After electricity started coming into homes, there's no doubt people were impressed with the first light switch plates they saw. Going from no electricity to a fully powered house was a big step even if they only had the capacity to use power in one place in the home.
Sometimes they got used to having electricity and no longer were single light switch plates almost as impressive. There needed to be more. The first house to have light switch plates sending power to rooms through was impressive. Then that became common place. And so goes the excitement about having power in the home. Initially it's exciting, but as soon as it becomes more common, it's boring again.
In many modern day homes, building contractors have erected things boring, by only installing traditional light switch plates. Everywhere you go, it's just one on / off switch, surrounded by boring beige or white light switch plates, but these days, you can make the change to something more exciting. These fixtures do not have to be boring. By changing them out, you can also get more use and flexibility in the items you are using in your home.
First, why only have a single switch? Sure this was the old traditional look, but these days we have a lot more things in the home that need electricity. A traditional light switch plate that turns everything on or off is going to be annoying when you only want certain things to be running and others to be without power. This is where multiple light switch plates come into play. Now you can turn a light, a fan, and the wall receptacles on and off on the same panel, and without only an all or none option.
Maybe it's the look of those traditional light switches that you find boring. That's ok, there are a new varieties that do not force you to see the same little stick coming out of the wall to control the power flow. You could consider paddle switches. These are wider switches that are a long rectangle that you shift on and off. They work much like a see-saw, when one side is down the power is on, when the other side is down the power is off. While they do the same job as the other switches, they do it with a little more style than the old stick switches.
If you do not want to be stuck with the all on or all off option, there is a middle ground. Dimmer dials and switches will let you adjust the amount of juice that is coming down the line. How great would it be to have mood lighting in a room. It's not romantic to have full lights blazing, but turning the lights completely off will not work either, with a dimmer switch you can adjust light levels until they are just right for the mood you want to create.
While the power comes into our homes the same way, we now have a lot more to say about how we can control the power sources.