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kellienoelle

Switchplate covers - opinions please.

kellienoelle
11 years ago

Wow, I never realized how detail oriented this kitchen remodel stuff is, but like they say, the devil is in the details. Maybe I have been worn down so much that I am now rendered unable to make even silly little decisions.

Even though I had declared my kitchen "finished", this one little thing has been eating at me. I don't know which switchplate covers look best. Ideally, I would have one that "blended" (and would have thought to have the contractor change them to sideways, but I didn't), but none match my off white backsplash tiles. The white is too white, the beige is too beige, the stainless doesn't even pretend that it is trying. So what say you gardenweb? Which do you like?

Close up



And long shot

Comments (17)

  • labbie
    11 years ago

    kellienoelle,
    As we are sitting here with lots of off white/beige tile samples for our unfinished backsplash, DH and I just had this same conversation. These decisions are exhausting!
    Honestly, I think I would stay with the white. I don't care for the off-white (it almost looks yellow/ivory, but that could be the monitor).
    I like the stainless switchplate, but I think it draws more attention to the white toggle switch (and outlet plugs if you'd have any of those). Also do those show fingerprints,etc? That would bother me.
    At least with the white, it fades into the tile, and it's the more "expected" color anyway- doesn't look as much like you're trying to match but couldn't get close.

  • nineteenoeight
    11 years ago

    I'd like the stainless if you could find metal-looking switches (probably impossible) or perhaps paint the switches silver/gray...it matches your appliances.
    Or what about painting the white plate a color closer to the tile? Something inbetween the white switch and the tile color?
    The off-white is too creamy for me, stands out against the tile.

  • palimpsest
    11 years ago

    I would stick with white unless you want to buy unpainted metal ones and some oil-based paint in a color matched to the tile.

  • celticmoon
    11 years ago

    If you want a match, get clear plates used for wallpaper applications. Have paint matched to your tile color and back paint the plates The clear plastic surface should survive cleaning better than a painted plate surface.

  • afisherman
    11 years ago

    Can you tell me what cabinet hardware you went with?

  • a2gemini
    11 years ago

    I vote for white with your backsplash - or paint to match...

  • kellienoelle
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    If my husband sees me painting switchplate covers, he will think that I have finally lost my mind! Yes, based on that, I think I will stick with white. I was also thinking that the stainless would match my appliances, but agree that if the actual switches are white, it will be mis-matched anyway. Thanks for the votes.

    The pulls were supplied by the cabinet manufacturer, they are Kraftmaid's bow pulls. I didn't even intend it, but once they were installed we realized that they also are almost a perfect match to my appliance pulls!

  • dekeoboe
    11 years ago

    What color is the beige switch plate cover? Have you tried light almond? Not to be confused with almond, they are two different colors. Lt almond is a standard color, so it is not any more expensive than white.

  • Bunny
    11 years ago

    Go with white. You will stop noticing them.

  • ginny20
    11 years ago

    I have stainless plates, and I got gray toggles and outlets, so they blend in. I have stainless around white in the upstairs bath, and I'm not crazy about it. But I'm not sure the grey centers will look good with everything else in your kitchen. As dekeoboe said, there are other shades of off-white plates. I think light almond is closer to your BS.

    Of the three you have there, the white is the best.

  • cat_mom
    11 years ago

    Lutron does have a few different whites--for ex., the architectural matte white is a beigey, greyed white. Maybe that would look better?

  • kellienoelle
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    I should have realized that their were options for switches outside of my local Home Depot. I should probably do some more investigating. Of course, then I will have to get the husband to change all the switches. While his father was an electrician, he didn't inherit the DIY gene, so I am looking at probably a year turn around time. All of a sudden the advice that I will stop noticing the white plates seems even better. Unless I can learn how to do a bit of rewiring myself....

    Although the

  • eam44
    11 years ago

    None of the above. Just keep looking until you find the right one. They make porcelain switch plates in thousands of colors.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Switchplate

  • mtnfever (9b AZ/HZ 11)
    11 years ago

    In case you *are* thinking of getting new switches, rewiring the switch is easy DIY--just be absolutely sure that you turn off the circuit breaker! Even I (the non-handy one) was able to replace the pantry light switch with a motion-sensor switch very easily (and thank you to GW for that idea!).

    As mentioned, check out Lutron for many many colors though pricier than the standard colors. In our previous house, I was able to match the outlets/switches/plates with the plaster colors that I used. Looked like it was planned by a designer ;) !

    cheers

  • kellienoelle
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Haha, funny that you say it was a simple project that you did it yourself. With all the moaning the husband does, I thought it was akin to brain surgery. I had asked him to change out some others and he got about half of them done before he just gave up. I was wondering if this was something that I could do myself.

    Last night I also was skim coating the ceiling of the laundry room (at 5'4" with 9' ceilings) because he seemed to think it was too much work. Sigh, I should have added "handy" to my marriage checklist.

    Thanks for the info, I was thinking that surely their must be an "off white" option since it is so commonly used in decorating. I'll do some investigating.

  • CEFreeman
    11 years ago

    Don't forget the wonderful Mulberry "wrinkled" plates.
    The texture makes them paintable and you could have your tile matched. HD & Lowe's carry them & they're available online in all kinds of configurations.

    I bought those a while back and love them. In my rebuild after our fire, I bought them all again planning ahead for the day I can paint! :)

  • desertsteph
    11 years ago

    "In case you *are* thinking of getting new switches, rewiring the switch is easy DIY--just be absolutely sure that you turn off the circuit breaker!"

    THIS. pull it up on youtube and take a look. The only think you have to really, really be careful about is flipping the breakers off. I'd switch off the ALL of them. which of course means doing the change outs during the daytime.

    And pick up one of those live wire checkers at lowe's so you can double check the wires before messing with them. Might seem like unnecessary BUT I figure it's worth the few bucks and extra few seconds to double check on it.

    I watched one being changed out on HGTV yrs back and the guy - knowing what he was doing - took probably less than 5 min to change one out. I didn't time him but it only took him a few minutes to do it.