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Monday, April 7, 2014

Replacing Ugly Outlets {For Highly Particular Homeowners}

outlet cover replacement via Meet Me in Philadelphia
I'm a really particular person. If I was a parent, I'd be one of the "choosy moms" that those peanut butter commercials love to talk about. One of the things I'm super particular about are the electrical outlets in our house.

I especially hate the old round, bisque-colored ones that are throughout each room. But just this week, I made it my mission to improve the appearance of the outlets on one floor of our house (the finished basement).

At Home Depot, I came across a life changing, money saving solution to my I-hate-my-electrical-outlets obsession. In the electrical aisle, I found the duplex outlet cover from Taymac, which completely covers existing outlets!
outlet cover replacement via Meet Me in Philadelphia
outlet cover replacement via Meet Me in Philadelphia
I needed 13 for the basement, so it's a good thing they are only $2.25 a piece! It covers the entire outlet in one solid piece and each cover is easy to install.

Here's one of the outlets before:
outlet cover replacement via Meet Me in Philadelphia
 Step #1: remove the original faceplate with a screwdriver.
outlet cover replacement via Meet Me in Philadelphia
 Step #2: attach the new faceplate with your screwdriver.
outlet cover replacement via Meet Me in Philadelphia
Step #3: sit back and enjoy your beautiful new electrical outlet cover (and repeat 12 more times, in my case)!
outlet cover replacement via Meet Me in Philadelphia
 A view up close:
outlet cover replacement via Meet Me in Philadelphia
In a few minutes, I was able to replace all 13 outlets. Now they recede rather than call attention to themselves...
outlet cover replacement via Meet Me in Philadelphia
(all via Meet Me in Philadelphia)

...and a highly particular homeowner like me can rest easily...until I find another thing to obsess over.

Have you ever seen these outlet covers before?
Please tell me I'm not alone in being super picky about elements in my house--what about you?

12 comments:

  1. I need these and I'm getting them - thanks!

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  2. I'm with you - those ugly ones bug me too. I'm all over this, thanks for the tip!

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  3. These are a brilliant idea!!! I've been replacing all our horrible bisque outlet covers with white, but this would have been so much better.

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    Replies
    1. I knew you would appreciate this post. Great minds think alike!

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  4. oh man! this is the last thing I should be thinking about, but now that's all I want to do! Ha.

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  5. Oh, I like these Ashley!! Thanks!

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  6. Really...I never knew these existed and this could save me a lot of time and $$. Ours are all "almond" - bleck!!! So now I'm going to scope these out. Hope your first day back in the work force went well.

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  7. They are what we have in our Philly row home. Love them, especially the dimmer light switches.
    Vera

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  8. To me it's the little things that make the greatest design differences.

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  9. WHAT?!! I was all ready to tell you that you were my DIY Electrical Hero for tackling this kind of electrical work and now I'm ready to tell you that you are my Home Depot Sleuth Genius Hero. Who knew? And guess what. I'd only have to change out 10 outlets. Because that's how many we have in the entire house. I'm not kidding.
    Camille

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I'd love to hear your thoughts!