Lightswitches & Outlet Covers

Our downstairs is covered with these light switches- they are some kind of metal, very ornate, and kind of cool. It would be a shame to replace them with something completely new, but the brassy color kind of irks me. So, this weekend's easy project was to just spray paint them all.

the before: a brassy, ornate lightswitch

Step 1. Remove all the switches and plates.
This is super quick with a flat-head screwdriver. I just ran around the house collecting all the lightswitches and outlet covers and brought them to the basement.  I laid the outlet covers on a big plastic bag, and created a stand for the screws with a spare piece of cardboard.

all of the outlets and switches on a big plastic bag in the basement

the screws in their cardboard stand

Step 2. Spray.
Using a can of oil-rubbed bronze spray paint, I sprayed lightly and quickly to cover them all. Because of the ornate 3-d-ness, I made sure to move around and get at them from all angles.  The screws got a very light dusting so they matched, but the screw groove still worked.

outlets get a coat of paint

screws get a light coat of paint

Step 3. Replace.
After drying for a couple hours, I replaced them all from whence they came. Super quick and easy!

the after: a new lightswitch cover in place

one of the new outlet covers on a dark outlet

another outlet cover on an almond outlet 

Ok, so it's a small improvement. All of the downstairs outlets are now the same and they all match the same metal as the new downstairs lights and doorknobs. I like that this project kept the character of the old house, but modernized it a bit.  Of course, as is true with every project, instead of feeling finished, this project feels only half-done. I would love to switch out all the almond-colored outlets for the darker ones downstairs so they blend in with the wood trim, and switch everything upstairs to new white outlets and covers-- but we'll leave that for another day.  

Total time = 4 hours

Active time = 1 hour

Total cost = $7