High Quality Brass Switch Plates
When decorating using rich, traditional colors, white plastic light switches look out of place. Brass switch plates suit this decor perfectly, and are an inexpensive way to transform your walls.
One of the more popular styles are brass switch plates. Manufactured from high-quality brass plate, they are produced using a metal-forming technique known as 'punching'. Because they are formed from a single piece of metal, they are both strong and durable.
Brass switch plates are available in a number of different styles - beveled, colonial and rope. Let's look at each one in turn.
Beveled brass switch plates look much like your standard which plastic ones in terms of their design. They have straight edges and sharp corners, but with a subtle bevel around the entire edge, to give a sophisticated finish.
Colonial brass plates have curved edges, giving an air of elegance and style. The edges may have a single bevel, as with normal beveled plates, or they will sometimes have a double-beveled effect to give even more intricate detailing.
They are designed this way to fit in with more traditional interior decor. Their subtle styling gives a softer, more gentle feel and appearance to them, rather than the harsh square edges of beveled plates.
Finally, 'rope' style brass plates have a very similar style to beveled ones, but with an intricate cord-like design around their outer edge. This is a common feature on antique furniture, so if your house is decorated in this way, a rope design will complement it perfectly.
Rope brass switch plates are designed to be eye-catching with their fancy design around the edge. This means that they do not suit all tastes, but if they're you're thing then they look absolutely fantastic in the right surroundings.
Brass switch plates are normally highly polished, giving a pleasing, elegant reflective shine to them. When they catch the light in the right way, they can even give a soft golden glow, which reflects around the room.
They are available in many types, from standard single toggle to multiple toggle. You can also buy them to fit other types of outlets, such as cable TV outlets and larger power outlets. The choice is fantastic, and means that you can decorate your entire room with the same types of switch plates, keeping your entire room's decor consistent and stylish.
Their beveled edges can make brass switch plates stand out from your wall a bit more than standard ones would. However, the bevel also serves to blend the plate in well with the wall and its surroundings, meaning that it will never look out of place.
They generally attach to the wall by being screwed directly through the front of the plate. This means that it is important to use brass screws, so that the materials match in color, and the screws don't stand out. Thankfully most manufacturers supply their plates complete with screws in the same material, so you can be sure that they will blend in perfectly, and also hold your switch plate firmly in place.