If the switches are for the cabinet lights can you just install the touch lights and not have a switch? If not, you need a new plan that isn’t the side of the cabinet. Is there an attic you can wire up and down to another wall?

Patricia Colwell Consulting. Thanks for your vote against having them at the sides of cabinet. I understand you don't like what you see in general. We don't consider it a mess. However, given the options, would you vote for option A (back of oven cabinet) or option C in outside wall under windows? BTW, we love our design. We hired a interior designer, but have done much of the construction ourselves. No budget for an all in one job.

missb_remodeling.

Thanks for your input. Actually, we love the change of counter heights for various reasons. There is a steam oven underneath the lower cabinet that could not be low to the ground, so there is functionality in the oven cabinet being higher, too. I don't understand the cabinet door concern comment. There are no upper corner cabinets. Everything has come together very well. We just need to choose an option from above (or something different) to deal with the two switches.

We considered having the switches in the back of the cabinet, but it is a dish cabinet, and it would be a bit awkward to use the switches there.

Can you put them under the windows?

Lay them horizontally. I had mine positioned that way to minimize the look.

@houssaon - that is the OP's solution (c). As I mentioned in my post, I too think that is the only solution if she is firm about only doing one of the ones she listed.

@Shannon_WI. There is miles of counter in this design. I absolutely love the full height dish cabinet! There is a ten foot island as well as what is shown. Thanks for your vote for option C. I am firm about not taking away from the design we love. There is not an attic above (bedroom level above).

So, having them at the back of the oven cabinet is less good than putting them under the windows? It will certainly be easier to put them on the sides of the oven cabinet (and less distruction of the outside wall.) Please help me understand why that is a less good option.

@houssaonsaon. Thank you for voting! We actually have plugs where you show the switches. However, we can put a switch beside a plug (also horizontally.) I just need to understand why under the window is better than on the side of the oven cabinet (near the back of the oven cabinet.) The advantage to this plan (option A) is there is less impact to the outside wall. Also, I think the wires on the boxes will not reach to under the windows, so there would be another need to call in the electricians. I would love to know why you chose option C versus option A.

Legrand makes a nice pop out, but I don’t see a place to put it.

@Kate Thank you for your input. One of the two switches is for the cabinet lights. The lights are LED lights. I will research your touch light solution. Would we not have to reach to the top of the cabinet for the touch lights? If so, that will not be very handy (a step stool would be needed.) The other switch turns on two pendants. There is no attic above, and honestly no budget for a costly solution needing the electricians.

What about a smart switch? Bluetooth.

Your electrician can find a discreet place to mount it and you can operate it remotely.

@Therese N. Thank you for those two ideas! There is just enough space to put the switches either under the windows or on the back side of the oven cabinet (where counter goes higher). These switches are both three way and tied in to the electrical as a whole for the Kitchen. I am not sure if a Bluetooth option would help or not. Something to consider. Do you have a vote for either option A or C in the original post?

We can look into remote operation some more. Thank you.

C, if there’s room for the plate.

How about this spot marked with the orange x?

I’ve never seen a multi-height counter either but I’m pretty sure I would find it awkward to use. (In case you wondered. 😉)

For the switches to run the inside cabinet lighting just put them inside the cabinet in a surface mounted box sideways in the back corner. Not very elegant but obscured by the non-glass structure of the cabinet and whatever is in the cabinet itself.

@littlebug zone 5 Missouri. Thank you the orange X is option A. However, we would put it back a bit further.

The little bit of counter in front of the tall cabinet will not be used as a counter (we have miles of counter for prep.) We have been using this kitchen as is for over a year. It is not awkward.

I am surprised at how many people in this post have disliked out plan which has already been implemented. To each there own, I guess. It makes me scared to do a reveal thread.

@palimpsest Thank you! There are two switches. One is to control the pendant lights in front of the window. The other controls the cabinet lights. Both these switches are tied to three way switches and are part of a circuit (I think the cabinet lights tie in to the LED undercabinet lights elsewhere in the kitchen.

I think I'd go with option C. Don't worry, no one on this forum ever likes anything ;) Just kidding, lots of people try to help. However, no one's idea of "ideal" is the same, and wouldn't it be a boring world if it was? I hope you come to a speedy conclusion and enjoy your new kitchen!

You can touch anwhere on the door for touch lights to work. ”The switch works using body capacitance, a property of the human body that gives it great electrical characteristics. The switch keeps charging and discharging its metal exterior to detect changes in capacitance. When a person touches it, their body increases the capacitance and triggers the switch.”

