apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Know anyone who is a sheet metal worker or a metalsmith who makes jewelry? You could have a piece of perforated stainless or aluminum (or copper) cut to size and have the squares cut for the buttons to fit through using a jewlers saw...shouldn't cost much. A 12" x 12" piece of perforated stainless is about $20.

Polkadot's idea is really good...

...or your take a framed piece of art in a simple square moulding and hang it on the wall over the thing - Use a piano hinge to mount it to the wall like a little door.

This one is nicer-looking than most:
http://www.housingdevices.com/apartment.htm

Call me crazy but I kinda like this one.

I wondered the same thing about the one in our apartment! Ours is just thick enough that trying to mount something over it would prove problematic. The recent contact paper brainstorming had me thinking of using some on our panel (ie in the gray area on the one pictured here).

here's a great tip from Goddess Martha:

http://www.marthastewart.com/good-things/papered-switch-plates

I'm sure you can do the same!

Get a picture frame, any size that fits....

Insert a piece of cardboard in the frame, and with a pencil mark the cardboard along the inside of the frame.

Remove the cardboard and cut through it on all sides, but then reattach it along your top cut using tape to make a hinge. You might have to trim the cardboard.

Then mount a picture or photo on the cardboard, and some sort of handle on the bottom of the picture, like a ribbon loop, or a little knob.

Put the picture in the frame, without any glass, hang on the wall over the device. You might have to glue little feet of some sort on the back of the frame if it needs to stand away from the wall a bit.

Lift the picture like a door when you want to use the device.

Not sure how well this would work, I just made it up in my head, but it could be interesting.

Are people actually worrying about this?

I used a cheap wooden key cabinet from IKEA (no longer available, but I'm sure you can find one someplace) and cut out the back. I painted it to match my decor and then hung it so the entry panel is accessible by opening the door of the cabinet. I have had lots of compliments on this!

Take it off the wall, spray paint it a nice color, and attach new labels in the font of your choice or hand write them back on with a paint pen if you have a nice script. Or maybe draw little visual symbols for a mouth, ear, and door if you have multi-lingual or very young guests!

ab99 - i did the exact same thing...but mine kept falling off as our entryway is quite narrow and it was a pain to open each time but its a swell idea and i loved it while it lasted. I even painted mine. the box is no longer available in ikea

spray paint the whole thing white or the color of your wall and live with it. You could also paint with a brush one of the bottons (say the open one) another color so that you do not push it by mistake. Also go to the hardware store and get plastic covers for those two screws that show so bad.

Just put a wood frame around it and write underneath, "C'est nes pas un entry panel."