Urgent! Opinion on outlet in backsplash now!!

13 years ago

I need your opinion if this would look weird to you. I need to make a decision tonight. My backsplash will be 1" x 12" long rectangular pieces of polished glass placed horizontally. They tiles have a white background but because of glass' iron content the pieces tend to look pale blue/greenish. To minimize the interruption of outlets in my backsplash I am going to ask the electrician to move the outlets high and horizontal on the wall just underneath the upper cabinets. My husband does not want them mounted under the upper cabinets themselves and I don't want them mounted low and horizontal. We do not keep anything plugged in on our counter and in fact, do not keep much on the counters at all. With the outlets high and horizontal I will also try to find some glass outlet covers that blend in or even try to paint the outlets to blend in with the glass better. What do you think? Does high and horizontal on the wall sound crazy to you? Need opinions now!

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Comments (5)

beaglesdoitbetter1
13 years ago
That is what I am planning to do (under uppers). I would stand your ground- there's no reason not to have them under the cabinets since they are still usable and it will minimize the visual disturbance.
rococogurl
13 years ago
Outlet covers come in many colors today so finding the right one shouldn't be no more difficult than a trip to the hardware store. And there's always Krylon.

But some towns have code requirements for outlet height and placement. That might not be a concern right now but in the future it could be an issue if you want to sell and kitchen isn't up to code. May not be a problem at all but merely something to check. Sounds like a gorgeous splash.
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natesgram--they are giving me $100 towards the installation. We are going to do it ourselves,(along with a friend who has done tiling professinally). The whole kitchen is a DY--why stop now? They are notsupplying the grout--just the tile. cocontom--that's what I was thinking. And it's not like I needed to give a cc to ship the samples. If they are icky, then I'm calling it off. corgimums photoshop pictures are great. But I realized last night that the tiles are a bit big in the photoshop pictures. The tile is 6.5" tall, so there should be about 6 arabesques between the counter and the cabinet. I hope this doesn't look too busy IRL. Well, I think that the picture I showed above is for one tile, I can sort of see the edges in the corners. Originally I thought each arabesque was a tile, but I went back and can't see any seams. I guess I'll know soon--I hope my samples come tomorrow
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I can see why it might be advisable to remove the left/rt portions of tile, but I would be inclined to wait until ithe kitchen is completed before deciding. If, as your gut tells you, it "needs" to come down, nothing is really lost except a little more time with it up. Perhaps knowing you are not "locked-in" or committed to it, will help give the perspective to view it more objectively while deciding for sure. This way you will not only have the chance to see it with everything else in place, but you will also have the opportunity to get used to it, before deciding if you truly dislike it, or just haven't gotten used to it being there. As subtle (in color) as our tile is, after months of looking at white painted Sheetrock, it still looked "different" and stood out when we looked at our kitchen. Once we became accustomed to it, we couldn't imagine our walls without it. That's how I am with many things--after living with a blank wall or empty space for any period of time, even a long awaited piece of furniture or decor item jumps out at me, and almost seems like too much, until I get used to the vacant space being filled. Thanks for the compliments on our backsplash Laura and andreak100! It's the Opera Glass tile from Artistic Tile (Stilatto pattern) in Wolfgang White. It does read greenish-blue(-grey) in certain lights or times of day. We had to think about that one while deciding if we wanted to use it, and obviously decided to go for it! Good luck Laura! Honestly, whatever you decide will look terrific!
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Thanks for all of your input, I really appreciate it! I agree that a third row would be too busy and initially was worried that this would be too busy. We lived with a brown paper mock-up with faux dots that we printed out in photo shop and cut to the 2". We had it this way and then also with just one centered row instead of the two. Igloochick, I had to show DH your response because HE wanted that last dot there and I vetoed it because of the whole uneven rule in decorating (fung shui?). If we had the last one there it would be an even number of dots and it looked strange to me on the mock-up (and the toaster over covers it about half way). But I told him he could go back and put it in if he wants to. Hmmm..... Sheilaaus, the accent tiles are 10" apart on the angle (good estimate!). jb1176, the granite is called Madura Gold but this lot just happened to have lots of color and depth. Another lot was really blah and mostly gold. The tile is from Tile Outlets of America and is 4" travertine. The dots were cut by DH from left over granite. Now I have to get back to finding hardware that's affordable! I found one I loved that looked like bamboo stalks with leaves but they were $78 each!
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cigi, in our last house the previous owner installed tumbled marble in a mauvish tone which IMO looked awful with the St Cecilia granite. Even though the tile was expensive, I tore them off and left the 4" granite backsplash, patched and painted the rest of the wall. The sink was the only working area as the cooktop was on the island. No problem with water as I used BM Aura, but Pittsburgh Paint's Manor Hall Timeless is just as good with a more flat look and lifetime warranty. I'm pondering the issue for my current redo. In various houses I've had paint, wallpaper, white tile with abalone inserts, plain white tile. Right now I'm weighing white tile with a beautiful insert, just paint with no granite backsplash since this area has only a counter but no cooking/wet functions, paint with granite backsplash, or a simple glass tile backsplash with listello over it a la Chinchette. I'm attaching a photo from Chinchette's beautiful kitchen (hope she doesn't mind seeing hers cited as a great example) which shows the last option. In any event, I echo others' advice to not worry about that decision immediately unless you absolutely love a certain look. Just use good paint. Here is a link that might be useful:
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shaughnn
13 years ago
Hello Lisa,
Check out the Lutron product line before raising a can of spray paint. The Lutron series offer a lot of colors for both the cover plates AND the actual fixtures, for a complete look. Spray paint chips and wears over time AND you can't spray the fixtures without compromising safety.
Best of luck,
Shaughnn
sewingdeedles
13 years ago
It is possible to have glass outlet covers made out of the same tile, but the tile had to be the required thickness. Also with glass the problem is often that you can see what is behind the glass whether it be wires or just a change in the surface area. Have you considered the plumgold? Otherwise run the high and horizontal idea by the electrician.
kaismom
13 years ago
I am not a fan of plugmold. They are a PITA to use because you can't really see the plugs easily so you have to bend around/down to see them. We have them all over where we work. I find them quite annoying. Others on GW seem to like them.

If you leave an appliance plugged in on the counter, as my toaster oven is, and the plug mold is under cabinet, then you actually cannot hide the electric cord.... There are pluses and minuses to all of these options.

Even though they can be beautiful, kitchens are utilitarian places and outlets are expected. I would put them in standard places rather than too high. If you use up the electrical cord by being up too high, then you can't drag the appliances to where you need it, ie to the stove top for emersion mixer, under the venthood for waffle maker. Some appliances have rather short cords. My husband places the waffle maker under the venthood on a cookie sheet. There is a huge amount of steam that arises from the waffle maker when waffles are made.

Most importantly, check with your code. You don't want to have to tear out the wall after your inspector tells you that you don't pass....
Lutron outlet/switch covers do not show screws. They come in many colors as mentioned above.

http://www.lutron.com/RESIDENTIAL-COMMERCIAL-SOLUTIONS/RESIDENTIAL-SOLUTIONS/COLORSTYLEFABRICS/Pages/Color.aspx

My designer told me that she has customers that have spare panels made for their island. After they pass inspection, they cover the "outlet" with the spare panel so they don't have to look at the outlets. Yeesh!

Urgent! Opinion on outlet in backsplash now!!

Comments (5)

beaglesdoitbetter1

rococogurl

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