This post is sponsored by the Legrand radiant® Collection; all opinions and experiences are my own.
When you’re taking on a large home makeover there are countless big decisions that need to be made, but many times it’s the small decisions that really make a project special. One of the easiest changes you can make to a room, that oftentimes gets overlooked is to replace your electrical outlets and light switches. Since I’ve been slowly making this change in my own home, I was incredibly excited when Legrand reached out to me to sponsor my Spring One Room Challenge and provide me with products from their new radiant® Collection to add those perfect finishing details to my space.
Why so excited? Well first off, the radiant® products are just beautiful aesthetically with their modern shape, low profile, and (most importantly) screw-less facade! I could not think of a more perfect outlet to match my new wallpaper than these simple, classic-line outlets. I also love that these won’t break the bank, especially if you take on one room at a time, with the standard white outlet/wallplate combination running about $8 a piece.
But there’s more to these beauties than just aesthetics – they offer a wide variety of outlet choices from GFCI to built in USB options – and all of them are Tamper-Resistant and designed with a special system to let plugs in, but all other dangerous objects out so (bonus!) you can ditch all of the unsightly child safety covers that come along with parenthood.
One of the options I was really looking forward to trying out is the Night Light outlets. Between the dining room, front room, and hallway that connects them we have way too many outlets in the same area that aren’t being used, so I went ahead and replaced the one leading into our dining room with an adjustable Full Night light that automatically turns on in the evening. My oldest son has the habit of getting up and going downstairs before the sun rises, and now he isn’t afraid to walk a dark hallway on his own. I’m thinking about also installing some combination night light/outlet receptacles in a few more places, like the guest and downstairs bathrooms.
To compliment all of my new outlets, I also decided to install the radiant® Tru-Universal Dimmer. Since the chandelier in the dining room has 5 bulbs/glass shades, a dimmer is absolutely necessary, and what makes the Tru-Universal so great is that it automatically detects what type of bulbs you have and adjusts to eliminate flickering and poor dimmer performance (check out all of the info here). And although I didn’t use it in this space, I’m also super tempted to try out one of their Lighted switches in my hallway to help delineate which ones control the inside and outside lights (because after 4 years I STILL can’t remember!)
The main reason I was so happy to be able to share the Legrand radiant® collection with you is that I had already installed the Legrand adorne® collection in my kitchen, and although they didn’t sponsor that project I wanted to share it with you because I am so happy with the way it turned out.
The adorne® collection has a more modern look with a larger wall plate (that comes in tons of colors AND an option to match to your existing wall or wallpaper) and square shaped outlets and switches. But the main reason I love it in my kitchen is that the glossy white style PERFECTLY matches my white subway tile and black grout because while the face plate is glossy white, the sides are black!
Just like the radiant® collection, the adorne® collection has a variety of switches, dimmers, and outlets with the same slick screwless look and tamper-resistant feature. The big difference that I have noticed is with installation, with the adorne® products needing a little bit more room in the receptacle boxes to accommodate for wires, especially if you are using some of the specialized options like the USB plug that I have in my kitchen island which, unlike the radiant® version, is installed separately from the outlet.
And speaking of installation – I definitely think this is a project that does not require a trained electrician as long as you are comfortable with this type of work, or have somebody on hand that is. I do not have an extensive electrical background, but I have assisted my father (who does) with many electrical jobs around the house and I was able to switch out all of these on my own. As with anything electrical work please be sure that the power is turned at the source off before you begin. You can find full installation instructions for both collections on Legrand’s website – my advice would be that if you are thinking about adding anything beyond the standard outlets or switches to take a look at your electrical situation before you order to make sure your desired location can accommodate your selection.
Whether you live in an older house and have some almond color outlets looking back at you, or are in new construction and are longing for some better functionality, make sure you check out all of Legrand’s amazing products and reach out to them to help put together a package to make your house look and work better for you.