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.

I’m with the majority of the consensus of comments, I HATE painted covers. I also hate the almond/beige covers, so the first thing my husband did in our new house was to replace ALL the outlets with new white ones with matching crisp white covers. I don’t mind if people buy designed covers with images or whatnot on them, but I just don’t like painted ones, they look sloppy most of the time and I think it’s when the screws get all gummed up taht really bothers me the most.

I totally agree that new, white outlet covers make an older home look instantly fresh and updated. When we moved into our 1968 ranch we were greeted by several rooms that had light switch covers in the shape of different religious motifs – needless to say, they didn’t last long!

A little over a year ago we moved into an old house with knob & tube wiring – when we had the wiring switched over to the good stuff, we changed all of our outlets to those great new rectangular switches and grounded plugs – and we framed them with switch plates that hide the screws. All in white. Nice, simple, clean and contemporary. Love it.

My only problem… these same great plugs/switches and screw-less plates are in my kitchen… and I don’t like the white next to my beige backsplash tiles. So I’m on the hunt for beige replacements. I know that they come in lots of colours… I’m hoping to find some in the perfect match to my tiles!

Victoria from EdinDesigns @ DesignTies

I feel like they should go with the trim work…bright white and crisp in most cases. Same goes for diffusers and vent covers.

We’re in the process of switching out all the yucky cream-colored,rounded corner or paint-dripped ones in our home and it’s amazing the difference it makes.

I have never even thought about them. They are just there. But now that I AM thinking about them, they should be as the post above me says: nice, white, clean contemporary. Not fussy or otherwise accessorized. They are just utilitarian, literally.

I would never paint over them. I think that makes them even more conspicuous. Plus the paint peels off the plastic like crazy and that looks really tacky.

I’ve never thought outlets/plates were distracting from decor at all.

Can you believe we only have ONE outlet in our living room?! That’s what buying an old house gets you! Ours is camoflauged by furniture, but only because that’s where we would have put the couch anyway.

To be honest, I’ve never noticed the placement of outlets in anyone else’s home…ever.

Our house was built in 1991 (not by us) and has a gazillion outlets (we have an outlet under every window for Christmas candle lights). We had the white plastic covers but they looked cheap compared to our mouldings (to which they were in close proximity) and the paint colors on the walls. I painted them–but to clarify, I took the covers off and only painted the covers (the outlet itself is white) then screwed them back on. This way they look very clean and neat (no gummed up screws, outlet openings, etc.) You can still easily see the outlet but the cover blends with the wall. (My caveat would be if the cover does start to get grunged up you need to clean it or repaint).

With switchplates on the other hand I went with mostly Restoration Hardware or other similar quality metal ones (no paint there, yuck). The quality is nice and they don’t show dirt and wear.

It depends on the type of switchplate cover…if it’s a plastic switchplate cover (like with the decor Euro style switches) it shouldn’t be painted.

The homes I’ve lived in have always had traditional switches with metal plate covers. And I’ve always painted them…the trick is to remove the switchplate first so they don’t become permanently affixed to the wall. Second…roll them with your wall roller…then they have the same texture as your freshly painted wall. After the paint has dried and it’s reinstalled, it looks perfect.

Sorry folks, when you have a beautifully painted room and white metal textured switchplates, it doesn’t look “clean and fresh”, it looks unfinished.

Check out the first pic of my dining room. Just above my dining room table is a white fleck…that’s the remote control to the ceiling fan in my great room. The remote is completely surrounded by a bank of light switches and you can hardly tell it’s there. To the left of the closet in my foyer is another switch…can’t see that one either.

http://mrkaser.blogspot.com/2008/07/how-i-spent-my-summer-vacation.html

To be honest, I hardly notice them. As long as the room has enough to draw the eye to (and they’re not crooked/old/overly ugly), I think it’s easy to look beyond.

i’m always on the lookout on the sale table at anthropologie for some of their swanky outlet covers.

Wow — it had never occurred to me to think much about them, but what a popular topic! My trim is not white, but even if it were I think I’d prefer my outlets to blend in, rather than show up (although the idea of red shiny ones TOTALLY appeals to me!)

Well, well … something else to ponder about!

I think of outlet covers as accessories too. We’re in the process of painting and remodeling, so I like to buy covers that match our color scheme. And I love that if a cover is chipped or scratched, you can change it for less than a dollar.

I’m back…this time with a better pic.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8i8c3C2mXm4/SXaIHtKx4zI/AAAAAAAABJE/MfJHfZsIUf8/s1600-h/IMG_3223.JPG

I actually don’t mind the white outlets. It’s the ones painted over that drive me batty! To me, it just draws more attention to them, probably because not everyone takes the time to paint them properly.

grrrr who paints outlet covers? The person that owned our condo before us painted every stink’n surface sea foam green. She painted the walls, the ceiling, the inside of the front door, the smoke detectors, the outlet covers and worst of all the heater grates.

I leave them white and photoshop them out of the picture!?! -3-3-3

talk about wall warts. our house was built in the 1700’s and our walls are built so that you cannot put outlets inside the wall. When we moved in most of the outlets were in the floor, but we had to replace them all with wall outlets mounted to the outside of the wall with wire moulding running to them. White trim, white boxes, white covers..and white wire moulding running to them. Fortunately in an old house there are so many interesting things to look at that you hardly notice…i hope.