We had the touch switch for lighting in a built-in desk area used by our kids. They wired it to the exposed cabinet door hinge and you had to tap on or tap off. Worked well, specially since we decided at the last minute to add the lights.

Your design is just different, that's all! Do a reveal when everything is done. We're only seeing a small chunk of your kitchen, not the miles of counter space. I think a lot of folks that comment on that (including me) only think of the small amount you've shown as the only available counter space because that's all we can see.

My comment on your corner doors was about the ones under the counter. I'm not sure how those two doors line up and open/close. Just curious more than anything, and no need to answer if you're going to do a reveal at the end!

@missb_remodeling and everyone else,too. Yes our design is unique. It was just what we wanted. It is really a gigantic kitchen and has so many features. The lower corner cabinet will have a KornerKIng unit installed within. I can't remember exactly, but the door the covers the unit is a double hinged door I believe.

The cabinet guys were Scherr"s who make ready to assemble cabs. Every last inch and potential problem was addressed at the time of ordering. I think Scherr's considered our project one of the most challenging kitchens they had done. We told the electricians we wanted those plugs in the cabinet. That was on us that they left them the way they did.

There are always a few last minute problems to work out at the time of installing. As we set about assembling the drawers over the last few days, this was the only issue we have encountered. We have been using the kitchen as is for over a year.

My kitchen plans (while at the paper stage) was posted countless times on Houzz. We made many revisions as a result of feedback from this forum. I could not have gotten to the finishing details without help on this complicated plan from this forum. It is just hard to hear once we are doing the finishing touches that the plan sucks, lol.

I do understand you are too far in to the design to make major changes.

Don't let the haters get you upset. Nothing is ever good enough for them. Just consult a master electrician, spend what it takes to make sure the switches are accessible and to code. The only one who can tell you what will work is an electrician.

@Sherry Brighton Thank you for cheering me up. The work is already to code -- all electrical work for the house was done by qualified electricians and pased finish electrical inspections. We have the knowledge of how to safely put the switches close to the sides of the cabinet (keeping in mind the length of the wire) and we will kill the power while we do this finish electrical work. We don't need to call the electricians back to screw in the box and put the plate on. So much of our project has been DIY. We have tackled far more challenging tasks. We just were unsure aesthetically which of the options above was our best bet.

@Meghan Terry Thank you for thinking outside the box. Those do look awesome! We plan at some point to use some Lutron Scene controls. The lighting in our house is very high end and complicated with lots of layers of light (and long banks of light switches.) Honestly, we are not that bothered about putting these two switches somewhere near to where they are hanging now (as per options A-C). In any event, we would have to take out these fully wired switches if they don't go somewhere nearby and we go with the ones you show. These switches are already powered and part of circuits. We don't want to call back the electricians to put in jumpers and terminate that switches that we paid for here. At this point, we just want to be done and keep costs in check.

@Kate and @chispa Thank you for sharing your experience with these touch lights. That might be a strategy we use in another application. For the kitchen, we are going to stick with regular switches at this point as these two switches are already wired, powered and part of circuits. One of the two switches controls pendant lights anyway. It is not just the one that controls the LED lights for the cabinet.

@User Thank you for your best wishes on our project and putting things into perspective. Sometimes a more minor building challenge is blown out of porportion (I am guilty of doing this anyway.) We are trying to move forward and finally be done with the whole massive project.

Thank you all for your help and to @littlebug zone 5 Missouri for providing the visual that explained option A better than my words. We had to let solution C go (although most here prefered that option.) The wires on the boxes are just not long enough to reach the available opening under the windows. We already have plugs under the windows. We will place the right switch close to the orange X -- but further to the back wall. There will also be one on the opposite side in a similar place. There is empty space at the back of the oven cabinet, but not where the orange X is. We are happy with this fix and we are happy that we can do the move ourselves and quickly.

The end of the project is the worst, is it not? Agghhhh, just want it done :) For what it's worth, I think your kitchen is lovely. I love cabinets that sit on the counter as you have them. I like different heights of counter (hey, I'm short, I like a table height to roll my pie dough!) I think the key is that they work for you and your family and add to your enjoyment. I've had big kitchens and I've had small kitchens. Unfortunatly I can't have cabs sitting on my counter in my (currently pretty darn small) kitchen. But I enjoy seeing the styles and creativity of others and how I can incorporate ideas into my next (hopefully a little larger!) kitchen. And as you apparently can as well, yeah, I can wire up a fixture or put in an outlet box or rewire a lamp :) I do hope you will do a reveal. I'd love to see it!

