Apple cover: an open wall box disappears behind acrylic
An open flush-mounted box sat in the hallway at child height. Instead of a white blank plate there is now an apple in 3 mm acrylic — drawn in the browser, laser-cut, plugged and screwed to the wall.
In the hallway an open flush-mounted box sat in the wall: a round hole with the wiring lying exposed, right beside a socket in use — and at exactly the height a small child reaches, one who is just learning that holes are interesting. A white blank plate from the hardware store would have closed the spot and stayed a white patch on an olive-green wall. So the spot became a shape instead: an apple.
The cover was drawn in the Modeller, straight in the browser: one closed contour for the outline, four small circles for the screws. The file needs no more than that, because the drawing already is the production artwork — what is on screen is what gets cut. Material and price stay alongside the whole time: 3 mm acrylic glass GS in opaque grey, a shade dark enough that the plate reads as black on the wall and stays opaque. The screw holes are part of the drawing and are cut with it — drilling acrylic afterwards easily ends in a crack running away from the bit.
On the wall it is a quarter of an hour: hold the plate up, mark through the four holes, drill, plug, screw. It is a good twice as wide as the socket below it and overlaps the opening generously all round. One point is not a matter of taste: a screwed-on acrylic plate is a fascia, not electrical protection. The box itself belongs properly closed — conductors insulated, a matching lid fitted, by a qualified electrician if in doubt. The cut shape goes on top of that because it looks better than the lid, not in its place. Everything else transfers: a cloud, a leaf, a letter, a company mark — only the contour changes, not the work.
Frequently asked questions
Does a cover like this replace a blank plate?
No. The acrylic plate is a fascia in front of the wall — not electrical protection and not contact protection in the sense of any standard. A box with wiring in it belongs properly closed: conductors insulated, a matching lid fitted, by a qualified electrician if in doubt. The cut shape goes on top of that because it looks better than the lid, not in its place.
How is the plate fixed?
With four screws in wall plugs. The holes are part of the drawing and are cut with it — that is the point: drilling acrylic afterwards easily ends in a crack running away from the bit. On the wall you mark through the finished holes, drill, plug and screw.
Which material suits a cover like this?
Here it is acrylic glass GS in opaque grey, 3 mm — opaque, wipeable and dark enough to read as black on the wall. Other opaque acrylic colours do the same; plywood or MDF work if the face is painted or oiled. Clear or tinted transparent plastic is out: you would see through it, and that is precisely what it must not do.
How do I draw a shape like this myself?
In the online Modeller, straight in the browser and without a graphics program: draw the outline, place a circle for every screw, pick material and thickness. Price and 3D preview stand alongside while you work. If you prefer your own software, upload a vector file instead — the result is the same.
How big does the cover have to be?
Big enough that it clearly overlaps the opening all round and that the screws sit in intact substrate, not at the edge of the hole. On this apple that is a good twice the width of the socket below. Upwards, only the sheet format sets a limit.
- Customer
- Formulor — our own design
- Project
- Apple-shaped cover for an open flush-mounted wall box at child height
- Material & process
- Acrylic glass GS, grey, opaque (7H32), 3 mm — laser-cut
More: How the modeller works · How it works
Design, fitting and footage: Formulor