New Wood Switch Covers

For a long time the shop's switch plates were rectangles. Nice rectangles, in a lot of wood species, but rectangles. This fall I finally drew the other ones: plates that are cut to a shape, plates with artwork burned into them, and one that's a gear.

They all install exactly like a regular plastic cover, they all come with screws, and none of them are printed: every line is engraved into the wood, so there's nothing to peel, fade or wipe off.

Honeycomb

The Honeycomb cover doesn't stop at the rectangle. It's laser cut into a cluster of hexagon cells so it reads like a slab of honeycomb on the wall, cut from maple veneered plywood with a pale, warm maple face. The oversized outline covers more wall than a standard plate, which is handy for hiding old paint lines or patched drywall around the box.

$16.95 per plate, for a single toggle or a single rocker/Decora switch. Good for beekeepers, honey people and bee-themed kitchens.

Tree Triptych

Three hand-drawn tree designs made to hang together as a triptych or on their own: Bare Branches (a single winter tree), Birch Grove (tall birch trunks with their bark marks) and Tree of Life (a leafy canopy above spreading roots). Engraved on maple veneered plywood, where the dark engraving pops against the pale face.

$14.95 for any one design, or $39.95 for the set of all three. Available for single toggle and single rocker/Decora switches. A good fit for a hallway, a row of rooms, or a housewarming gift.

Ghost

A little ghost standing guard over your light switch, cut to a rounded silhouette with the outline and face burned into the grain. It's cute rather than scary, so it earns its spot in October and then quietly stays up all year in a kid's room, a reading nook or a guest bath. Fits one standard toggle switch, 4.4" wide by 5.5" tall, $14.95.

Leaf

The Leaf cover is a single broad leaf cut from one piece of wood. The whole face is engraved so it burns to a deep brown, and the veins, midrib and edge are left alone, so the pale lines are the bare wood showing through. No stain, no paint, no ink: just two depths of the same board. The switch opening sits between the veins so it reads as part of the leaf. Toggle or rocker/Decora (which also fits GFCI outlets), 6.4" tall by 4.2" wide, $16.95.

Gear Outlet Cover

A toothed cog wrapped around a standard duplex outlet, with the gear profile and inner ring engraved into the face so it reads like one machined part. It's built for the rooms where the tools live: garage, workshop, basement bench, home office. The Gear outlet cover is 7.1" by 7.1" and $17.95.

Vintage Ribbed

A wood take on the ribbed Art Deco wall plates that came in mid-century American houses, the ivory Bakelite ones with a fluted center panel and plain bands top and bottom. Same idea, engraved into real wood instead of molded plastic. It's styled after those plates, not an original, and not affiliated with any manufacturer. The Vintage Ribbed cover fits one standard toggle switch, is standard single-plate size (about 4 1/2 inches tall) and is $12.95: the right plate for an old house you don't want to modernize.

Patterned: 12 Designs

Same precise cutout and slim flat profile as my plain plates, with a pattern engraved across the face. The Patterned single toggle cover comes in 12 designs, from subtle line work to bold high-contrast fills:

• $12.95: Cat Paw Prints, Botanical Toile, Baroque Flourish, Seigaiha Waves
• $13.95: Isometric Cubes, Tropical Hibiscus, Flowing Petals
• $14.95: Arrow Feather, Chrysanthemum Fan, Sayagata Interlock, Bold Tessellation, Sunburst Rays

Price follows how much of the plate gets engraved: sparse patterns burn faster than heavy fills. Engraving needs a pale background, so these come in my four lightest species: maple, birch, bamboo and white oak. The species guide has more on how they look.

Installing and Caring for Them

One or two screws, same as any plate — the install walkthrough covers it. For care, dust or wipe gently with a soft dry cloth, avoid harsh cleaners and never soak the wood. More in how to clean wood switch plates.