All mine match the walls... and have for decades.

Some decorative plates stick out worse than the white or beige.

I either have white to match the trim or painted to match the walls. Someone on the kitchen forum used the term "backsplash acne" and it caused a lot of arguing!
I agree that the decorative ones sometimes stand out even worse.

Mine are all white to match the trim too. Well, except in the kitchen where the trim is red, but I'm too darn lazy to change 'em out. ;-)

Always fascinates me to see these BRIGHT WHITE electrical outlets and switches or even large air vents in so many photos become the MAIN focal points in the whole room ....... even if there is wonderful artworks, millwork, furniture, fabrics etc.

Jan (who has a few of those so-called "focal points" still hanging around her home too ......)

Mine are white, but if there is someone out there who can buy me some decorative ones, I'm game.LOL I think painting them would make them more noticeable because I don't have single or even double switches. Most are 3 or more. Then you have to explain what are all those white toggles doing there? It's not something I've ever noticed in my house or anyone else's. I do want to get a decorative switch plate for the switches by the front door, but that's about it. The rest can stay white. I have a feeling that when people come to my new house, they won't be concerned about light switches. I can almost garauntee not one person will comment on the color of the switch plates. Then again, I won't be inviting Lynn. LOL Just kidding, Lynn you're welcome anytime.

This is fascinating! It's so common to see these done in white that my mind usually ignores it anymore. That will no longer be true.

How do you paint these plastic plates, grates and so on so that the paint doesn't peel off? Also, I keep imagining these gunky painted wall plates of yesteryear, if you guys remember them in older houses. I'd love to try my hand at it, but I'm afraid of trading a fresh new looking "utility switch" for something that looks like a child's craft project.

In the house I bought with my former husband, the kitchen & house was filled with oak wood cabinetry, stairwells, etc.

In the kitchen, all the oak with drab walls. The previous owner put these oversized country oak outlet covers on every spot. I think there were 8 of them just on the backsplash.

Every time I looked at the area, it was like all the outlets were screaming, "look at me!!!!!".

I don't notice the switch and outlet plates as much, but I'm going to paint some of ours in certain places that I do think are noticeable. I am more distracted by the large, white cold air returns. Our furnace guy wanted to put ours in the middle of a very open LR wall (!), and we had to really INSIST that it be put in an inconspicuous place. It's not painted the wall color--yet--but it's up high over the china cabinet pass-through hall where you have to know it's there in order to find it.

I don't notice them at all, but I have to agree that some of the decorative ones are a bit much. I've seen far more tacky switch plate covers that, IMO, are a distraction from the rest of the room.

Then again, I think it is all a matter of taste. It always come back down to what you like. I've seen some horrible looking rooms that were decorated by "professionals" that really made me roll my eyes and wonder why anyone would have paid someone to do that to their room.

I actually think the white plastic ones can be less distracting -- since they are the "standard", my brain just ignores them! My eyes are drawn to decorative plates, which can be a good or bad thing. When we moved in, we had some oak plates in the bathroom and some gold ones in the LR/DR. We switched them to plastic white to make them less obvious and the walls look much nicer. It seems like painted ones would get dirty very easily.

All of mine are white as well which I agree seems less obvious than a decorative one. We also upgraded all of our switches to be on programmable dimmers so I think it would look odd to paint the covers. The only ones that I did differently were for my island outlets. I have a cherry island so I did the recepticals in brown and the covered in cherry. They look much better than if it had been done in white.

I dunno, to me painted plastic plates and switches just scream of someone who was too lazy to prep during paint, and I can't imagine a way to paint those so they look good.

Sometimes decorative ones are too much, kind of akin to putting a wooden picture frame around an air conditioning vent.

So mine are original and I don't notice them. Some of them have motion sensors and timers replacing the switches - really no way to make that decorative aside from being energy efficient.

The plastic plates are simple to paint. You remove the screws, remove the plate, spray paint the plate with primer, wait about 10 minutes (or whatever is indicated on the spray primer can) then apply your regular wall paint to the plate. I also paint the screw heads.

Now, if someone can just tell me how to paint the switches!

I have bought wood ones and painted them. They hold up better than plastic. I don't mind the lightswitch plates as much as the outlet plates. Many of my outlet plates are painted to match the wall, or else they're hidden behind something. I do have quite a few decorative lightswitch plates, but I like to think they're not tacky! Sometimes I match them to the metal in the room -- so my dining room has a copper chandelier, so the lightswitch plate is copper. My bathrooms mostly have brushed chrome to match the faucet, etc. When we did our kitchen over, we got rid of all the "backplash acne" by installing a power strip right under the upper cabs, so you can't see any outlets. However, in one spot next to a window (where the sill goes right to the counter) they were required to put an outlet per code, and they ended up having to put it on the side of the cabinet, which was visible from everywhere in the room. In an 8-month renovation, that may have been my worst moment! We have a tall plant sitting on that counter, right in front of that hideous outlet.