I guess I’m in the minority because I don’t like to see them. I agree with Michael that they should be removed and painted so that they don’t stick to the wall and then they blend in.

I’m with Meredith and ErinEvelyn; definitely in the minority. I am A-okay with painting or wallpapering covers. We are getting ready to paint our dining room, and we have a newer house, and they were pretty indiscriminate about where they put plugs. I know you need lots in the living room in case you want a lot of A/V stuff, but do you really need an outlet every 3 feet in the DINING ROOM?

Okay, I just got back from counting…there are seven outlets in there, and two light switches. Seven!! We are painting the bottom half a dark green, so the outlets (covers only) will probably be painted green to blend in.

I prefer the slightly larger smooth metal plates that are painted the same color as the walls. For older homes that have been painted several times, but never properly prepped (like removing switch/outlet covers), the larger cover will hide the yucky paint buildup around the older smaller cover, and without any nasty sanding. Priming and painting the new plates makes them blend into the wall and disappear, and they are much easier to keep clean. The larger plates have slightly rounded corners and just look so clean and neat. We bought them at Home Depot. Oh, yes, because they are metal, you can screw the plates down tight (and they won’t break like the plastic ones do), which will pull the inside electric box snug to the plate. NO electrical work needed to fix wobbly plug/light electric boxes that disappear deep within the hole or wobble so much you can’t get the plug to sit properly. Sigh…the things we do to fix crummy work done by construction workers in a hurry…

I prefer outlets that are white, stainless or interesting (like ones from Anthropolgie — on sale, hopefully)

I guess I’m in the minority too, but I totally paint our outlet covers (not the outlets). We switched some to stainless steel when we moved in, and they showed finger prints like crazy and the big shiny patch on the wall stood out like a sore thumb. So I started painting the ones that are in view — by taking them off and using a roller to keep it neat.

That said, I don’t think I’ve EVER noticed an outlet in someone else’s home. I know for a fact that the outlet covers in my mom’s house are bright white (on blue walls) and they must not be too offensive because I can never find a lightswitch when I need one!

I don’t like the way they look painted, to me it looks like someone wasn’t careful while painting.

And I only like the bright white ones. At least they have a shot at looking clean, whereas the off-white or taupe ones always look dirty to me.

The only room in our house that has been painted since we moved in 2 years ago is my oldest daughter’s room. Her theme is Hawaiian Surf from PBK. So I painted the walls blue and bought silver outlet covers.

To me this is like hiding your television, if it has a purpose and it’s useful what’s the point. I don’t even really notice them, although I do like the white ones.

I’m a little confused by the posters who insist on white covers, then go on to say they don’t really notice outlets? If it’s not that big of a deal, why is it such a peeve?

I guess I’m in the minority here as well. As a designer, I can’t stand seeing something (ie: a small white rectangle on a dark colored wall) that breaks my eye. If I paint the office a dark hunter green, I don’t really want the outlets to detract from the flow of the colors/designs in the room.

“As a designer”…la de dah!

As long as outlets don’t look dingy and old I don’t mind. Although I have used in the past a flat acrylic outlet cover that I painted the back of with the matching wall color. Worked out well and looked clean.

Sorry, I’m still fired up about the switch plate debate…I had to post my rebuttal:

http://mrkaser.blogspot.com/2009/02/great-switchplate-debate.html

Hi Sherry, I love reading your blog. Poor Michael he’s all upset over the switch plates. What really upsets me is when I see them on a beautiful dark back splash in a kitchen or a bathroom. Your eye goes right for the very white switch plate. Thats why my back splash is white in the kitchen, I only have the 2 on the back wall of the counter and they blend in perfect with my back splash.

Hah – I just had this debate with my husband last week. The almond color outlets were driving me nuts. With white trim they just look dirty and out of place. So instead of replacing the outlets, I just put a little white paint on the switches, then put white covers on. You really can’t tell the difference unless you look super close, which no one does anyway. Maybe the painted covers is something that has just gone out of fashion in the past generation? My parents were shocked that we didn’t paint the outlets the same as the room color.

I just came across this item from Joons, Design and Experience. Not sure if it is production, but it is meant to solve the unsightliness of outlets:
http://www.joons.co.kr/bbs/board.php?bo_table=Portfolio_living&wr_id=11&page=

Wow Laura’s deal is pretty cool! All of our light switch plates and outlet covers are white and I think they look good that way, although I do think Michael’s look good. Our light switches are the rectangular rocker kind, so I think they would look strange if the switchplates were painted. The one exception to the white covers in our house is in the master bedroom. The light switches and one plug are actually in the mirror, so the covers are mirrored. Normally I would be against mirrored switchplate covers, but in this case I think it is the perfect solution.

whenever i paint a wall i always paint over the light switch covers and outlet covers so there aren’t blaring out over your new beautiful paint job. :)

Hey guys…not sure if you’re still checking this post, but I have a dilemma. I decided to start switching our almond colored outlets/switches and covers over to white recently. I started with the smallest room (fewest outlets) first to see how it would go. It was really easy switching the outlets and switches to white, and I bought a nice cottage stye, thicker white outlet cover and switch cover from target. Here is my dilemma…because they are thicker/deeper than your standard 50 cent cover from wal-mart, etc., the switch/outlet sits back in the cover so it is not flush. How to solve this? Is there a solution that allows us to still use these nice covers? Or, better to just go with the standard ones?
Thanks so much!
Kelly