DIYers Are Hiding Unsightly Electrical Panels With This Home Design Staple

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Are ugly electrical panels ruining your decor? While breaker boxes are often hidden in areas like basements, these unsightly metal doors sometimes end up becoming unwelcome wall decorations. When situated in living rooms, bedrooms, or hallways, electrical panels often seem difficult to conceal. Wallpaper can be a creative way to hide your breaker box or electrical panel and maintain the aesthetic of your space. On social media, various DIYers use matching paper to blend the panel into the wall, while others, like TikToker cowapocalypses, add pieces of cute, patterned paper to a painted wall.

Hanging art over the box is often suggested as a clever design trick to hide the eyesore of electrical panels, but wallpaper offers a seamless appearance where an extra wall hanging might look awkward. It also allows you to decorate the panel without it being fully hidden. While you want to help your electrical box to blend in with your wall and decor, it should still be easy for anyone, such as first responders, to find and access in an emergency.

Electrical panel covers are made of that ugly metal so that they can contain heat if an issue occurs, so it's crucial to keep them safe. Check your local codes to ensure you aren't breaking any unique rules around covering your breaker box door. Additionally, it's crucial that the door is still able to close and seal properly and the wallpaper doesn't touch the inside of the box. Be sure you're not hiding any necessary labels on the outside of the cover.

If your electrical panel is in a room that's already decorated with wallpaper, covering the metal door with an extra piece is a simple trick. Line up the piece of wallpaper properly between the wall and the panel to really blend in the ugly box. With regular wallpaper, apply an adhesive, such as Roman PRO-880 Wallpaper Adhesive, to the outside of the breaker box cover first, making sure none of it gets on the backside of the door or inside the breaker box. Disguising your electrical panels could also be a clever way to use peel-and-stick wallpaper, if you want an easier application. If you have painted walls, place one small piece of wallpaper over the electrical panel rather than redoing the entire room. This technique makes the ugly metal cover look more like a painting on the wall (you could even consider adding a frame around it).

One simple way that DIYers complete this hack is by sticking the piece of wallpaper directly over the closed box. This ensures that no excess paper folds over the edge of the door and inside the box. After smoothing the paper, use a sharp utility blade or a pair of scissors to slice along the crevice around the door. Alternatively, leave the box open to apply cut pieces of wallpaper over the outside of the door and the frame-like edges of the panel cover. To ensure you can still see the box at a glance and open it quickly and easily, cut out the paper around the handle. Having a visible handle prevents your electrical panel from being completely hidden in an emergency.