Burning Question: Standing Outlet?
Faithful reader Cheryl recently suggested this burning question for all of you to weigh in on: how do you deal with your outlet covers? Do you paint them to match your walls? Attempt to obscure them with furniture and accessories? Or live with them as they are?
Many designers refer to them as “wall warts” or “wall acne,” but just how far are you willing to go to minimize an obvious outlet in your home?
Image courtesy of MyHomeIdeas.com
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They are accessories to the home, just like earrings and necklaces are to a sweater ~ you need to accessorize them with cute, stylish, and fun covers. How will you reach them if they are covered up?
We have updated ours so that they all look newy-newerson…bright white and modern. But it never would have occurred to me to hide them. We live in a real house, not on a movie set. We need outlets. It’s a fact of life. It’s nothing to be ashamed of.
Pet peeve: painted outlet/switch covers. Horrible!
When we bought our house, each cover was different. We went room by room and changed them all to standard white. So fresh and clean.
We got nicer covers for all of ours so they are nicer to look at.
I like nice updated covers. You can find them anywhere now and they don’t cost much. I agree, don’t hide them! You have to use them and you place a piece of furniture in front of them just to do so, it will probably look strange and pointless.
Every house has them, we all use them, so just accept that they are there.
when we moved in ours had all been painted over several times, and it just looked BAD. We replaced every last one with a new cover and they all looked so much more fresh and clean and updated!!
we have a 1950′s house though and there were actually two that we had to strip and repaint (spraypainted so it looked nice) because of the vintage shape/design. You just can’t buy it anymore! I had thrown them out and when we realized they were one-of-a-kinds, we had to dig them out.. not fun!
My only thing is the lovely almond/biscuit colored ones that scream 1980s, that currently are all in our house. I prefer a bright white outlet and cover. Not painted, not wallpapered, not metal, not fancy, etc.
All of my outlet covers are white, just like the trim woodwork. I think the outlet cover should make sense. It should never be painted.
I like white covers, and white decora style outlets. I have a thing against the old style outlets with two circular pieces…
And painted covers irk me too.
We just leave them crisp and white, and the few times the covers have broken (i.e. love DH but he can be an idiot sometimes) I am quick to replace them. To me outlets are like toilets: everyone has them and they are necessary so no need to cover them up.
Though I must confess, for the soon-to-be-baby we did get a cute switchplate. :)
Painted outlet covers look awful. Leave them white and if they aren’t white replace them, it only takes a few bucks to do the whole house. Also, don’t put white with almond colored outlets.
I can go either way really. It all depends on the decor in the room.
I like bright white covers… and bright white outlets (same for light switched). My husband and I are gradually replacing the mis-matched (different sizes, varieties of almond colors, shapes) with bright white ones. This matches our goal to paint all of our trim white :-)
When my husband painted my office for me..he lacquered light switch..I didnt think to have him do the outlets to be honest. BUt the light switch I just love..its SHINNNNNNY and smoooooth..and looks great.
Timely question–I want to replace the grungey cream-colored outlet covers but the outlets and switches themselves are also grungey and cream colored! How hard is it to replace the outlets themselves and should I bother?
Hey Marianne,
Replacing the actual outlets is no sweat. Just turn off the power to the whole house (none of that room-by-room nonsense, it’s a surefire way to get zapped) and match the new outlet wires to the same places that the old outlet wires were connected. Easy peasy, and it definitely beats adding new outlet covers without replacing the dingy yellowed outlets behind them which can look even worse by comparison!
xo,
Sherry
I usually leave them white, though I have replaced some with brushed nickel covers that I love! However, in our family room, I painted them to match the walls because the wall color was dark and some of the outlets were up at eye level and needed to blend in. :)
We have replaced all the light switch and outlet covers with stainless ones…they are very inexpensive at HD or Lowes.
Thank you Sherry! Now to add that to the growing list of “things to do before the baby gets here”…in 12 weeks. Oh dear.
