Cool and Funny Light Switch Covers

I discovered some light switch covers recently while looking around the Internet, which inspired me to write about them, especially the one of Michelangelo's David sculpture, where the light switch was ... well, you know where it was. Hehe.

Anyhow, that got me to doing a little research to see if I could find some cool ones that I might be interested in. Even though I had managed hardware and big-box home and garden stores, I never took the time to examine that particular product sector. Man did I miss out on some cool stuff.

The idea that a light switch cover is simply there to hide some ugly stuff or protect you from sticking your finger where you shouldn't, is long gone.

Sure it still does all that, but now they're not only personalized statements you can say about yourself, but they are also magnificent works of art, or even portraits of your favorite products. Really! ... on that last one.

Of course I'm not going to give them free advertising here, so we'll go on.

When I started searching out the varieties of decorative switch plates out there, I started to feel like when restaurants started having their servers offer about five suggestions for each piece of every meal on the menu.

But after taking a look, it was really fascinating and interesting to see what is now there out for consumers to have fun with.

For your children it could be a bananza of of whatever cartoon character they like or tween superstar they're following. If they are known, they are now on a light switch cover, and very creatively at that.

There was everything a little boy or girl would want in their bedroom or playroom. Hey, there are some from my childhood I wouldn't mind having in my bedroom or office. Pretty cool.

I've included a few on the side there you can look at, such as the extremely popular Disney Fairies, Tinkerbell and Hannah Montana. You even have one from the animated feature Cars. And that's just a tiny sampling of thousands of light switch covers for children.

For older teens and adults, there are an unlimited supply of light switch plates. There is everything from reproductions of famous works of artists, to the favorite planes or motorcycles enjoyed by fans.

What was really interesting with that, is the way the images on the switchplates changed when there were places for four light switches. While with some it actually interfered with the look, with others you could tell steps were taken in the design to fit in with the background, and when done correctly, it was very effective.

Another interesting change in switch plate covers is the shapes of the covers themselves. While the rectangular shape is still predominant, there are a growing number that are shaped in the design that on the surface of the light switch cover.

For example, many times you'll see a shell motif, and then the light switch cover will be shaped in a shell, rather than the usual verticle rectangle shape we mostly think of with a decorative switch plate.

There are a lot of way those creative changes could be used in the right room in a house with a similar theme as the switch plate represents.

One really fun thing you can do with light switch covers is get  one of your favorite photos and have it imprinted on the switchplate. How cool is that?

There are now companies for very little money who will do this for you, and you can get as many done as you want.

This is an area that has tons of potential, and you can see how many different things you could do with this.

You could have it done with a variety of family occasions and family members and put them up when they come to visit.

Or you could do a favorite pet no longer with you, and put them up in a strategic location, reminding you of how much you enjoyed their companionship. The list is endless.

While I really haven't taken any time to research if there is a collectors' market for light switch covers, I'd be willing to bet that there is a burgeoning underground market that doesn't get a lot of attention.

There's just far too many cool ones to pass up on if anyone has the collecting fever. Just a few looks around and I was ready to think of doing it myself.

The one nice thing about collecting light switch covers is for the most part they're so small. Other than some of those 3-D types, you could put dozens of them in a relatively small box.

Of course you know the problem then. You fill that box up pretty quickly, and you go and find a bigger one to fill up with all those things you can't live without.

So there you have it, my thoughts on a part of our home décor that many just take for granted like I have in the past. But when seeing something that caught my eye like it did, I naturally let my curiosity get the best of me and got to snooping around to see what else is out there.

It was a lot of fun, and I don't think it's the last time I'll go searching around to find out what new decorative switch plate are there to discover.