Kitchen Remodel Checklist:
9 Electrical Steps to Plan
before the Walls Close

A kitchen renovation is one of the most complex projects a homeowner can take on. The cabinetry, countertops, tile, and appliances all get locked into the plan relatively early. What tends to get overlooked are the functional details that only become obvious once the drywall is closed and the cabinets are in place, particularly anything related to electrical.

So what should actually make it onto your planning checklist?

From in-drawer charging to powered appliance storage, backsplash power, lighting, and island outlets, these are the nine electrical decisions most homeowners miss during a kitchen reno. Nearly all of them are simple to address during the planning phase and significantly more involved if you try to correct them afterward.

1. Confirm outlet locations before rough-in

Electrical rough-in happens before cabinets go in. That means outlet placement needs to be decided and communicated to your electrician before the cabinets are ordered and set, not after. Changes post-rough-in can mean opening walls, relocating boxes, and potentially triggering a re-inspection on work that has already been reviewed and signed off.

A few things worth confirming before rough-in:

• Outlet count and spacing on each wall run. The Canadian Electrical Code (CEC) sets minimum spacing requirements for kitchen countertop outlets. Confirm your electrician is planning to those requirements, and flag any locations where you need coverage beyond the minimum, like a dedicated coffee station, a specific appliance zone, or a desk area in an open-plan kitchen.
• Under-cabinet lighting circuits. If hardwired under-cabinet lighting is anywhere on your wish list, those circuits need to be included in the rough-in plan. They are a straightforward add at this stage and a much more involved retrofit once cabinets are installed.
• In-drawer outlet power supply. If you're planning for an in-drawer charging outlet or powered appliance pullout, the outlet can be wired inside the base cabinet before the drawer goes in. Under CEC Rule 26-720, USB-only outlets are allowable inside the drawer to charge devices when the drawer is closed, while AC in-drawer outlet configurations require pairing with a Blade Safety Interlock Outlet, which cuts power automatically when the drawer is closed. Getting that wiring direction into the rough-in plan early costs nothing.

The conversations to have are with your electrician before the rough-in inspection, and with your cabinet supplier before the order is placed. Those two timelines intersect sooner than most homeowners expect.

2. Decide how to power your kitchen island or peninsula

Powering a kitchen island or peninsula takes a bit more planning than a standard wall outlet. Unlike fixed walls, islands are freestanding — which means you'll want to think carefully about what you’ll be using your island for, and how to make it as functional as possible.

Here are some great options:

• USB-only in-drawer outlets, like this Docking Drawer Blade Duo, can be used to create a central charging zone for tablets, USB accessories, and other kitchen essentials.
• Countertop-embedded assemblies, like the Legrand Countertop Outlet, a flush-mounted directly into the stone or wood surface, offering a clean, accessible power point for small appliances.
• Motorized pop-up outlets, like the Docking Drawer 65W Flush Pop-Up, are another great solution for small appliance power, offering a more convenient alternative to dangling cords off the sides of the island.

3. Account for appliance storage before the layout of the cabinets is finalized

Appliances are one of the hardest things to plan around in a reno because the instinct is to deal with them once the kitchen is built. The cabinet layout gets set, the countertops get templated, and then the question becomes: where does the toaster, the coffee maker, the stand mixer, and the air fryer actually live? At that point the options are limited to whatever space remains.

A better approach is to take an inventory of your appliances before the cabinet order is placed and assign each one a dedicated zone in the layout. A few decisions that are simple to make at the design stage and difficult to revisit after:

• Which appliances live on the counter permanently? Frequently used or heavier items are often better suited to a dedicated countertop zone with a nearby outlet rather than stored away and retrieved each time.
• Which appliances get stored and pulled out for use? Occasional-use appliances are good candidates for deep base cabinet storage or a pullout shelf that brings them to counter height when needed.
• Which appliances belong in an appliance garage? An appliance garage keeps small appliances connected, accessible, and out of sight. It is the ideal concealed storage solution when the cabinet layout allows for it.

