Please post some pictures.

New construction, it's literally a 7x7 drywalled room and nothing more. An outlet is at floor height on each end of the wall, and that's about it all there is to say about the room as it sits.

Can you move electrical outlets up to counter height or will you be drilling holes in countertop to drop electrical cords for small appliances?

Why can't the contractor build a countertop. There's some beautiful laminate sheets at HD that he can put on the top.

https://www.homedepot.com/s/laminate%2520countertop%2520sheets?NCNI-5

Move the outlets up to counter height. At this stage in your build, it shouldn't cost much and will make the pantry much more functional and easier to design. We have our microwave, kettle, toaster and blender in ours and I can't imagine it only having outlets near the floor fore those. We have a quartz counter (leftover pieces from the kitchen and laundry) but in your situation I'd probably go with formica.

I wanted outlets at counter height, but they forgot to install them. The adjacent room had outlets that I don't need because a mudroom locker will span the entire wall, so I asked them to just flip those outlets around to the pantry wall and raise them up as much as possible. There wasn't enough wire to raise them more than maybe an inch, so they are where they are. I'm going to put a few holes in the back of the countertop for cords rather than spend the money for the electrician to put in new wiring in that area. We're so over budget with the house that I have to pick my battles.

So that's another point, the back of the counter needs to have a space drilled out for cords to go down. Does that make a difference? Will laminate start to peel around that area? Will it be hard to cut at an angle if we need the clearance by the door? Butcher block is easier to cut, but will it be a nightmare with maintenance? Or because I'm not using the room heavily for food, maybe it won't be a big deal. I have 3 kids under age 4 and I don't want to mess with maintenance. I also want something safe to handle food, and butcher block worries me with polyurythane or if it gets deep cuts in the wood.

jmm1837 sounds like you and I have the same idea for the pantry! I just wanted a place to have appliances out so I can use them, but not be visible and cluttering the kitchen.

Maybe I should make a hinged window in the countertop for cords, or I could put an outlet strip on the countertop and just have it's cord running down a hole.

If you wanted outlets for the counters and communicated it to them ahead of time, it is on them to put those outlets in and if it means more wire to make it happen, so be it.

If you did not communicate it ahead of time, you get a change order and have them added. You do pay for a change order, but you get it done the way you want it done.

They need to do it NOW before they close up those walls. There is really no reasonable reason not to put them in and at the proper height.

Why are contractors afraid of cutting laminate? Geez. Put a saw blade with 12-15 teeth per inch in the circular saw and cut off the extra. It really isn’t rocket science. Basic skills. Or, you can actually order countertop to your exact dimensions with finished ends from a laminate fabricator ready to install. Simple and be done. Hundreds of colors/patterns/designs to choose from.

What about a stainless steel restaurant prep table? They come various sizes and depths and the open sides won’t interfere with your outlets. The base can have shelves or be open. Easy to switch out later too.

To build on rainyseasons idea, if you don’t want a stainless table (which is by the way a brilliant idea for your space) you could have a stainless countertop fabricated for your cabinets.

I wanted outlets at counter height, but they forgot to install them. The adjacent room had outlets that I don't need because a mudroom locker will span the entire wall, so I asked them to just flip those outlets around to the pantry wall and raise them up as much as possible. There wasn't enough wire to raise them more than maybe an inch, so they are where they are. I'm going to put a few holes in the back of the countertop for cords rather than spend the money for the electrician to put in new wiring in that area.

So they (the electricians?) 'forgot' to put the outlets where you wanted them. 'Forgot' is on them. They need to come back and put the outlets where you want them. No charge.

AND, the big question is what ELSE is on that circuit where they reversed the outlets?? And what amperage is that circuit? Only 15 amp?? Two outlets, I would want two dedicated circuits, one for each outlet. 20 amp. Things like toasters, toaster ovens, panini presses will max out a 15 amp circuit. If both outlets are on the same circuit, you'll be able to use only one heavy electrical draw appliance at a time. I believe that microwaves require a dedicated circuit, for instance.

You do not want holes in your counter to collect ick and the HUGE PITA of having to fish appliance cords thru the holes, fishing & unplugging/ plugging every time you want to use the mixer, breadmaker, panini press, toaster...(NONE of those appliances should be left plugged in.)

My carpenter mentioned that laminate doesn't come pre-made for the 21 inch depth and it will add cost to cut it to the right depth.

Geez, does your 'carpenter' not own a circular saw? For least am't of money, I would buy an eight foot section of stock laminate counter top and rip the backsplash off w/ a circular saw or table saw. There is plenty of room on a standard depth counter top for the circular saw to be able to rip off and leave you with 21" of counter. Tape the cut line, rip it off. Install. A bead of caulk at the joint w/ the wall. Done.

Really , that is all that needs to be done with a stock laminate but get the outlets moved for sure. I happen to dislike walkin pantries but since it is there make it useable and attractive

This may not work for you, but I am sharing in case anyone else who is building may like the idea.

My sister has a walk in pantry next to her kitchen and has shelving and a counter area for small appliances, but she had hidden doors placed between the kitchen and the pantry so when she needs to use the mixer or blender or whatever appliance that is not used daily she can slide them through the doors and use them. Clean them up and slide them back.

Closed:

Open:

I would push for the outlets to be where you need them. Especially if it was their mistake, especially if they have not closed up the walls, but even if it was your change and they have closed the walls you don't want to create a room where things look poorly planned or where things don't function as intended. You have to live with it, and someday you will want to sell and move to another home and someone else looking in and seeing the base cabinets moved away from the walls so you can get to the outlets is going to think "What else is wrong with this house?"

One other thing that I just thought of with outlets under the counter top and that is the cords on a lot of your appliances are probably going to be too short to reach the outlet. Plus, whatever is under the counter is going to have to get moved out of the way when you stoop down to plug in the extension cord to supply the too short appliance cords.

You might as well just string an extension cord through the freaking doorway.

What p'o's me is that this is a freaking workbench. Not one of those tradesmen who convinced you that this would be OK would tolerate this situation at their personal workbench.