Blog
28 Aug 2013
Blending in the power outlets in your backsplash
Your kitchen backsplash is not only functional, in terms of interior design, it can make a fabulous centrepiece where a beautiful wall layout can really tie the room together. One of the significant differences between tiling a bathroom wall and a kitchen wall is the number of power outlets and switches that need to be incorporated. Commonly, if your kitchen appliances (microwave oven, espresso machine, toaster etc.) are kept on your countertop, all of these have to have a dedicated power outlet. Besides these, it is wise to add a few spare ones in case you want to plug in a blender or a food processor etc. So, no matter how impressive or expensive your backsplash tiling is, if your outlets or switches do not blend in, your design can be ruined. It is the small, easy to overlook, details that can become an eyesore. Needless to say it’s much harder to fix once the job is done than plan it out in advance…always take the cut once and measure twice if you know what we mean. 
Here are a few tips on blending in your outlets: 1. Choose the proper cover colour. Contrary to popular opinion, power outlet covers come in various colours, not just black and white. It’s often not possible to find the exact same colour as your tiles, but you can choose a tone from the same field of colour. 2. No contrast here. Although contrast is beautiful in design projects, it’s not the case here. Using a contrasting colour on your outlet covers will just draw attention to them. And this is not something you want to catch the eye. 3. Dark is very obvious. Unless you have a really dark coloured backsplash, the dark outlets will stand out in a negative way and distract from the tiles/pattern. 4. Keep cutting to a minimum. The fewer tiles cutting it involves, the better it will look.