9 Home Electrical Eyesores and How to Fix Them

Outdoor Electrical Meter Boxes

The meter box on the side of your house is read once a month by the utility company. It is an eyesore for the rest of the month. At the very least, the metal box should be painted being careful only to paint the metal boxes and not any of the parts essential to the utility company. A color that matches the home will make the box blend into the siding, stucco, or brick. If you want to get really detailed, make it match the texture. You may not be able to camouflage the power lines running to your home, but there’s no reason the meter box has to be an eyesore.

Indoor Electrical Panel

Contrary to the meter box, the electrical panel in your home does not belong out in the open. Most of the time, it is hidden in a closet or in the basement. Occasionally, it is very visible on the wall. If you have an exposed electrical panel, the time to hide it is now. There are many ways to hide the electrical panel including building a decorative cupboard around it or hanging artwork over it. A decorative screen can be placed in front of it. Any way to make it look like there isn’t a big metal box in the middle of the room will work!

Thermostat

Thermostats are almost always in the middle of a wall, typically about the place you’d like to hang artwork. They are an unattractive electronic wall-ruiner…even if you have the updated digital display. Instead of letting ugly be ugly, cover your thermostat with a decorative box. You can even frame it to match other artwork. A Pinterest search will give you plenty of creative ideas for this one. Blending it into part of an art collage is one effective idea from the site.

Air Conditioner

If your air conditioner is hanging out of a cutout in your wall, we already know you wish you could hide it. Covering it up will render it useless. That’s why you have to be creative with decorative grills, screens, or shutters that can be installed over a cabinet that actually can cover it up but still allow that cool air to come through.

Wireless Router

Many people have already thought of covering up that pesky wireless router box, which is why the internet is filled with options. Electronics covers come in the form of faux books and decorative boxes that look like they belong on your shelves instead of that out-of-place electronic with the blinking light.

Crooked Outlets and Switches

If you have a crooked outlet, please fix it. It can be a pain, but crooked outlets are very apparent to visitors…and you! Make sure the power to the outlet is turned off at the panel. Then, remove the outlet cover and adjust the placement of the outlet with the screws at the top and bottom of it. As long as your outlet isn’t installed too crooked, you should be able to fix it this way, put the cover back on, and you’re finished! If it’s very crooked, you may have to move the box and repair some sheetrock or plaster. This is typically not the case.

Cords

Visible cords, such as those hanging from many televisions make a home look…unfinished. If you’ve made the effort to invest in a wall mount, why has that effort not been extended to covering up the cord? Cord covers come in many colors, so you can pick a color that comes close to matching your walls. If you really want to finish your television look, move the plug to behind the television.

Power Strips

First of all, most people don’t know you can hang your power strip. This means they can be hidden behind your desk instead of underneath it. When that isn’t a good option, there are cable boxes made for “cord management” that effectively cover the mismatched plugs and keep them secure in the power strip.

Chargers

Many people have chargers hanging from multiple outlets in the home. It has become an accepted part of reality. Most chargers are USB. This means they can all be combined in one charging station that takes the mess out of keeping all mobile electronics charged.

Transform your eyesores and complete your home.

Electrical eyesores do not affect functionality, which is why we allow them to exist. But if you are honest with yourself, you wish they would go away. If you’ve read to the bottom of this post, you likely have a few eyesores that you feel like fixing and need a little motivation to get you started. Let this post be your motivation. None of the solutions take that much time or money. You also can rid yourself of one more thing on your to-do list.