i know some friends who have bought an older house and they're renovating it but in some cases they can't place electrical boxes into the walls. so they've been looking at electrical boxes for switches and sockets that are surface mounted rather than being within the wall. i've been looking into some possible options for them and one design that i really like are these custom made wood collars for surface mounted electrical boxes. the wooden collar offers just the kind of style that would fit in really well with a house that has a vintage theme. and instead of looking disposable like so many of today's plastic fittings, these wooden collars look like they're built to last! even if you do have the option of putting your electrical boxes into the wall, maybe it'd be worth going with a surface mount instead just so you can use a collar like this even just for its style and appearance alone!