I've been swapping out skinny light switches for decora ones since my first place in 2004 and buyers seem to have liked it. Never bothered to do the outlets as well until the place we live in though. People don't seem to notice those as much.

When you're buying contractor packs of outlets cost really isn't much of a factor, especially if you would be buying outlets anyway. I think they were only $15 or $16 per 10 pack.

Decora is modern. Just depends on your taste. I had the same issue after painting and needing to change out all the brown receptacles and my wife said no to decora.

With our addition the home automation people told me to hard wire everything that you can even if it has a wireless option as it easy and not that expensive to do now and will perform better. They basically said that there is going to be so much wireless stuff that will be on the network that is will slow it down and it helps future proof leaving more space for the wireless. Anything that can be wired wire.

Sasappis said:

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Also, is there a reason to run cat 5 since I have the walls open? I plan to buy z wave compatible devices and run wireless internet so I am not sure there is a need for a wired home today.

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For our remodel, we ran almost half a quarter mile of Cat 6 in a 2-story, 2,100 SF townhome. It absolutely is overkill, but now every device I have that is capable of being hardwired, is. As greenman99 said, you're going to have plenty of devices now and into the future that will be running wireless, no need to clog up your wifi with devices that have the ability to be hardwired. You'll also find that the service is more consistant through hardwired devices. For example, streaming Netflix through AppleTV never has a hiccup now.

Also, I may be nit-picking your post, but make sure you run at least Cat 5e or Cat 6, not plain Cat 5 (not sure if you can even still buy Cat 5).

And as to the OP's question, we replaced everything with white Decora. It helps complete the clean, modern look IMO. I'll likely be helping my dad replace all his switches in his flooded 1980s house with Decora as well as we will be trying to update it for a future sale.

greenman99 said:

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With our addition the home automation people told me to hard wire everything that you can even if it has a wireless option as it easy and not that expensive to do now and will perform better. They basically said that there is going to be so much wireless stuff that will be on the network that is will slow it down and it helps future proof leaving more space for the wireless. Anything that can be wired wire.

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Absolutely this, and if nothing else it's one less factor that has to be looked into if you're trying to troubleshoot something.

i didn't even know these things had names

Sasappis said:

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So what are you hardwiring? I can run cat6 to the tv s and office, but I am not sure where else I would consider running it.

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At my main living room TV, I have 6-Cat6 drops for TV, Tivo, AppleTV, Blu-ray, Xbox & a spare, along with two drops of coax. I have the same setup in the game room area. In each bedroom I have 3-Cat6 drops for TV, Tivo, and AppleTV along with a coax connection on the wall that I would consider the "primary" wall where a TV would go in the room. For the two secondary bedrooms, I have another 2-Cat6 drops on the walls opposite the "primary" walls. One room serves as the office so our computer is currently plugged into one of those extra ports.

I also have drops to each of the 4 exterior corners for wired POE security cameras. Finally, I have a drop from the alarm control panel to the siren and keypad. The only one I wish I would have done is one more right at the front door for a 5th camera for people walking up to the door. The sidewalk is covered by the other two cameras, but the view will be farther off and at a downward angle vs. one staring you straight in the face.

All the network and coax drops run back to a linen closet that I installed a small rack with a patch panel and gigabit switch. That's where the cable model, wifi router, and home server all live.

Put one or 2 drops in each bedroom.

Put 2 or 4 drops in the office

Put 1 or 2 drops in the kitchen in 2 spots.


Each drop, to me, should be Cat6, coxial and potentially a spare Cat 6 that is used as 'phone' (you only connect the blue pair, but you can come back, pop off the phone plug and turn into a Ethernet outlet).


Everything to a closet with it's OWN 20-amp outlet for all the devices (router, modem, etc.)

~egon

Will add to the above by saying think of any interior cameras you might want we put one in the baby's room and one in the upstairs playroom and the living room/kitchen. I also hardwired the thermostat and a drop behind the refrigerator

It's funny. I like decora outlets and duplex switches. I know this shouldn't make sense with my undergrad being an architecture degree, but it is.

My personal theory is the majority of people will not notice the difference in outlets, but will with switches.