denise

What color are the outlets and switches? If they used white for the electrical components - then I would go with white plates. If they used ivory - then use ivory colored plates.

You may want to consider having the builder use Princess Sized Wrinlked Metal plates if you plan on painting the plates at a later time. The brand is Mulberry and most electrical suppliers carry them - so does Home Depot (although their selection is limited).

The wrinkled finish on the plates allow them to be painted without sanding. I wound up painting my wall plates to match the wall color - which is what my DW wanted. I did a lot of research on this and in the end concluded that I did not want to hand sand 350 plates (which i would need to do if I used smooth finish plastic or vinyl plates) and that the cost of the one available vinyl plate (also available at Home Depot) that is paintable without prior sanding was too expensive for me (2 to 3 dollars per plate).

I selected the metal plates from Mulberry, ivory color, with wrinkled finish. I bought an inexpensive wagner spayer and sprayed 1 coat of the wall color (there were actually 3 different wall colors used in the house so it was quite a production). After the paint cured for a few days - I sprayed them with 1 coat of clear coat finish to procted the painted finish. They look great!

It sounds like you don't have enough time to do ay painting of plates. But if you want to paint the plates to match the wall colors some day - buy the Mulberry plates now so you can paint them over time after you are in. The princess size are a little larger then standard wall plates which will help cover areas where the drywallers did not cut around the electrical boxes as tightly as they could have.

Thanks sniffdog. I'm going over to the job site right now to check my options.

sniff, now you tell me. That was going to be my winter project, painting all switch plates to match the wall color. Ours are smooth and shiny white, I wonder if I could just use zinsser 123 as a base....

Good luck denise54!! your home is so beautiful it just takes my breath away every time I see it. I love it!

Amy

Thanks Amy and Sniff.

I picked out a color called "light almond" for the switch covers. It matched the ceiling and trim color completely. Goofy thing though....the covers for the central vac system are pure white. Oh well....at this point, after 18 months, I just want to move in.