It’s irritating when lamps or other appliances have plugs that dig into the back side of furniture. Equally frustrating is when a piece of furniture, like a buffet or dresser, doesn’t sit flush against a wall. Inevitably, something will fall behind the heavy piece of furniture. You’ll spend ages trying to fish the lost item out from the dark abyss; or kiss it goodbye until the next time you rearrange furniture. One of my favorite, easy upgrades is to replace existing outlets with recessed outlets.
Years ago I asked an electrician that was doing some rewiring for us, how much it would cost to replace an electrical outlet. Not wiring to put a brand new one in, just updating an existing outlet. He told me it was a $60 charge because they needed it to be worth their time. I spent less than $10 to replace the standard duplex outlet (outlet with two places to plug something in) with a recessed outlet. Changing the outlet took only about 10 minutes. It was a no brainer for me to do it on my own since my dad had taught me how to do this when I was nearly 12 years old.
Disclaimer here: you should always consult a professional electrician before you work with electricity. This way no one can sue me if they forget to do something like turn off the electricity before working with the wires. So, if you were to do this project at your own risk, this is what you would need.
SUPPLY LIST 
- New Recessed Duplex Receptacle
recessed outlet with two places to plug things in
- Voltage tester
- Flat head screwdriver
- Philip’s head screwdriver
- Needle nosed pliers
- Wire strippers, optional
Instructions:
Step 1:
At the breaker box, or electrical panel with all of the switches on it (mine is located in the garage), locate and then turn off the power to the area that you are working on.
Step 2:
Use your flat head screw driver to remove the screw in the plate cover. Once the screw is removed, pull off the outlet plate cover.
Step 3:
Test the outlet with your voltage tester to see if the power truly is off. You will stick the metal prongs into the socket. If it lights up, the power is still running through it and DO NOT do anything more to the outlet. Continue trying the circuit breakers until you locate the correct one.
Tip: I usually plug in a table lamp to the outlet in question and switch it on, so I can peek in to the room after turning off a breaker and immediately know if the power is still connected to that particular outlet, or not.
Step 4:
Unscrew the top and bottom screws that are holding the outlet into the outlet box. As reference, these boxes are often blue or gray, but it may not be and it doesn’t really matter. Gently pull out the outlet and attached wires. Pull the outlet out just enough that you have room to work on the wiring that is attached.
Step 5:
Locate the black and white wires and the bare copper (sometimes it has green insulation on it) grounding wire. The grounding wire is attached by a green screw, the white wires are neutral and attach to the silver colored screws, and the hot (black) wires attach to the brass screws. You can do this by loosening the screws holding the hooked wire to them, or pulling the wires out of the Quickwire holes, or just cutting the black and white wires near the back of the outlet.
Step 6:
Connect the wiring by either side wire, or Quickwire, if available. Side wire by looping the copper wire to the green grounding screw, the white wires to the silver screws, and the black wires to the brass screws. These screws are located on either sides of the outlet. If you had to cut off the wire from the existing outlet, you will need to expose the wires for the electricity to connect to the new outlet. Be sure the bare wire is exposed about 3/4 of an inch by carefully cutting through the insulation, not the wire, and stripping the cut insulation off the ends of the wires by pulling on the end with the needle nosed pliers. Then bend the wires with the same pliers into a loop, or hook, and loop them around their proper screws and tighten the screws to secure. Or you can Quickwire by stripping ( cutting the insulation off the ends) the wires 5/8 of an inch and inserting them straight into the corresponding Quickwire holes.
Step 7:
Be sure you have your outlet oriented the direction you prefer and then carefully tuck the wires and outlet into the wall. Line up the screws with the holes in the outlet box and screw them in until the rim of the recessed outlet is flush with the wall.
Step 8:
Turn on the electricity and test the outlet. I often just plug in the lamp and turn it on to see that the electricity is all flowing well. You could also use the voltage gauge to accomplish this step.
Now you can plug in your lamps and put the furniture back in place, hooray! Sometimes it’s the small things that can make a difference to the functionality and overall appearance in the home. I have replaced outlets behind buffets, dressers, desks, pretty much anywhere there is large furniture that needs to sit flush against a wall. By installing recessed outlets, your cords will maintain their quality and refrain from becoming possible fire hazards. That is a win/win for this firefighter’s daughter! Thank you for learning ow to replace a standard electrical outlet with a recessed electrical outlet. Another project checked off towards making a house a home. 💙
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Thank you for this post! It has very clear step by step directions and I appreciate the pictures too.
I am so happy you found it useful. I am sure there will be many more posts to aid in any of your home improvement needs. Let me know if you have any other requests for topics. Thank you!