One of the very few things I didn't like about this house when we got it was that right opposite the couch in the family room was a dark grey electrical panel, just the view you (don't) want your guests to be left staring at. As a make-do we decorated it with some magnets, but I finally hit upon a solution that didn't make it difficult to get at - here it is... First I sanded it lightly to break the surface. I went all around the edge with rub-n-buff "autumn gold" (a bright copper look - goes with that room's decor)- this created a frame. Next, a couple layers of background color to coat the grey metal after edging the copper area with blue painters tape. Then some more layers, with some sponging and rubbing.. And finally a few light coats of satin varnish to seal it. Done! I'm no Michaelangelo, but I think it sure looks better than it did. This pattern corresponds with a painting that is on the opposite wall of the room. Thought someone else might like the idea too.
Thanks! I so enjoy seeing what everyone else comes up with in their homes, it only seemed fair to share mine.
That looks super. Those things are so ugly. We had the same problem so I painted a picture big enough to cover it. Down with ugly!
I'd probably have searched high and low for a picture to cover it up but would never have thought to paint it the way you have. What a brilliant idea!!!! :-D You'd nver know that there was an ugly electrical panel there at all!!! Prim you are a star.
I did that - I kept looking for a picture or mirror that would be the right size to mount on the door of it (as it still had to be able to be opened) - I looked into attaching mirror tiles to it with magnets, considered decoupage and a cloth hanging that looked like a fake window with a windowbox... which is why we've lived with it grey and icky for nearly three years already. Now you go 'do' something to yours and show us what you did. ;-)
Hehe what a creative bunch we have here at the Stew, I wouldn't have thought of that either. Would love to see that Prim. One question, where does the path lead?
I do love that idea.Prim and would never have thought of painting it. I hope a neighbor or stranger never has to run in and shut the power off fast.They will never find it.
I can't say! It just wanders off into the mist in the other picture as well. :-D I have a sort of 'sunrise colors' theme with copper down in this room, and it looks rather like an early misty sunrise in a field with streaks of copper in the grass. No doubt there are gnomes hiding in the grass. I read about some folks who built an entire cabinet around their panel, like an old German cuckoo-clock, to hide it. Now that might be a bit much... this one at least is still the right size and shape, and it opens right up (I even painted the edges of the inside to match, heh).
Good idea, I've got something similar in my hall way and I'm going to borrow this idea. Thanks Manuel
