Thursday, October 23, 2008

Design Dilemmas – light switches, thermostats, etc.

This post was inspired by a design dilemma that All things G&D had a while ago. I'm not sure if she has corrected it yet, but if not heres a solution to decorating a wall that is interupted with light switches or thermostats.

Below is a wall that is central in our main floor. To the left is the family room, to the right is the powder room and laundry room. Infront are the stairs to the second level and the hallway that it sits in goes from the front door to the kitchen. It's right in the middle of all the action. So one would think this would be a great wall to be an accent wall right? Well unfortunately for me the builders didn't think so and put 4 light switchs on the wall right in the middle! The three on the left are for the kitchen and the hallway, the one on the right is for the upstairs hallway. To top it all off the two panels aren't even level with one another. I had originally bought a mirror for this space thinking it would be a great place for it, but it didn't fit in between the switches and looked silly above the switches. So on to plan B.


I grabbed some of our accent wall paint Benjamin Moore HC-72 Branchport Brown, and painted the entire wall a deep chocolate brown. Next I got some inexpensive frames from Ikea in cream, but all different sizes, see where I'm going with this? The switch plate covers are white so they really stood out now. If you think carefully these rectanlges could be very graphic, so below is the result. I made a collage of family photos, placing the frames at different heights and turning some on their side. So now the switch plates don't stand out as much and the result is an accent wall of our family that is always getting updated.


5 comments:

Chris Kauffman said...

That looks great , you don't even notice them , they are very well hidden I have some awfully placed switches and thermostat on my dining room wall , I just have o ignore them , the next house I will ensure that doesn't happen.

Anonymous said...

What was that crazy builder thinking giving you that design dilemma? But nice maneuvering around it. The frames are great - and stylish - camouflage for that wall (and you know how we love a frame collage). Love the idea and the execution!

-John (& Sherry)

Jen said...

What a great idea, it works so well! Love that accent colour too.

Liz Harrell said...

Love this! I've got the wierdest switches too, some dead center in the middle of a wall. Just a waist high plug in, for no reason. Of course, with a 60 + year old house there's no telling.

Dusty @AllThingsG+D said...

Great solution! It looks fabulous! And to answer your question on my blog (from about a hundred years ago--sorry I'm so behind!) the clock in my living room is from Target.

Thanks for the post--it's certainly getting my wheels turning!