To make powered appliance garage storage code compliant in Canada, pair your setup with one of Docking Drawer’s Safety Outlets for Appliance Garages, which automatically cuts power to the outlet when the cabinet door is closed. It is a practical addition to any powered appliance garage and works with hinged, lift, and tambour door configurations.

4. Consider a discreet outlet option instead of cutting into large-format stone backsplash tiles

A standard duplex outlet in a tile backsplash requires a rectangular cutout that interrupts the tile pattern and overall visual, particularly when working with large-format stone or slab material.

The Prado Unifit Single Hardwired Outlet is a 1.5" circular outlet designed to flush-mount into virtually any vertical surface: tile, stone, quartz, stainless steel, or drywall. The circular cutout is small and precise, and should be positioned within the face of the tile (rather than along the edges). It ships in multiple finishes and the cover plates can be custom painted to match the surrounding surface.

The full Prado collection includes single and duplex configurations, hardwired and corded options, and a range of finish details suited to modern kitchen design.

5. Plan a dedicated charging drawer to clear countertop clutter

Countertop cord clutter in a kitchen is almost always a friction point. Phones, tablets, earbuds, and laptops tend to accumulate on the nearest flat surface, with cords trailing back to wall outlets. It is one of those small daily frustrations that a single planning decision can eliminate entirely.

A dedicated charging drawer solves this cleanly. Install a Blade Series in-drawer outlet in a designated kitchen drawer and devices charge out of sight, cords and all.

Blade Series outlets are designed specifically for use inside a moving drawer. They feature integrated cable management arms that guide and protect the power cord as the drawer opens and closes, maintaining smooth operation with soft-close slides. An integrated safety thermostat cuts power if interior temperatures rise beyond safe limits. All-metal construction and TPA wiring are standard.

According to the Canadian Electrical Code, USB-only outlets are permitted inside the drawer and can stay energized when the drawer is closed to charge devices. Browse our collection of fast-charging USB-A and USB-C outlets, which can accommodate up to 8 connected devices in a single outlet.

These outlets can be retrofitted into an existing drawer, but if custom cabinetry is part of your reno, flag it with your cabinet maker before the order is placed. Getting the outlet location into the cabinet design early is easier than working around a completed build.

6. If you want a pop-up outlet on the island, resolve the cabinet interior before the slab is cut

A Docking Drawer Flush Pop-Up outlet is a convenient and code-compliant solution for powering kitchen islands. When the outlet is closed, it’s nearly invisible given its seamless integration, hidden under a custom cutout of your countertop. When it's needed, it rises with a gentle press to reveal a combination of AC and USB-C ports.

There are two physical requirements to confirm before the slab is cut or the cabinet is ordered.

• The first is the countertop cutout. The hole needs to be sized and positioned precisely before fabrication. This is a conversation to have with your countertop fabricator before the slab leaves the shop, not after it's templated and cut.
• The second is below-counter clearance. The housing unit that sits beneath the surface requires 17" of unobstructed depth below the countertop. If a drawer box occupies that space, the pop-up and the drawer cannot coexist at the same location. This is the conflict that gets discovered at installation when it wasn't caught at design, and the options at that point are limited: relocate the outlet, eliminate the drawer, or choose a different outlet type.

Confirm the cabinet interior layout against the outlet housing depth before the cabinet order is placed and before the countertop is templated. Both decisions need to happen before the pop-up location is finalized.

7. Include lighting circuits in the rough-in plan before the cabinets go in

Lighting is consistently underplanned in kitchen renovations. Most homeowners account for overhead fixtures and leave it there. Task lighting, ambient lighting, and accent lighting tend to be added as afterthoughts or left out entirely, which shows in the finished kitchen.