P.S> I think whichever option on the switches/outlets gets you done is the best option, so long as it is safe, effective, and reasonably aesthetically pleasing. Glad you found something that works and moves you forward!

If they meet the requirement for the volume of the junction box (I think there is such a thing), they make narrow J boxes and also narrow switch plates

https://www.kyleswitchplates.com/narrow-wall-switch-plate-options/

Glad you found a solution that works. I am still waiting on a window and my undercounter and cabinet lighting. We began our reno in July! I can't wait until it is finished.

Thanks @User. Our whole house reno/addition project has taken over 8 years as lots of the grunt work has been DIY (plus some of the skilled work, too.) To say, I just want it done and without further bleeding of money is a big understatement. We are a tall family, so we wanted our kitchen sink and dishwasher taller than average which is the reason for the change in counter height at the corner. I always wanted a big dish/decorative cabinet down to the counter. Given this counter is up a little higher there will be no chance of water damage.

@palimpsest Those narrow plate covers are brilliant. We will see if we can order some to Canada. We thought we would have to use the belt sander to shave a bit off the plates, but these would look much better. Thank you!! The wires are thick (likely do to the full circuit these switches are part of), so we can't do a squash/pancake box to accommodate the depth of the outlet box. However, there is lots of dead space behind the oven.

You should be able to get deep narrow boxes.

It looks like we can fit standard electrical boxes, but we are squeezed on the plate width. If I am mistaken, we will look at finding deep/narrow boxes.

@Sherry Brighton Thanks for your good wishes. I hope your kitchen reno is completed soon. We started our project 8 years ago!

Well you have to make sure the plate covers the box, so if you can get a slightly narrower box that's better

Thanks. I am not sure narrower boxes exist in the full depth box we need. We will keep searching.

They are out there you just may need to have the electrician get them specifically AND show him the site with the narrower plates. You may be able to mount a larger box in a smaller opening but because it's in cabinetry that would be difficult, you would have to route it out from the back and keep surface intact.

This change will be done by my husband and son. We have an account with the same electrical supply place as the electricians, so we will double check with them. I know there are different codes in Canada vs USA, so we have to comply with different rules than State side. DH and son feel they can do the work to put the switches at the back of the oven box. The electricians are not coming back for this one thing. They are booked solid and honestly would not want to muck around with putting this in a cabinet (I bet DH would do a nicer looking job.)

Glad you are finding answers - there is always something!

I happen to really like what you are doing here - something new and different! Celebrate it!

Please post pictures when it is done so others can open their minds to something new.

Good luck for the rest of the project

Thanks Debbi. I honestly was not expecting people to react so against our project given we are now doing the final install (not considering changes to a design we love at this stage for sure.) However, I know I have done an unconventional design. We have an island cooktop which many here on Houzz were very against. I can't tell you how much I like that one feature that everyone here tried to convince me to put against a wall.

I have to say - I was one who would never put a cooktop on an island but I recently stayed in a rental and it was so awesome to cook and chat with everyone and not have my back facing them ( which they say is very bad Fung shui ) . I think my only issue is some sort of exhaust - not sure about down drafts.

I can't wait to see your finished plan!

I think the my favourite feature of the kitchen (we have been using as is with just the cabinet boxes) is the island induction cooktop! We have an island hood over the cooktop. We use splatter guards and it is just perfect. I really hate having my back to everyone and knew this was what I wanted. We have a giant island with a prep sink. Here is the floor plan.

I think the main risk to the "back of oven cabinet" location is that it is, of necessity, very close to the surface of the adjacent counter. That is, imagine you set down a pitcher of lemonade and it fell over -- I think that the flow of lemonade could easily get inside your switch fixture and short something out. For sure, even that small Legrand pop-out looks like it would fill all the space between the higher and lower counters, and that's where i see the risk. I would, at minimum, consult your electrician about code before installing it there (with a cut to your cabinet). Maybe, if it's just the low-voltage cabinet lights, it would be ok, but...

Hi acm. The electricians were definitely consulted when they were here to do the finish electrical. The work is almost done by my son. It is going to be great.

Why can't it go where that junction box is already on the wall next to the cabinet?

If I understand you correctly, there is not room on the sides of the cabinet. When the picture was taken the unit was pushed over a bit to the left, making it look like there was sufficient room on the side that you could see (there are two switches to place.)

In any event, I am happy to report the problem has been solved. My sons places the switches one either side of the base oven cabinet (at the back) as per option A. They did the work with the power killed in the house. It was successful and the switches work and we are very happy with the location. We will order a slim plate cover from the site linked by Pal above. Thank you everyone.