When painting in your home, uniformity tends to be one of the most important factors in beautifying the space. You want clean lines, an even coat, and a cohesive color palette, even if you're doing a bold accent wall. So anything that interrupts that harmony—like that classic builder's grade white outlet—is not appreciated. Well, DIY influencer Renee Bruner, who goes by @reneerenovates on Instagram and TikTok, thought she had an easy solution to blending in those ugly white outlets to her plummy red, Roman clay-covered kitchen walls: She painted over them. However, while the results of her DIY kitchen renovation looks amazing, this was not the smartest decision on Bruner's part.
In the video above, the influencer goes over the multiple mistakes she made while completing her kitchen renovation, the first of which is painting over her outlets. While switching your white outlet covers out for something that better fits into your aesthetic is perfectly fine to do, Bruner painted over the actual outlet receptacles in the wall. And that, unfortunately, is a fire hazard. As she says in the video, while the painted plug-ins looked great in photos, "if any of that paint or Roman clay gets inside the outlets... it can spark a fire."
According to Inspect USA, even the smallest chunk of paint that finds its way into the receptacle can cause whatever you plug into it to have only partial connection, creating a point of resistance from the plug-in prongs to the flow of electricity. Any time electricity flows through a point of resistance, it generates heat, which could gather enough energy to cause an electrical fire in your home.
Thankfully, Bruner listened to her concerned followers after she posted about painting the outlets and quickly switched them out for receptacles that closer match the color of her walls, which ultimately look equally good. However, in the video she also says that she used paint stripper on the outlets to be able to reuse them in the future, but commenters on her identical TikTok video have still advised her not to, as it's virtually impossible to know if any paint is still inside.
So while it might be tempting to paint your outlets in the name of uniformity, maybe purchase receptacles that look better in your space to begin with. You can still paint the removable outlet covers, of course, but only after removing them from the wall.
Meghan Shouse is House Beautiful's Assistant Editor, a role she has held since September 2023. On top of being the magazine's go-to Waco expert, Meghan also touches on quite a few other verticals in the digital space, like hot news content featuring your favorite HGTV stars, home design inspiration, and the latest interior TikTok trends. However, her favorite pieces are the ones that start conversations, such as stories about resale value and whether or not the Solo cup is chic. Before becoming a home writer, Meghan worked in the fashion industry for two years, writing for Harper's Bazaar after graduating from Iowa State University with a bachelor's degree in apparel merchandising. When she's not interviewing interior designers about home trends, you can find Meghan reading a fictional thriller with her cat in her lap, planning themed parties, or strolling through flea markets searching for chunky candle holders and vintage bookends.
