If doing a tile backsplash, in the rough, attach the boxes with screws and leave a bit of slack in the wire.
Then when you set your backsplash, you can adjust the location to line up with your tile layout.

Thanks ctycdm. That's good to know. What height are they usually set at when they're set sideways like this? I've seen some of the kitchens here where they've set them lower than normal & are able to hide them with canisters or decorative items. That's the height I'm looking for.

the low side of the box is set at about 3" above the counter

i don't know if this is code or not because my kitchen was never inspected and was completely DIY, and i forgot where i initially got the info on how to set the boxes sideways, but it gives you a starting point since no one else has given you any actual dimensions yet

bicyclegirl:

The latest thing is a strip of outlets mounted below the upper cabinets and no duplexes on the splash. It looks great.

Plugmold (what Trebuchet is describing) does appeal to a lot of people. Personally, I don't like it because if you leave appliances plugged in, you see their cords hanging down. I prefer low outlets that can be hidden to some extent by the appliances themselves.

jens, I'm glad to get a measurement. Thanks so much.

Tre, that sounds great, but I'm going to sound a little ignorant here....what is a duplex? Do you have a picture of how you mount them? I'm a visual person! This sounds interesting.

That makes sense sj. What height from the counter would you put the outlets? I'm sure there's not a set spacing, but the 3", like jen said, sounds like a good height. I'd love to see pictures of some.

Thanks.

Plugmold installed under upper cabinet. (Not my kitchen)

Oh yes, I've seen these. I think this would be good for plugging in a mixer or something that you just bring out for the moment, but not for keeping anything that stays plugged in. Maybe some of these, plus, 1 or 2 of the lower ones, would be a good combo.

Thanks for the pic.

bicyclegirl - we are doing mostly plugmold (like what was in sjhockeyfan's photo), but retained one standard duplex electrical outlet (the standard 2-plug outlet that we are used to) hidden over by the fridge and placed low, like what was described here.

You may want to consider what you plan on having out on the counter and plugged in all the time. For those things, you may want to have the standard duplex electrical outlet mounted low and then for the rest of the areas where things will be plugged in during use and then put away use plugmold.

We intend to keep our counters almost completely clear, thus only one "regular" outlet. My husband didn't want any at all there, but I hung on to one.

Is vertical outlets a newer trend? I've not lived in anything newer than 1982, and all my kitchen outlets have been horizontal. I can't imagine why vertical would be better?

We put most of ours down low and horizontal. That way they are practically invisible behind the knife block, or whatever. We did keep two "normal" ones on each side of the window. They hold the light switches that we are used to using....

I do know that after spending lots of time and effort on getting the perfect backsplash, you don't want an ugly plug distracting from it.
(I saw this on the Internet. My first thought was how sad!)

Great idea andrea. I just hope I can figure all of this out soon, since the electrician is coming on Friday! I really need to take inventory & make decisions on what's going to be out all of the time. I have a small kitchen, not tons of counter space, so I'm not going to be keeping too much stuff sitting out, either. Maybe my coffee maker & that's it. I just need to decide on where that will be! Thanks!

bpathome, I just saw this on here a few months ago & thought it was such a great idea. I've never seen it before either. As heidi showed in the 2nd picture, the outlets can be a real eyesore! I think it makes sense to do them low & horizontal. I did see where one member, I believe it's oldbat2b, showed where she painted an outlet to look like her backsplash, which was beautiful busy....awesome busy! She's obviously very creative because it looked just like her BS. I wish I had the link to it, but I'm sure you can search for it. Her kitchen is worth looking for! Keep an eye out, you'll start seeing them on finished kitchens.

heidi, I love your BS w/ your countertops! Nice! How high did you install yours? It looks to be 1-2 inches from counter to the bottom part of the plate? I definitely don't want them too high but I want to make sure I'll be able to plug items in w/out it being too tight w/ the counter. Thanks for the pics.

Everyone has been so helpful, as usual. Thanks tons!

