Hide The Eyesore Of An Ugly Breaker Box With One Sleek And Simple DIY Solution

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Breaker boxes are necessary, but are they necessarily ugly? If you've got one of those awkward metal boxes ruining the look and vibe of your home, we have a clever trick for you. With some magnets and framed art, you can turn this eyesore into stunning decor, while keeping the breaker box easily accessible and functional.

Circuit breaker boxes are such eyesores, but finding the right way to conceal them can be a challenge. One thing homeowners need to keep in mind about circuit breaker boxes is that they need to stay easily accessible, even when concealed. This is because breaker boxes are your access point to your house's electrical circuits, and there are plenty of situations when you might need to use them. For example, you'll need easy access if you have to shut off power in an emergency situation or to reset a tripped breaker. Therefore, when covering them up with wall art, the key is to find a frame-hanging technique that can be easily mounted and dismounted. Attaching wall art over a breaker box with Command strips or traditional frame hangers technically works, but it's a bit of a headache. With these more traditional attachments, it can be tricky to realign the frame perfectly, and, over time, the repeated use could cause the strips or nails to come off.

Instead, this hack uses small magnets to hide the eyesore of an electrical panel in your home, and it works even if you're a renter. With these magnets, the picture frame will naturally hold on to the breaker box door, as long as it's made of metal. If your breaker box has a plastic cover, you can attach small adhesive magnets to the door instead to give the picture frame something to grip onto.

To turn a picture frame into a magnetic breaker box cover, grab some magnetic squares with 3M adhesive backing from Chunniao. For small and light frames, four to eight of these small magnetic squares in the corners can work. If you're using a heavier frame, consider some heavy-duty magnets like these Diymag powerful bar magnets. This hack is also a handy way to repurpose magnets around your home, which you can attach to the back of the frame with some hot glue.

Of course, the magnets will only attach to the breaker box's metal door. Therefore, place the magnets on the edges of the frame if it's small enough to fit on top of the door. If the frame is slightly larger than the breaker box, place the magnets at the center of the frame's backing, where they will overlap with the metal door. And if the breaker box is so large that it pokes out on the sides, why not paint the breaker box cover? By painting it the same color as the wall, you'll make it less noticeable. Then, you can still use smaller frames to cover most of it, which can help conceal it while keeping it accessible.

And if the breaker box you're dealing with is really too large or you're not able to paint it, let's say, because you're renting, then hanging a picture frame in front of it the traditional way might be your only solution. Larger picture frames are heavier, which is not best suited for this magnet hack. Instead, use Command hangers for large canvas. These can go nicely above the breaker box, and you can easily mount and dismount a large frame without using any nails or Velcro strips.