apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Go vertical

Try hanging a colorful table runner right below them, tacking with a straightpin or flat-headed pushpin underneath the lip of your paintings. You can even swag it and give it a bit of visual interest :) Good luck!

Tough problem.

Have you decided on frames for the art? If the frames/matte are wide/thick enough - it could change the way you hang the art.

If your frame choice is thick and beveled/angled - it might give you some clearance for the outlet.

Also, taking a closer look at your art - the one with the orange fruit on it looks like it has an outlet coming out of the piece of fruit. How ironic - perhaps that should be the piece you display in the middle aboce the outlet!

I vote for "another solution b."

Another thing you can look into is to create an "island" for the artworks. Buy a sheet of masonite large enough to cover the ground behind all three pieces, paint it a color and attach it to the wall. Then, to the masonite attach the artwork. The only downside is the loss of the outlet...

use larger frames and mattes

if you don't need to use the outlet, you can cover it with a plain plate -- very cheap at the hardware store, and no permanent change to the outlet. Not perfect, but better than that outlet.
just switch it back to an outlet plate when you leave...

i agree with maxwell, replace the switch plates with white ones. after all this is a kitchen, and we expect to see a certain level of hardware and technology in this area of the house.
you can't paint? damn!

I like "another solution B", too, which better integrates the clock into the grouping and solves the outlet problem.

Cool clocks and pretty pictures, too!

I was going to suggest the island idea as well, you could also do one large frame with 3 matte cutouts.

If you want to psint, I say go ahead and DO it! Seems like MOST apartment dwellers are not "allowed" to paint but do it anyway... hey, it's your home, & ya gotta live, right?!

uh, I meant PAINT... but I suspect a landlord wouldn't want a tenant to PSINT either,:)

this is one of those questions that brings us back to the the age old phrase 'rules are meant to be broken'

option A---- break the 'rule' hang the paintings 3 inches lower, no one will ever take out a yard stick at opne of your dinner parties.

option B- a chunky picture ledge/shelf that covers MOST of the switch plate, and the painting will cover the rest.

option c- one of those blank covers that have been mentioned above.... but you will see a cover.

I too am not allowed to paint under my lease. So my solution - I painted. The landlord hasn't seen the apt. yet since I painted. Just keeping the fingers crossed. I figure the worst that will happen is I have to paint it back. Depends on where you live - if you are in a highly-regulated rental market like NYC or SF, you probably can get away with it.

Your other option is too put a colorful gilded, carved empty frame around the outlet!

I would put one long rectangular backdrop behind the three art pieces. Fabric, stretched on a frame or not -- Mdf -- Framing mat? Let about 4-5 inches of backdrop extend past the outer edges of your picture grouping. It'll look like you planned it!

Thanks so much for the ideas! Now I'll have to decide what I want to do. Yeah, I can't paint. I mean I guess I could, but I'm too afraid to. I live in one of six apartments in a beautiful, old victorian house. The owner is SUPER picky. I'm lucky I can hang things. I have to use a certain kind of picture hanger to hang anything. Unfortunately when something happens (like a leak under the sink), they are the ones who come and fix it, so there'd be no hiding anything. I love the place and wouldn't want to create any bad blood...I'd really like to stay here for a while. I guess I'll have to come up with some creative solutions.

I have a similar outlet, right in the middle of a kitchen wall. I cut out the back of a shadow box and hung it over the outlet. When I need to use the outlet I just open the door. When I'm not using it I keep plastic outlet covers in it, just in case.

I have the exact same problem. I came up with a couple different solutions : a) put a narrow console table against the wall and create an arrangement out of the three framed paintings on the console table so as to cover the outlet. This makes accessing the outlet really easy. B) Have the pictures framed in deep shadowbox style frames with the art and matte flush to the glass. This should leave you with enough room for the outlet. It would be seamless in appearance but could be a hassle if you need to access the plug on a regular basis. Kelly's suggestion is great but I could never find a shadowbox with a door that was the right size. I used some premanufactured deep 16 X 20 frames from aaron brothers and had them do the matting. Option 3 would be to ask the landlord/owner if you could have the plug moved at your expense using his/her preferred electrician and handyman. As long as the work could be done to the landlords satisfaction and they don't have to pay, I don't really see the request as outrageous. They may say no, but no harm in asking - its the best solution if you can swing it.

depending on the height of the outlet, you may be able to put a shelf just above it to set the paintings on, and at a normal viewing angle, you wouldn't notice the outlet just under the shelf...

I like Claudia B.s idea of stretching fabric over a frame then hanging art on that. If you don't frame the pictures the fabric bulletin board should hold them up. You may also put less holes in the wall just hanging a big, light weight fabric bulletin board.

Get a big frame - and I mean BIG - then put all three pictures in it with lots of space between and around them - make sure the frame is big enough that you can hang it where you want it but it covers the outlet - problem solved!

Just lower the art - most art is hung too high. Viewer is supposed to have it below eye level. Frames will help.

Get some plain white switchplate covers, glue frames around them, and make little mini paintings that match your existing paintings.

Move the table over so that it's under the outlet, and plug in some appliances. And hang the pictures higher.

Having lived in Edwardian houses, I would be so grateful for those outlets. So, I'd be thinking about ways to use them.

1.You could have a self-contained water cascade that hides the outlets, and have the perfect power source for it. Your art could include the water feature, especially if the cascade had illumination in it. By changing the color of the bulb, if incandescant, you change the mood projected by the entire gallery.

2. IKEA may have some inexpensive picture lightes that could illuminate your fun prints--hung vertically. To make the color accent wall feature go floor to ceiling, I would take the primary color of the top and bottom pictures and, using fabric or paint two wallboard with those 1/4" holes with the same width framing you use for the pictures. By adjusting the height of the top and bottom frames, your vertical gallery could go floor to ceiling, if that's the look you seek. I would look for another wall for the clock, because it's too interesting (it changes!) and takes the eye off the artwork.

3. If you were to use acrylic, no border frames-very inexpensive--then a bolt of fabric, solid primary color or white linen, etc, attached from the ceiling to the floor, so that your pictures float on the fabric. If you don't need the outlet, then Guido's suggestion would allow you to hide the outlet better, behind the fabric.

I painted my walls, against the rules, and when the landlord saw the colors and the quality of work, he was impressed and did not require me to paint them white when I moved out. (Personalities are the playing field for ignoring rules. As has been pointed out, it is your home for which you pay money to occupy and that may require restoring to the "as rented" condition at the end of your lease. My soapbox!

Have fun with your decorating! It takes confidence to ask for help, so let your imagination loose and create something you really like seeing every morning.

There are switchplate covers that are more discrete than what you've got now. They still make the outlet usable, but cover up the round outlet plug in. All you see are small slits where the metal prongs go. They are white plastic, but are paintable.

Try as I might, I can't find a photo of one online. I bought some at Lowes for about $3.50