I too think "didn't feel like removing the plates" when I see painted ones, but it doesn't bother me. I mostly see white ones, and I have no problem with the look of them. Not sure why the need to disguise them, actually.

This is taking me back in time to when I *had* to have brass switch/outlet plates. I rented, but I would switch them all out, and then replace the plastic ones when I moved. It was unthinkable to have anything other than brass. Do they even sell brass plates anymore?

Each to their own :O)

I cannot bear to see the white ones--my eye goes right to them. It's so easy to get switchplates that can be painted to match the wall. I hate the "decorative" ones.

So what do you call the toggle part of the switch that then sticks out after the switchplates are painted? Whiteheads?

;-D

If you only paint the plates, don't the switches and outlets look weird still being the original color? I'm trying to decide what to do about mine. I'd like to paint them, but I'm afraid the outlets are going to be an eyesore since they'll still be the original color.

Auntjen, you are too funny - good one! Everyone makes good points of course. In reference to decorative wallplates I am assuming that they fit the decor of the room. You can not compare that to wallplates left over from the seventies. So give some credit to the person that has chosen the plate. At least if you put up something decorative (or painted) it appears as if it was part of the design plan and not a case of someone leaving the 19 cent outlet cover there not knowing what else to do.

There are some of you that got the point I was trying to make, like teacats, that when you see these bright white rectangles here and there your mind is immediately drawn to them. If you look at some of the postings with pics maybe you will see what I mean. Some of these rooms are gorgeous but it does drive me crazy to see these "things" on the wall.

I do take mine off to paint and I have been known to paint the toggle itself. In our new living room I purposely purchased the following switches. The outlets all have 3 switches to them so this was the "smallest" I could find for a dimmer and therefore least noticeable switch. http://www.westsidewholesale.com/index.cgi?pid=973352&CATEGORY=3178

I also must confess that with the wall plug, I just paint right over the outlet. I figure it is down so far no one will notice the paint, not nearly as much as they would notice a white one - all the more so if the paint color is dark or vibrant.

I think I've posted this about 417 times :-) but here goes again. Taymac Masque wallplates completely solve the problem of the white/ivory "smiley faces" sticking out of the middle of a painted outlet plate and the obtrusive toggle. I used them in my previous house and loved them: see if you can find them in this picture!
{{!gwi}}

I'm another one who doesn't really like to see these white/almond "things" stuck around the walls - yes, they're necessary items, but it doesn't mean they can't be unobtrusive. When we "do up" the first floor we plan on going a little crazy with pushbutton switches (they even come with dimmer functions now!) and decorative switchplates since it's totally appropriate to the style/age of the house (1900 "Victorian Lite") but I still want the outlet plates, cable plates, etc. to disappear, especially since some of our outlets are in the wall itself and some are in the baseboards.

But whenever the subject of switchplates comes up, I just HAVE to post this hilarious Michaelangelo's David switchplate. (Don't look if you're very easily offended.) I'm tempted to use it somewhere like a powder room just for the giggle factor.

Mari -- thats certainly a classy switchplate - LOL!

And talk about a certain turn-on! heeheeheeheehee ....

Jan ((after all -- its NOT the SIZE of the toggle -- its WHERE you put it ......... heeheeheehee))

Ha! We have that David switch plate in our guest bath. It IS great for a giggle.

Count me in the group who could care less about switch plates. Unless I'm going for restoring a period home with authentic brass or whatnot, I'm for function over form. When we moved into our current home, the rooms that were wallpapered had wallpapered switch plates/outlet covers and I could never FIND the damn things, they blended in so well!

I am for utilitarian switch plates that aren't afraid to declare what they are, so mine are unpainted.

As for wallpapering switch plates, that's just silly! (My sister-in-law did that.)

LOL - What a funny thread...
I personally crave the clean white 19 cent switchplates. Every home I have owned was listed by a realtor as "a great investment" - translating as dirty and dated. Whenever we redo a room, we change the outlets to the plain ones. Just b/c they are new and clean they are wonderful! I've never been in a house long enough to redo a room twice, maybe if I did, I would consider the switches... for now though, clean white cheap plastic feels like the Ritz next to the 70's brass, oak, or black cast iron with an eagle plates that I have moved into over the years...

Had I saved them all I think I could have had quite the collection for over the workbench by now!
Cheers all - J

It's part of living in a house, lol. Some people don't like anything sitting on their kitchen counters. I find that absurd. To me, that's why they're there ... to make life in the kitchen more convenient.

I have decorative plates in the original house and plain white in the new addition. I don't notice any of them and I doubt anyone else does.