Christmas Decorating with Christmas Wall Switch Covers

With Christmas just around the corner, many people begin to climb up into the attic Thanksgiving weekend and pull down all of the Christmas decorations.

There's a decorating idea that many of you have probably overlooked.

A great way to add a special touch to your house this year for Christmas is to switch out some of your light switch plates. Yes, switch plates, that square of plastic that surrounds the on/off switch for your room lights. It takes a screwdriver and a couple of minutes to take two screws out, take off the plate, pop another one on, screw it on and there you have it. Obviously, if you have a double or triple switch plate you will have a few more screws. It's a simple project you won't even have to bother the husband to help you with.

You can get tons of switch plates with everything imaginable on them. You're sure to find something to match your theme or color scheme for every room in your house. If you don't want to go to the expense of changing every room in your house, you could change only the high traffic areas that your guests will see. The obvious choices are a guest bathroom, the living room, dining room and perhaps the guest bedroom if they will be staying the night.

You can get tons of switch plates with everything imaginable on them. You're sure to find something to match your theme or color scheme for every room in your house.

If you don't want to go to the expense or the time of changing every room in your house, you could change only the high traffic areas that your guests will see. The obvious choices are a guest bathroom, the living room, dining room and perhaps the guest bedroom if they will be staying the night.

• Are you going with a specific Christmas theme this year? Some people like to stick to a certain theme such as snowmen, or elves, or even a cartoon or movie character if they have small children. There are lots of options for snowmen, both whimsical cartoon-type snowmen and realistic snow scenes featuring snowmen. You can find popular movie themes such as "The Christmas Story" with Ralphie, "The Nightmare Before Christmas" with Jack Skellington. Choose a switchplate that matches your overall theme. You can even have different themes for different rooms.

• Are you going with a specific color theme this year? Some people choose a color theme. I'm one of those types of people. I pick a general color theme and then decorate my tree with that different variations of that color. This year my theme color is a burnt orange with gold, browns and creams. I chose the theme last year based on the color and style choices availabile at the 75% off sale after Christmas. I think the only thing I need is a different tree skirt to go with it. Choose a switchplate that matches your overall color scheme. You may have to consider the wall color as well.

• Make sure you order the correct type of switch plate cover. Some contractors use some non-standard switch plates. You may even have the wide toggle-type switches, or the dimmer switches. Look at the rooms you plan to change and make note of the openings in the plate so that when you make your purchase you order the correct one.

• Keeping up with the Screws-The switchplate you order will most likely come with two new screws. If it does, you may want to put the new screws in. Keep track of the old screws for switching the plates back after Christmas.

• Storage-Consider buying something to store your Christmas Switch Plates in where you can keep the screws with them. Buy something that is pretty shallow but has a few compartments that the screws and switchplates will fit in. As a last resort, you can always put the switch plates and the screws into a Ziploc bag and put them in with your other Christmas decorations.