our KA sit and be used was a 'must have' in our kitchen design. Our baking ingredients are stored in the uppers above it, and measuring cups and other baking tools are in the drawers below. In our last house I had to use it on the island, so it was stored in a lower cabinet. I considered it a big pain to lift it in and out, as we bake all the time and use it often. Much easier if it's there, ready to go. And I think it looks cool, too, so no reason to hide it away.

I never could understand the mixer lift things that have the mixer suspended out over the floor...Don't you get a huge mess around it on the floor? I would. Please know that I'm not criticizing or otherwise being negative about those who have and love them that way. I just could never see how it would work for us.

I ended up getting a mixer lift in a cabinet in our island, but I do understand Rhome's point about getting stuff all over the floor, I am a bit concered about that. I just didn't want mine on my counter all of the time. But I did put kicksweeps for the central vac in the island as well, so I figure whatever gets on the floor, I can just sweep it away!

I get stuff all over the floor even when mine is on the countertop, so I guess it doesn't matter. ;-)

Me too...in fact one of the big things driving our remodel is the fact that the current baking area is in our mudroom (don't ask!) so I have to walk back and forth from there into the kitchen when I'm mixing things, which generally means not only is there stuff all over the counter and floor in the mudroom, but there's also often a nice little trail of flour leading to the sink and cupboard...luckily we have a highly efficient cleanup system in the form of an 85-pound dog!

@beemer, I'd love to see a pic of your solution too---we will actually have an angled cabinet in the baking area, and that's the one "up for debate" storage space right now. (If it doesn't get the mixer it's getting vertical cookie sheets, as everything else in the baking area is drawers.) I'm having a hard time visualizing how yours is set up, though.

Let me clarify (my image download skills are nil!)

My mixer sits on a black Ecko brand jelly roll pan on top of the counter. The counter area is a diagonal corner with diagonal cabinets under and over the countertop--therefore the reach into the back of that dark corner is long. The jelly roll pan has a 1/2' lip edge, therefore it is easy to reach in a grasp it and pull out the mixer. No lifting or grapling with a heavy mixer. When it is pushed back, there is plenty of space in front of the mixer to work. The mixer is always plugged in, and the cord just sits behind the mixer when it is pushed back.

The jelly roll pan has six little slider feet adhered to the underside. These are the sliders you stick on the bottoms of wooden chair legs. You can use felt, rubber, silicone, or plastic. Just place them on the corners and on the middle edges.

The mixer sits on top of the pan and slides forward very easily -- and it never moves around when mixing - I have a textured formica countertop.

Since I have a black cook top, the black jelly roll pan mimics the same look.

I've put in too much wet stuff in the mixer bowl and had it slosh out -- but the pan keeps it from going all over the place. At most, I dribble flour in the pan when adding extra flour to a batch of bread mixing. It's easy to just wipe up.

Since the mixer is tucked under the upper diagonal cabinet, it rarely gets dirty from other activities. In my kitchen, it has about 1" of clearance.

Beemer  your explanation was perfect. Thanks. I think it is a brilliant idea. One of my favorite sayings is: "Necessity is the Mother of Invention". :-)

I know not everyone loves an appliance garage, but I love mine!! Here's my stand mixer's home . . . These are supposed to be clickable thumbnails, but that doesn't always work . . .

Inside . . . mixer is pulled aside to show back wall plug. The mixer shares its home with a couple processors, a blender, the paper towel stand, olive oil bottle and whatever needs to be hidden quickly at the moment!

Ready to work!