We did outlets below the upper cabs, hidden by the lighting rails, so the backsplash is completely uninterrupted. We don't keep anything plugged in there all the time (ex. tea kettle, rice cooker, etc. only go in once in awhile - we mainly use the island outlets) so we don't have the problem of hanging cords. A bit tricky to pull downwards but I think it's worth the look.

On our island they are hidden in the inside by the underhang. They are brown to match our cabinets.

Here is a link that might be useful: Hidden Outlets

Great ideas redroze! Love the computer cords & table. Very clever. Also painting the outlets & floor vent! Thanks for sharing. Have you posted a final kitchen post? I'd love to see it.

How do you get the amount of outlets you'll need (and to code) with out Swiss-cheesing the backsplash?

You could do this, if you have the room below. We had planned on it, but couldn't make it work, and didn't want the hole in our otherwise completely appliance and fixture-free island.

Here is a link that might be useful: Mockett Kitchen Power Grommet

Hopefully this link works. It includes instructions on how oldbat decoupaged her outlet covers.

Here is a link that might be useful: I made a mistake and....

This post was edited by romy718 on Wed, Jan 15, 14 at 13:27

I have them in four locations:
a. Low and horizontal against the backsplash, one run of tile above. They are hidden behind the toaster and coffee maker at all times. It is equally bad to have plug mold above and have cords dangling down for stuff that you have plugged in all the time. I have Carrara Marble subway tile as a BS and I have marble outlet covers.
b. I have low profile outlets under the perimeter cabinets, hidden by the light rail, in areas where the counters remain clear. These are a lower cost alternative to plugmould, to meet code while not having an excess of outlets where there are not normally used.
c. On my island, I have outlets hidden below the countertop, behind an apron on the overhang. These are dual electrical/usb sockets, for handy charging of the i-everythings.
d. I have outlets built into several cabinets.

Here's mine. They are usually behind something, but having found matching outlet covers, I don't mind if they show!

Mine are 2 1/2 inches over counter, so pretty low. Good luck!

Here's a close up.

We also have a charging station built into a cabinet with an outlet for USB cords too. We can charge up to 8 devices there. It's a shame that they're often all in use. Who knew we needed so may screens?

Mine are all high and very difficult to see--but then I don't have anything plugged in regularly. One of the favorite things I have seen on GW was some faux painted outlet covers. I couldn't find that link but did find something similar

Here is a link that might be useful: faux painted outlet covers

Yes romy, that's the thread. Thanks for sharing. I love her idea how she covered it & she did an amazing job of it.

gooster, I like your idea of the low profile outlets hidden by your light rail. I don't need tons of outlets, so this might be one of the things I do. Thanks.

How did you find the outlet covers to match sanjuan? Very impressive. I've not seen that before. Your BS is beautiful. Can you tell me what that is please?

towsit, I've thought of faux painting them before, but I'm not the most artistic person! That's why I'm trying to find out where to put them!!

To answer your question, I don't have any trouble plugging things in. Did a quick finger measure--2 fingers sideways to bottom of plug plate.

The backsplash is mother of pearl mini bricks. The accent behind my stove is Crysanthumum By Artistic Tile, it was the biggest splurge in my kitchen.

I found the outlet covers on Amazon. They didn't make one for telephone jacks so a friend covered it with some left over tiles.

In my area, the electricians still think that DIY's pulling their own permits are mounting outlets sideways, and red-seal guys (ie. licensed electricians) are installing the proper vertical way. There really aren't any good mounting holes in a lot of electrical boxes (here anyway) that would allow you to secure to a stud horizontally through a horizontal box. Just doesn't work or you need furring strips (which is a pain).

But maybe they just don't like change. ;)

I think they don't like change!

Ours were done by licensed electricians. I had quite the fight with the crabby old guy who bid the job. When the young guys came (who actually did the work) they smiled and said, no problem. Even though the crabby guy kept rolling his eyes saying, "this is what she wants" and being a general P.I.T.A.

Our old drywall was removed, and the young guys had no problem putting in boards to hold the plugs horizontally.