I went through our house and replaced the almond two-prongs (in EVERY room) with nice white grounded outlets, and matching switchplates. Lucky for me, the covers are almost the exact same color as our “craft white” trim!
I don’t like painted/wallpapered covers…ew.
White, white, white. I hate painted outlet covers.
when we first moved in, we took a trip to home depot and bought ALLL new outlet and light switch covers (they were like, 20 cents each) now they all look fresh and new!
We replaced all of ours in our home with stainless steel covers. I love them, though they do show fingerprints so I am always cleaning them!
Our house has a mix of white, painted and those awful 80′s almond ones that we will be changing to all white when we repaint soon. Designers can be so silly – we all have them and need them. Well, I guess designers with their magical, cordless lamps that are in all my magazines and catalogs don’t :-)
I agree with the ‘white’ comments. I like them white, I just leave them to match the trim, it looks nice. And as Sarah said, I live in a real house not a movie set (or a home decor magazine for that matter)…
I’m definitely a white plugs, white plates, use ‘em when you need ‘em girl when it comes to outlets. I don’t know about the whole room warts thing – I don’t really notice them when I walk into a room. They’re just there.
We are switching out our almond plugs and covers to match our white trim room by room as we install new baseboard. Cheap, easy and quick.
Marianne – this is something you could do in just a couple hours one evening during the week! Go for it and congrats on the baby.
i say leave them white…
When we moved in to our house last year, all of the outlets had been painted over. It looked like someone was a little “roller happy” … ugh. All of the outlet covers and plugs were painted over.
So we updated every outlet and plug in the house. It was a little time consuming, but it wasn’t expensive, and it made everything look so crisp and clean. And somehow it made our new wall color look crisper, too!
This is a huge pet peeve of mine. I am definitely in favor of crisp, clean, white covers.
I have never given much thought to outlet covers, thinking that they’re something most people visually ignore- like unsightly computer wires or heating vents.
Now I’m going to have to go match all my outlet covers to my white trim… (maybe this will be a project AFTER we replace our rusty water heater)
This is one of my home staging tricks. Replace every switch, outlet, switchplate and outlet cover to new fresh white. Very softly and subtly the house whispers, “I am clean. Just like that new house you are also looking at for $50K more…”
I like fun outlet covers. My neighbors just redid their kitchen and they used red outlet covers and switch plates. It’s looks great especially since their kitchen is very neutral otherwise. They almost look like art.
The previous homeowner painted over all the outlets and light switches. Grrrr! We’ve replaced all of them throughout the house and I think it was less than $25 for all outlets, light switches, dimmers, and covers. Huge bang for the buck.
And personally, I don’t think they need to be hidden. It’s a fact of life that you need them. Ugly old ones detract. Updated ones blend in, in my opinion.
Restoration Hardware has beautiful stainless steel covers!
Great question! When we moved into our house, the previous owner had been a faux-finish addict. She had faux painted the breakfast room, AND the outlets. Or more accurately, she paid her faux painter $10 per outlet cover and switchplate!
And in our bathroom, the outlet covers were wallpapered. Lord.
A little while after we moved in, we replaced all the outlets so they were new and bought matching outlet covers. They are really nice metal ones that cost us a lot, but it was worth it to make the outlet covers and switch plate covers match and look neat.
I agree wholeheartedly with the general dislike of painted covers – but, with four little kids – I can’t say white is a much better option for us. Besides, white stands out too much for my taste against some of our darker walls. I like the stainless steel or bronze, or antiqued metal ones available at Lowes. It can add up if there are a lot of outlets in the room, so I try to choose styles that won’t date themselves super quickly. I think the metal adds a chic, grown-up look :) Oh, and I only hide unused phone or cable jacks. I hate staring at those!!!
Jacci
I don’t mind seeing outlets, it’s the mess of cords spewing out of them that bothers me. I usually try to arrange my furniture so that the outlets are behind or between things that are close together. It usually works out that way anyway, i.e., a lamp needs a table to sit on and an outlet to plug it into.
