Alder Wood Unfinished Single-Duplex Cover Plate

using these has really given our home that special finishing touch.

The product is real wood (with a concealed metal back plate). The problem arises when trying to team up a 'suite' of plates for a room. Presumably one is working with a wood finish (otherwise why pay the premium for wood plates?) but the wood that goes into each plate - although all perhaps the same species - still vary WIDELY in tonality and grain texture. This means that to get reasonable uniformity one has to individually stain each piece separately to get the correct tone. This can be exceptionally tedious, and if accidentally done too dark it's not reversible. Faces of plates are sanded smooth, routed edges are still rough where they go cross-grain. In the end I had to get oil paints out get the correct tones. A hassle really.

I have a house filled with outlets and switches, some of them located at odd spots. I wanted to make them as inconspicuous as possible. Thus, I painted these covers the same colors as the walls. These switch plates were inexpensive and easy to paint.