The earliest switchplates were wooden, huge, protruding, clumsy, and plain ugly. On them sat big, fat, black switches. And don’t even get me started on what the wiring did to the aesthetics of the room. But switchplates (as well as switches and wiring) have evolved over the years, to the extent that they can actually look elegant. They are now available in a variety of different designs, shapes, and sizes.

What are switchplates? For the uninitiated, switchplates are the plates that cover light switches and outlets; their basic function is to hide and protect the wires around outlets and switches. Read the rest of this entry »