We have only floating shelves on either side of the sink. can you put an outlet in the base cabinets instead?

I think the purpose of the rule is that any appliances which would be used on the counter(s) next to the sink must have outlets close enough that a short (24"?) cord can be plugged in. In my kitchen, I have duplex receptacles mounted below the window, on either side of the sink, but I never use them (electrician installed them because of code requirements); I have 4-plexes farther from the sink on each side, and they are fully used.

You'll red tag your project if you don’t get some outlets within 24” of the edge of the sink.

My kitchen is similar to the picture posted above, by Verbo, except there is no peninsula. There is a low backsplash and the window is bigger, coming down lower, leaving enough space between it's bottom molding and the backsplash for two receptacles placed horizontally.

By code, we had to have outlets on either side of the window. I don't know anything about the 24" from the sink rule. Our outlets are more than 24" away. We are still under construction, but the electrical has passed. I wish I had gone with the garbage disposal push button that the electrician suggested. I was not familiar with it at the time. I had always had a wall mounted switch. Now I see where a push button would have helped with aesthetics. Oh well!

@Verbo I am curious as to the reasoning for mandatory outlets within 2 ft of the sink. That would allow the appliance to be at the edge of the sink taking into account the length of the cord. I could see the reasoning for a code that an outlet NOT be within 2 ft of the sink. What am I missing?

The reasoning is so that you don't use an extension cord to plug in an appliance. If you placed an appliance next to the sink, and the nearest receptacle was more than 2 feet away (many appliances have only 2-foot cords), you would have to use an extension cord to plug it in.

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