Are you at all crafty? I painted some wooden switchplates to match my tumbled slate backsplash:

I used craft paint and then sealed them with a clear spray on finish.

terriks - wow that is fabulous!!! I'm not very crafty though. I've tried stuff before and it looks like crap.

Andrea, I have no idea about the switchplates, sorry I can't be of help.

I am wondering how many switchplates you are dealing with in total? The reason I ask is because in the long run, how much more money is involved if you buy the tile ones that will match and blend correctly? I know that is easy for me to say, and I understand that sometimes $100 might as well be a million. But once you have invested so much money in making the kitchen lovely, is something that will show all the time really the place to skimp?

Nicely done, Terriks!

Mine don't necessarily blend into the background, but they price was right (around $6 although DH still grumbled about that...) and they work well with our appliances. Just another option...

I need a total of 12. The ones at the tile store are $18.99 and $19.99 and the same ones online are $7.49 and $9.89 and that gives me a total of about $120. The matching stone will be out of the question because the one rocker is $24.95 and they can't guarantee it will match perfectly. The ivory that I picked out will work, I'm just worried about how they will hold up and if they will look bad when I put them in my kitchen since I only had one tile to match it up. Will it be bad if I go two weeks after the project is finished with exposed outlets and switches?

We have white appliances. I was going to do the ORB because it would match our faucet, lights and cabinet hinges (I'm unable to put hardware on my cabinets, arrrrrrrrrr! (sore subject)) I decided against the ORB ones I picked out when we decided to do the copper tile inserts instead of the brick pattern. That is a great suggestion though.

In response to your last question...I went a whole year without some outlet covers because I couldn't find a backsplash and I had some rewiring done early on in the process. It didn't look good, but as long as you are careful around the outlets it should be fine (be careful with water of course).

As a side note, I ended up with Jeruslaem Gold limestone on my backsplash and I just used the standard ivory outlet covers, believe it or not. They blend so well with my backsplash that I don't even notice them and I didn't see the need to purchase something else. Just FYI.

No need to go w/o outlet covers, just buy cheap ones til you find ones that work for you.

Only suggestion I have is from someone at I work with when we were talking about my covers. He suggested taking a picture of my backsplash, printing it and putting it in clear outlet covers ..... so you'd basically have a stone cover that matches and is cheaper. Good suggestion I thought, but my problem is this:

It's a double plug with a motion sensor... talk about hard to find!!!

Christy

Christy,

Hmmm not a bad idea. I may buy both to see which one looks better. Mine will be pretty easy because I just need the rocker plates. I can see why yours is harder to match. Your backsplash is beautiful!

Why can't you glue the backsplash printout onto a regular ivory or white switchplate and then put some kind of clearcoat over it?

Jodi-

Here is a pic of what is going up in the kitchen.

Using clearcoat is perfectly safe, especially since you'll be painting the cover elsewhere before it's placed on the outlet.
Another option may be to look at the brown covers at HD and I believe I also saw some in a copper color.

LOVE cburch's idea of printing out the pattern of the backsplash!

Terriks.........great faux job. Have you considered replacing the white outlet with a black one?

Or what about plain ole' cheap beige or ivory plastic or painted metal? In addition to being completely budget-friendly, they'll totally fade into the background and you'll never 'see' them at all.

If the faux stone ones are a good match, they'll have a similar 'fade into the background' characteristic. And if they're *not* a good match, you'll have spent a lot of money for a not-good match. Not to mention that some of them have a decdedly 'plastic' character to them -- so I'd recommend seeing before you buy.

ORB or copper, while pretty, will call attention to themselves, which is probably not what you want. Consider also that 90% of the electricians working in my market area don't bother to install outlets all at the same height, or even level! It's horribly frustrating if you're the kind of person who will notice.

I took a picture of the individual tile. Do I use mod podge or regular glue?

I ordered 1 of the resin plates (only out $16) and I'm going to print out the tile and try the printed outlet. I will post both with my tile. Please let me know which you like best.