We have super old outlets and switchplates so I plan on continuing with the black outlet and unvarnished brass (not shiny) plates. They hark from the time you wanted to call attention to the fact that the house had electricity.
emily @ 2:18 – I hope you have armored cable wiring or another way to ground those outlets becuase just switching out the outlet doesn’t mean they’re grounded! And that can be dangerous for you and your appliances.
I leave them as is. In the new house, they’ll be fresh white, just like the trim. However, I have been working with the electrician to move the outlets to where it makes the most sense…. some of the outlets are in pretty wonky places! Thankfully, it does mean that a lot of them will be hidden behind pieces of furniture anyhow.
Any suggestions on how to take two pronged outlets and “modernize them” into three pronged outlets? Is this a good DIY switcheroo, or something to only be left to the professionals?
Hey Courtneyg,
As Ryan mentions, converting two prong outlets over to grounded three prong ones is actually best left to the professionals as it involves way more than switching things out and reconnecting wires (things in the wall have to be altered and DIY attempts can be extra dangerous). But calling in a pro to make the switch is usually minimally expensive (sometimes you can get a few done for around $100) so it’s not the worst thing ever. Best news- no fire hazards and everything’s grounded and new for years to come. Of course if you’re the ultimate DIYer you can always get a wiring book from Barnes & Noble and learn a bit about it and see if you want to attempt it yourself. Good luck either way!
xo,
Sherry
If you just have the cheap plastic covers you can decoupage a fun paper on them, it makes it fun. :) You can’t get rid of them so you might as well work with them!
White, white, white!
The acne comments are right on. It’s like our moms used to tell us – nothing draws MORE attention to a blemish than trying to cover it up with makeup. Painted (or papered) covers just draw the eye more than leaving them crisp and white (or in a color complimentary to the room).
Looks like mine will me the voice of dissent.
I HATE seeing outlets and outlet covers! The more they blend into the wall or are obscured, the better, on my book. I take no offense to wallpapered covers, or painted covers (when done carefully). White plastic outlet covers are (and look) cheap, so when pressed, I spring for more expemsive historical-looking metal covers in the least noticeable finish (ala Rejuvenation or Restoration Hardware). The worst part of having unmasked outlets is the look an outlet and PLUGS staring at you from an expanse of uncluttered wallspace. Power cords, plugs, outlets… none of it looks tidy. Then again, I like to hide my computer cables and get pristine lightbulbs too. I understand that most people don’t mind, so you can bet that when it comes time to sell, I will go with standard white.
I am in the white camp. Although the stainless steel ones from RH that Eryn mentioned sound wonderful. But in these tough times RH is just a dream.
I think either white, brushed nickel, or whatever finish matches your room – but no painting!
P.S. I forgot to ask you before – where did you purchase that yellow rug in your living/dining room? I love the color and the print!
Oh this is a huge pet peeve of mine in our home! My husband has switched all of the covers in our kitchen to stainless steel but they still have almond outlets. I HATE it! I don’t care what color the cover is as long as it matches the outlet. I’d love to have all white.
Leave them white! And plug them up with the baby/toddler protector plugs and they look even better…
We bought a 30′s house and decided to splurge on expensive new architectural wall plate covers for all visible outlets and switches. I actually found them unfinished for a few dollars cheaper at Menards and just sprayed them with white semigloss rustoleum. They look amazing with our white moldings and are so worth the money for our older home.
http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&productId=100485275&N=10000003+90164+500846+178
Changing over to all white, except for our family room where the wall color happens to match exactly the cream color ones…so I figure I’d use these since they blend in. Otherwise, I agree that simpler is better.
I think I’m with most other people here with just plain white outlets (no almond, paint or wallpaper). I rarely notice other people’s outlets, but the one time I did notice outlets and they became a huge deal was when we were looking at a house and all of the outlets were 4 feet up the wall, along with all of the phone jacks and cable outlets. Complete insanity. Why do people do stupid things when they build houses?
White… switches, outlets, dimmer switches. It just looks fresh and matches the trim on the doors and windows.