Three layers worth building into the electrical plan deliberately:

• Overhead and recessed lighting. The detail most often missed here is placement relative to the upper cabinet layout. Recessed cans positioned before the cabinet plan is finalized frequently end up partially shadowed by cabinet faces, casting shadows directly onto the countertop below. Lock the cabinet layout first, then confirm recessed lighting placement against it.
• Task lighting. Under-cabinet lighting makes a meaningful functional difference on a working countertop and is straightforward to include in the rough-in plan. Once cabinets are installed, it becomes a retrofit. If it is anywhere on your wish list, get it into the rough-in plan now. In-cabinet lighting for glass-front uppers, toe-kick lighting, and interior cabinet lighting all follow the same principle: the wire needs to be in place before the cabinet is set.
• Accent and decorative lighting. Pendants over an island, LED strip lighting in open shelving, lighting inside a hood surround. Each of these requires a junction box in the correct location before drywall closes. These fixtures are often selected during the design phase but not communicated to the electrician until after the cabinets are installed.

One practical note on sequencing: depending on your municipality, lighting circuits and general electrical circuits may require separate permits and separate inspections. Adding recessed lighting after a rough-in inspection has been approved can trigger a second rough-in review. Ask your electrician what requires a separate permit in your jurisdiction before work begins.

8. Pull finish samples for every category before anything is ordered

Finish decisions in a kitchen renovation tend to get made one category at a time as each trade arrives, rather than across all categories at once. The faucet gets selected at the plumbing showroom. The pulls get chosen when the cabinet order is placed. The light fixtures get picked whenever there is time. The result is often a kitchen where nothing is technically wrong but the finish story does not read as deliberate.

The practical fix is to gather physical samples of every finish-bearing element in one place before anything is ordered, and evaluate them together under the actual lighting conditions of the space. Matte black from one manufacturer is not the same as matte black from another. Warm brass and champagne bronze read quite differently depending on the cabinet colour behind them.

The element most consistently left out of this exercise is electrical. Outlet cover plates default to white or ivory unless someone specifies otherwise. In a kitchen with matte black hardware or warm brass pulls, a standard white plate on a tile backsplash or island surface is a visible inconsistency that is straightforward to avoid at the specification stage.

9. Ask your electrician these questions before the drywall closes

There is a short window between rough-in and drywall closure where changes to the electrical layout are relatively manageable. Once the walls are closed, any modification means opening them back up. These are the questions worth asking before that window is gone:

• "Is my circuit sized for what I might plug in here down the road?" Appliances with heating elements or compressors draw more continuously than a general-purpose circuit is designed to handle. Your electrician can confirm whether a circuit serving a given location is sized for heavy use or standard loads. The cost difference at rough-in is minor.
• "Do I have enough circuits in my kitchen?" The CEC sets minimum requirements for dedicated circuits on certain appliances, but the real question is whether your layout has enough capacity for how you actually cook. A kitchen where the toaster and the coffee maker repeatedly trip the same breaker is a rough-in problem, not an appliance problem.
• "Where are my GFCI-protected circuits?" Outlets installed near water sources in kitchens require GFCI protection under the CEC. Knowing which circuits have it is worth confirming before the walls close. Protection can be provided by an upstream GFCI breaker or a GFCI wall outlet.
• "If I wanted to upgrade any of my electrical circuits later, what would that involve?" A good electrician can tell you in a few minutes which future upgrades would be simple pull-and-replace work and which would require significant effort. That conversation at rough-in costs nothing. The same conversation after drywall is a very different situation.

For installation or code questions, consult a licensed electrician or your local Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ).

Start this checklist early, before the cabinet order goes in

Every item on this list shares one characteristic: it is easier, faster, and less expensive to address before or during rough-in than after. Outlet type, placement, finishes, lighting circuits, and cord management strategy should all be in the plan before cabinet fabrication begins.

When you are ready to explore product options for your kitchen project, the Kitchens collection is a good starting point.