Ugly Switch Plate Covers And Renovation

Cindy Barganier Interiors / Client Projects  / Ugly Switch Plate Covers And Renovation

Ugly Switch Plate Covers And Renovation

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We have been working on the renovation of this grand belle of the ball and ran into the age old problem of what to replace the ugly switch plate covers with. You know, the cracked ones yellowed with age that scream, “look at me”!

As you can see from the below picture, some of the original walls have hand painted paper that is staying and for those I brought in an artist to paint the plates to match the design. But what if the job is too far away to fly an artist in to paint a bunch of switch plates? Surely there is another solution!

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I think I may have found it!

There is a company called   Forbes & Lomax that makes replicas of the old high end switches that you can still find in period hotels and some homes.

Established in London 20 years ago, Forbes & Lomax have created an elegant alternative to the ordinary light switch. They realized that the elegant glass, nickel and brass switches of the 1930’s were no longer available and what was being made to use for high-end projects were unsuitable.  So Forbes & Lomax launched an aesthetic light switch, in which they pioneered the screwless, flush to the wall plate, creating a sleek look. The toggles and buttons come in many finishes, including unlacquered brass, nickel silver, brushed stainless steel and antique bronze switches.”

I love the antique bronze toggle. And the buttons remind me of the push button ones I used to see a lot.

black togle light switch

This brass one allows you to fully automate your home, opening blinds, controlling night lights etcetera from one master control.

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brass switch plates

I might stand around playing with the light switches if I had these unlacquered brass toggles.

brass toggle switches

But the ones that really captivated me for my project were the clear acrylic ones.

acrylic switch cover

Even if you cover the old plates in wallpaper matching the pattern across the wall (now that wallpaper is back in a big way) it is still messy sometimes and you have those two screws to contend with. These are screwless!

 A 3mm thick clear acrylic face plate with a 1mm thick primed aluminum under plate make up the assembly. You affix your wallpaper to the backplate (or paint it if wallpaper is not being used) and the o ring that goes around the switch screws onto a mechanism on the switch box to hold it securely. The plate is then almost invisible. Love it!

It also comes as convenience outlet covers but these do use screws.

invisible outlet plugs

This is how it would look installed over wallpaper.

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Sooo much better, right? And the best part? They now have a showroom in New York.

To see more visit http://www.forbesandlomax.com/invisible-lightswitch-usa.html

or contact them at ussales@forbesandlomax.com

Happy Day!

Cindy

Cindy Barganier
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